Why are Women told to Cover Up?
By: Caitlin Kelly
Tags: Womens Rights, Feminism, Dress Code

An Essay By Caitlin Kelly, 2020

INTRODUCTION: From a Young Woman’s Perspective

Why are women told to cover up from men’s glares? As a woman, all my life from the age of eleven, I was told: “maybe put on a jacket over that,” “you can’t wear that, it’ll distract the boys,” “your dress can’t be that short.” I’ve always thought it was unnatural when my public middle school put in place a dress code. As if sexualizing underage girls wasn’t weird enough, they would never put restrictions on the boys. This system is sexist. Girls couldn’t show their shoulders, they couldn’t wear shorts that were under a certain length, and so on. I was told what to wear and what to not wear at the age of ten and I always questioned it. I remember girls would be pulled out of class to change into old uniforms as punishment for what they were wearing. This resulted in a lot of missed class time for many girls. Along with embarrassment from the class for the victim of the dress code.

When you look up “woman told to cover-up” in the google search bar over one billion results come up. Articles and articles about different scenarios when someone told a woman to cover up. These are only the ones documented. It seems as if it’s straight forward in one’s free will to wear and do whatever they want, but there seem to be angry perspectives on both sides of the debate. Why?

From middle school, the sexualization of my womanly body only got worse. There were no restrictions on what to wear in high school. However, I overheard that there was one teacher at my school that made girls stand up and told them whether they would get raped in what they were wearing that day. Hearing this from a peer infuriated me. I have never thought of a man telling a woman what to or what to not wear could make sense to me. It’s a man’s action of if they rape a woman or not, not what the woman wears. As I was told what to and what to not wear all it brought was anger at the institution’s misogyny against the underage women. Given, I was starting to get sexualized from the age of eleven, before I knew anything about my body. But why are women told what to wear but men aren’t taught how to control their sexual desires?

As I grew up, I quickly learned that men’s desires aren’t based on what a woman wears. A woman shouldn’t get blamed for her own sexual assault because of the fabric covering her skin. Along with catcalls on the streets when I would walk past a man in a t-shirt and pants. When I was around eighteen, I worked at a small film studio in Los Angeles. I was already aware of the misogyny in the film industry but I tend to hold my own ground. I worked mainly around men, which was okay except for the CEO. One day the CEO was talking about a girl he fired the previous day. “She got arrested at the BLM protests, I’m not surprised she didn’t get raped in what she was wearing.” She was wearing a tank top and jeans. As he said this out loud, I looked at everyone’s reactions. Blank faces, like he said nothing wrong. I was just an intern, so I was scared of losing my job if I spoke up, especially against the CEO. It brought so much anger out of me that this was acceptable to say, especially freely in a workplace environment.

Why does what a woman wears matter when it’s the men that take action?

DISCRIMINATION: “Ladylike” versus “Boys will be Boys”

The main topic of my discussion is the constant discrimination of women against men. Women are held responsible for objectification from men’s behavior, but how? And why? “Do School Dress Codes Discriminate Against Girls?” written by Sasha Jones, Education Week, (August 31, 2018), explores the dress code of Marcus High School’s sexist dress code discriminating against girls. The resource lightly explores the “me too movement” and the 400 petitions to fight school dress codes. Within this article, Jones explores the negative effect that dress codes have on young girl’s self-esteem and grades. “The concern is that students who may already be struggling academically fall farther behind in class when they miss too much time serving suspensions, changing clothes, or waiting while administrators measure their skirt lengths.” Additionally, Jones also dives into the racism behind these dress codes in regard to traditional African American hairstyles. “Nationwide, African-American girls are 5.5 times more likely than their white counterparts to be suspended from school, but it’s not clear what proportion of those punishments stem from dress-code issues.”

