Saturday 23 March 2019

In Defense of a Dress Code



With the warm weather upon us, and the first signs of spring emerging, freedom from the icy conditions we experienced only a few short weeks ago has brought up the common debate about freedom of dress; indeed, Chilliwack has been making national news for its contentious discussion over the public school dress code. Currently, each school determines their own clothing standards, but most run along the lines of forbidding students to wear anything that is deemed “overly revealing”, with the CSS-SD33 website describing this in detail as meaning “bare midriffs, spaghetti straps, and low necklines.” (Student Dress Code, 2018)

Consequently, in early March, an SD33 board member− claiming that the current codes unfairly target girls− proposed a district-wide policy that would be less restrictive, and would allow for usually prohibited clothing items (such as those previously mentioned) to be accepted. (Hennig, 2019). What followed was what can only be described as an argument between the seven school district trustees during a meeting to discuss the issue, with one even admitting, “I lost my cool.” (Peters, 2019).

Problems suggested with the motion ranged between some who claimed that implementing a district-wide policy was a form of “micro-managing” that supported “immodesty”, while others contended that what a student wears should be determined by their family, and not their school, and that they shouldn’t have to worry about being “dress-coded”. More controversially, a male trustee and former teacher even admitted that he finds revealing clothing on female students to be, “distracting”, and “made him nervous as a teacher” (Lehn, 2019) while another insisted that “girls who dress certain ways are looking for ‘the wrong kind of attention’.” (Peters, 2019)

However, after following the news and giving this debate much thought, I am surprised that a more simple solution has not been recognized or offered. Though I will admit that as a mother of two daughters currently in the school district, I am less objective on this issue than is ideal; however my children are still in kindergarten and have many years before they’ll face some of these dress code concerns that are more prevalent amongst middle and high-schoolers. And I do believe that my solution will be so effective that it negates any biases I might have- undoubtedly, it has the potential to not only bring peace to the issue, but it will also create jobs and allow Chilliwack’s local economy and businesses to grow as well.

For I must say, I understand and sympathize with the concerns proposed by certain trustees about distraction and immodesty. Simply put, a woman’s body is a difficult dilemma for the male population, and, as it has been deemed fact by our community, we know that men are unable to restrain their desires (or their hands) when around innocent, underaged girls. Indeed, even a former Sardis Secondary student who describes herself as from a family of “strong Christian believers who raised [her] to value modesty”, she still experienced unwanted sexual touching and attention, even though she, “did everything right, and tried hard to ensure that no one ‘got the wrong idea’ about [her]”. (Modest Dress Codes Don’t Protect, 2019)

Clearly, casual modesty is not the solution to this problem. And in the same way that you would not expect a hungry dog to ignore a juicy steak dripping on the floor in front of it, we cannot expect men and boys to control their appetites towards their female students and peers.

Because it is not only a woman’s body that is upsetting, but also the way it moves− when she strides determinedly down the hallway towards her next class, or sits in the front row making copious notes, or perhaps when she swings unconcernedly on the monkey bars with friends. Even her very breathing, which makes her chest rise and fall, is an attack on her poor male peers who simply wish to teach or learn without being exposed to the scandal that is her physical existence. Men and boys are under constant assault, and can we really, in good faith, expect them to be perpetually vigilant in a school environment, always checking their own behaviour and feeling guilt and shame for any momentary slip? For if we punish and humiliate boys for their unwelcomed sexual contact towards their female peers, we risk exposing them to a life burdened by uncertainty and blame− one where they constantly feel responsible for the way they treat others. And this is deeply unjust, as we all know that it is the female form that truly carries the blame for men’s− and wider society’s− actions.

Therefore, my proposal is for a different district-wide policy, one that implements a garment known as a chadri or burqa to become the school uniform for all females who wish to attend co-ed institutions. Of course this might seem shocking at first, as the burqa has been an item of intense controversy in the West and has even been banned in Quebec, but I believe it is an important, untapped resource that our community could be greatly aided by.

To clarify, a burqa is not to be mistaken with a niqab, which is simply a veil for the face; the burqa is for the entire body, and will successfully coat a woman from head to toe in a sort of black invisibility cloak. In this way, she will be prevented from unnecessarily and maliciously distracting her male contemporaries, and these students and male teachers will finally be able to attain peace and success in their education without the fear of an unwitting attack by so many uncovered female bodies. And in fact, the burqas do not have to be black− they could be adorned with images of famous football players, or fast cars, or even US presidents so as to serve as an item of pleasure to the male gaze.

Of course, there is one problem with the burqa that I obviously recognize, and that’s the fact that it doesn’t properly cover the eyes; often simply a layer of mesh or a screen is used, but this doesn’t entirely remedy the issue. And it is without question that if a girl can look for the wrong kind of attention with her body, she can certainly do it with her pupils! However, I believe that if we as a society work quickly to teach our school-aged daughters to keep their focus on the ground (which they will have to do anyway to avoid tripping over the heavy folds of fabric in front of them) then we can circumvent the potential difficulties of seductive, immodest eye contact that they might initiate.

I did mention that my solution would help with Chilliwack’s local economy, and this can be demonstrated by the way that our little city is widely recognized for its handmade, homemade goods− given this, all burqas could be made locally by many of the quilting guilds, craftswomen, boutique shops, and practically anyone who owns a sewing machine in town. Spring and summer farmer’s markets, which often showcase locally handmade dresses or purses, could instead hang these female body-bags from their stalls− and if it was a required uniform, they’d be guaranteed to sell out. The burqas could be made individually for families, or produced and ordered en masse to be distributed by our local churches during Sunday service to the school-aged female population. Even for stay-at-home mothers and wives (who often find themselves with more rest and free time than they know what to do with) would benefit from this opportunity. Once they’d mastered the art of sewing− which naturally is a skill all women should possess anyway− they could finally keep their idle hands busy stitching seasonal burqas for their daughters.

If the steak is not before it, the dog will not salivate. For the first time in a long time, schools will be safe spaces for men again− grades and class averages will undoubtedly rise, as men will be able to attend, teach, and focus without the terrible distraction of noticing a body and face that differs from their own. No longer will they be diverted by a prepubescent female adjusting to a changing figure, or be made to feel physically uncomfortable by a woman who is herself physically at ease. And for parents, they finally won’t have to worry about their daughters being perceived as wanting “the wrong kind of attention” or being immoral− the burqa will protect her from being perceived in any way at all.     



Works Cited
Hennig, C. (2019, March 12). School dress codes unfairly single-out girls, trustee says. CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/chilliwack-school-trustee-dress-code-1.5052881
Lehn, D. (2019, March 17). More controversial remarks from Chilliwack School Trustee Darrell Ferguson. Fraser Valley News Network. Retrieved from: http://fraservalleynewsnetwork.com/2019/03/17/more-controversial-remarks-from-chilliwack-school-trustee-darrell-ferguson-video/
Peters, J. (2019, March 13). Trustee admits to ‘losing her cool’ during Chilliwack dress code discussion. The Chilliwack Progress. Retrieved from: https://www.theprogress.com/news/trustee-admits-to-losing-her-cool-during-chilliwack-dress-code-discussion/
Chilliwack grad says modest dress codes don’t protect students from assault. [Letter to the editor]. The Abbotsford News. 2019, March 18. Retrieved from: https://www.abbynews.com/letters/letter-chilliwack-grad-says-modesty-doesnt-protect-girls-from-assault/
Chilliwack Secondary School. 2018. Student Dress Code. Retrieved from: https://css.sd33.bc.ca/announcement/student-dress-code

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