Why Do Dress Codes Affect Student's Identity?

Dress codes are something that are set in most schools in the United States to regulate what is appropriate for students to wear. There are different opinions about dress codes and whether they are correct and looking out for the well being of all of the students or whether they focus more around making students conform to what the schools want to them to be. It is something that many students, as well as parents should know and think about. Dress codes do help with making sure almost no one is being bullied for their clothing since it is all similar. However, to some students dress codes can be something that feels like that similarity is conformity, leading to a loss of self identity. There are groups of students that face a “more than normal” …show more content…
Dress codes are a violation of student’s rights to be who they want to be and take away their self identity in order to make them conform, while having a more severe impact on groups such as religious groups, girls, and LGBT members.
Paragraph 1: talk about how dress codes are negative to students
Dress codes are a set down rules on what can be worn at school, and where this can be positive in some ways, it can also have a negative effect on students and their identity. As Natalie Smith states, “One very important way in which we present ourselves to the world is through dress and appearance” ( p. 1). Presenting this sense of identity is important to everyone, but it can be more important for young people who are trying to establish their identity and figure out who they are. Smith also says that this expression of identity and individuality can be opposed and be at odds with school dress codes because they can restrict what a student can and cannot wear (p. 1). According to Deanna Glickman, and going along with what Smith has presented, “Dress codes are a point of controversy within many school districts, raising questions of classism, racism, and conformity” (Glickman p. 1). As Glickman said, dress …show more content…
Glickman speaks on how crucial clothing can be for this group of people when he says, “...clothing choice is an integral part of gender identity and expression” (Glickman p. 6).Examples of how dress codes have taken away the ability for LGBT group members include the case with Ceara Sturgis who prefered to dress in male clothing, and when it came time to take her senior picture, she did not feel comfortable wearing the drape she was given. The photographer allowed her to wear the tuxedo to feel more comfortable, however, when she was given her yearbook her picture was nowhere to be found. “Because of her choice of clothing the school administration had refused to print Ceara’s photo, or even her name, in the senior yearbook” (Smith p.1). A similar case was presented in Harper v. Edgewood where a school did not allow a female and male student to attend prom in clothes of the opposite sex (Smith p. 4). “Rejecting the students' claim that the school board discriminated on the basis of sex by allowing female students, but not male students, to wear dresses, and male students, but not female students, to wear tuxedos, the court replied that the school dress code did not differentiate based on sex because it required all students to dress in conformity with the accepted standards of the community” (Smith p.

Show More

Research Methods

Essay on Final Report Managing Diversity

Why Do Dress Codes Affect Student's Identity?

Related Documents: Why Do Dress Codes Affect Student's Identity?

Research Methods

Essay on Final Report Managing Diversity