To add to this, Jones ventures out into opposing points of views. “According to the American Civil Liberties Union, dress codes are legal as long as they do not “treat boys and girls differently, force students to conform to sex stereotypes, or censor particular viewpoints.” (This includes protection for transgender, non-binary gender, or any other students who may choose to dress in nontraditional ways.)” The main dress codes in place that target girls at the schools rather than boys. Most dress codes are targeted at the length of a girl’s shorts, the amount of skin a girl shows in comparison to the lenient dress code of the boys. The article then goes on to explain how to petition signings helped impact a more lenient dress code to be enforced.

“The Sexualized Messages Dress Codes are Sending to Students” written by Amber Thomas explores student’s high school dress codes and hidden messages that institutions are sending to male and female students. Thomas explores different high school dress codes and what or what not to wear. Thomas states that “policies like these have recently come under scrutiny due to the sexual tone they communicate.” Additionally, there is also a chart that shows the most common dress codes want to cover up. Midsection falls at the top at 71%. Cleavage then falls in second place at 22%. The rest are smaller percentages underneath. This seems to be a very interesting point, given midriffs are the only “non-sexual” body part on this chart. Thomas states that “somewhat ironically, hiding these body parts away gives them an air of mystery, ultimately increasing the sexual tension surrounding them.” This shows that, once again, women being told what to wear comes from the man’s desire rather than the woman’s body.

Hopefully, further into a woman’s life, dress codes will become more lenient as they grow into an adult in charge of their own body. No, in fact, discrimination does not stop against women after they leave school, it gets worse as they enter professionally dressed jobs. “Not what to wear? Employers’ liability for dress codes?” Written By Sam Middlemiss, 2018 talks about different dress codes that apply to different groups in a workspace. Middlemiss discusses women, men, transgender, black, and controversies that have led to the current day’s dress codes. “What this research has shown is that the current legal system favors employers’ right to restrict how their employees’ dress and female and transgender employees are often disadvantaged because of it.” This explores the professional workplace environment’s restrictions on every group except for cisgender males. How was the work dress code created and how come it has barely changed? This article goes into explaining the Schmidt v. Austicks Bookshops (1978). “Ms. Schmidt was an employee who challenged her employer’s insistence that women should not wear trousers. The employment tribunal found in favor of the employer, holding that different dress codes for men and women is acceptable as the burden of restrictions on men’s dress was equal to that placed on women.”

Within the discrimination created in schools and workplaces, there is also an undertone of what is being worn contributed to rape culture. Women get blamed for their own sexual assaults because of the fabric covering their skin rather than the man committing the crime. “Is Clothing Probative of Attitude or Intent — Implications for Rape and Sexual Harassment Cases” Written by Theresa L. Lennon, Sharron J. Lennon, and Kim K.P. Johnson, Libraries Publishing, 1993 talks about the correlation of clothing in sexual harassment cases. “The belief that clothing can indicate consent to sexual assault or can invite sexual harassment stems from the empirically proven fact that people infer the intent and attitude of others based on their clothes. Because those inferences are often inaccurate, clothing is not probative or relevant evidence of the intent or attitude of the wearer.” This quotation proves the main point of this argument from the feminist point of view. When looking at the data, we’re able to see how there is no purpose of showing consent through clothing. Although in the misogynistic environment of the present day there are many examples of professionals still blaming the victim for the clothes she wears. “In a 1977 Wisconsin rape case, the judge considered the sixteen-year-old complainant’s clothing and sentenced the convicted fifteen-year-old defendant to only probation. The judge called for women to “stop teasing” and for a “restoration of modesty in dress.” Additionally, the judge stated that “whether women like it or not, they are sex objects.” Although this case, was in 1977 there is still a misogynistic undertone within all sexual violence cases in 2020. A museum in Brussels holds rape victim’s clothing they were assaulted in. “The persistent myth that revealing clothing leads to rape” Written By Lindsey Bever, Washington Post, 2018 talks about the exhibition in Brussels that is used to dispel the stubborn myth that clothing is a justification for sexual violence. “‘When you walk around here, you immediately notice they are very normal-looking pieces of clothes that everybody would wear,’ says Liesbeth Kennes. The exhibition, titled “Is it my fault?” addresses the question that some victims of sexual assault — and sometimes society — ask about violent sex crimes.” This exhibit and article went viral on social media which has put a foot down for the new progressive ideas to end victim-blaming. This can be an extremity looking into women’s clothing, however, when you ask enforcers of dress codes, one common answer is about protection. Protection as in, from sexual violence, rape, and protection from the men. However, when you look into statistics of assaults acting on clothing, you quickly learn that it has nothing to do with what a woman wears.

MEDIA: Objectification of Women in Media and conflicts in present-day media.

The main concept discussed in this section is the media’s portrayal of women from an objectified perspective and how the current media tries to conflict with these ideas. Throughout time, women have constantly been objectified in the media. Within cinema, magazines, social media, and daily life. How are women objectified in the media? This can be explained in the “male gaze” concept created by film critic, Laura Mulvey.

“Visual and Other Pleasures” Written By Laura Mulvey, 1973 goes into explaining the concept of the male gaze and female form seen in early cinematic pieces. Mulvey’s ideas of “woman as image and man as the bearer of the look,” can be applied to early Alfred Hitchcock films. In The Birds (1963), Daniels is presented as the center of attention and the object of the man’s desire. “Hitchcock’s skillful use of identification processes and liberal use of a subjective camera from the point of view of the male protagonist draw the spectators deeply into his position, making them share his uneasy gaze. The spectator is absorbed into a voyeuristic situation within the screen scene and diegesis, which parodies his own in the cinema. (Mulvey, 23)” The Birds (1963) and other Hitchcock films display the women characters as the objects of the male’s desire, in respect to the male gaze.

In today’s media, many storytellers have tried to fight the idea of women being objects of male desire. In “Girls are Angry too” Big Mouth. Season 3 Episode 2. Netflix. 4 Oct. 2019., they in-depth explore toxic masculinity within the misogynistic dress codes. The episode makes a parody about putting into place a strict dress code that specifically targets the girls. The episode then goes into the girls getting angry about this sexist dress code and it ends in a girl’s protest against the school. This episode makes fun of the dress codes along with also bringing awareness to society. Given this was in the character’s middle school years while they were still developing through puberty. This also makes fun of the institutions teaching kids to cover up right when they start developing their womanly bodies.

“In a single, often tense episode, Big Mouth shows how profoundly teen boys are influenced by adult institutions that subtly teach, justify, and offer outlets for sexist behavior.” This quote from The Atlantic displays the often overlooked issue of teaching boys that their desires are justified by the institutions. Big Mouth’s episode tackled this issue by making a parody out of it. “Why don’t we just teach the boys to control themselves instead of making the girls hide?” A question asked by Jessie, a character in Big Mouth. The dean of students then replies “that sounds too complicated,” and proceeds to implement a dress code. This makes fun of the way that schools actually handle this problem however, it can be true in a lot of cases.

CULTURE: The Bible and Western Culture, Control versus Hiding

Culturally, women have always been the targets of sexual violence and objectification. Historically, women were seen as the side pieces to their man, whether a mother, wife, or woman to pursue. One of the main targets of sexism in long term culture is the Bible. For the Bible Tells me so: Justifying Gender Discrimination Based on Biblical Text by Courtney McCluney, 2018 says “the following verse is often used to deny women’s ordination in some denominations today: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet” (1 Timothy 2:11–12, New International Version). Regarding gender representation, an inerrant, literal view of the Bible should reveal contradictions.” This is one of the many verses in the Bible that disregards a woman’s worth that is based on the man she submits to.

Earlier in this paper, we discussed the fact that dress codes target girl’s midriffs. But why? If a midriff is not directly correlated to a sexual function why does it have to be the woman’s place to cover them? Within Western culture, the midriff has been a main point of attraction to the media. “The Sexualized Messages Dress Codes are Sending to Students” written by Amber Thomas states that ”in Western culture, the midriff and navel (particularly those on female-presenting bodies), have a long history of being seen as taboo or indecent.” This can be attributed to the media within the 1970s and previous. “Women couldn’t show their belly buttons on television until the 1970s or the streets of New York City until 1985.” This article then goes into the debate of whether or not midriff can be inherently sexual. “Arguments go on about whether a woman baring her midriff is fashionable, erotic, or attractive to those looking at her. But each of these arguments comes from the observer rather than the observed.” This quotation can give the same point we are questioning which is: why is the observer deciding this restriction rather than the observed? Women have been told what to do with their bodies by everyone that isn’t in their body. Whether this has to do with what to wear, body weight, sexual desire, etc.

To add to this question, I took my own path of research to see what people around me think about this issue. I formatted a survey and finished it with twenty-two responses. Eighty-one percent of participants were heterosexual, thirteen percent bisexual and four percent pansexual. Around forty percent of answers say school dress codes are unfair to both women and men although these mainly target women. Thirty-one percent say the dress codes are unfair to women. Twenty-six percent think they are unfair but necessary. I think this is interesting because the main answer to this is that school dress codes are unfair. In the additional answer portion of my study, someone wrote: “I feel like it’s unfair since most women in school are often told what to wear. Either too short or showing too much. Since women often don’t get to choose what they wear and it seems like we are forcing them to do the same. I think it’s happened at school because many teachers don’t want women to be raped just because they are showing too much skin. But much more needed as professionals when they are at work since it’s sort of a respect thing and if they tend to wear out somewhere it often might violate their health of being kidnapped or raped or being pregnant if they show too much skin when boys are around.” I thought this answer was very interesting because it still plays into the idea of boys being the problem, not the woman. In my next question of who should decide what a woman wears, 95% of answers say the woman, with one vote saying the institution in which she is dressing for.

The next questions of my research involved asking questions of if they are distracted when a woman wears a tank top and when a woman wears a low-cut top. The majority of the answers on both of these were no, 58% for the low-cut top and 72% for the tank top. The rest of the answers say they are distracted, even if they are not specifically attracted to women. This also had some fill-in answers of “yes, I am distracted but you should be allowed to wear a tank top after class;” and “you should not wear a low cut short at work. You should dress professionally for the job you have.” I think the answers of both of these studies vary by person but the majority of voters do not get distracted by tank tops. Additional fill-in answers also say: “It perpetuates the idea that women have to cater to the men around her, and that if she is told to change she has to forfeit valued time of her education to do so or that if her clothes are too distracting that she deserves something bad to happen to her.” I think this statement also enforces a point for women catering to the men around them. “The whole dress code/telling women to cover up just reinforces and fuels the already existing rape culture prevalent in today’s patriarchal society,” another quote states.

CONCLUSION: A lot to work towards

To conclude this paper, I have realized that many people will carry their own opinions on what a woman should be allowed to wear. However, we have discussed the many developments currently to combat this and the culture that has contributed to this idea. Mainly, we have learned that clothing is not probative or relevant evidence of the intent or attitude of the wearer. In fact, clothing may be constantly criticized by the person not wearing it. After exploring the Bible, early cinema, Western culture, dress codes and victim-blaming we have seen society’s development although there is still a lot more to work towards.

Works Cited

1.) Middlemiss, Sam. “Not What to Wear? Employers’ Liability for Dress Codes?” International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, vol. 18, no. 1, 2018, pp. 40–51. Crossref, doi:10.1177/1358229118757867.

2.) Jones, Sasha. “Do School Dress Codes Discriminate Against Girls?” Education Week, 15 Apr. 2020, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/09/05/do-school-dress-codes-discrimate-against-girls.html.

3.) “Girls are angry too” Big Mouth. Season 3 Episode 2. Netflix. 4 Oct. 2019.

4.) “The Sexualized Messages Dress Codes Are Sending to Students.” The Pudding, Feb. 2019, pudding.cool/2019/02/dress-code-sexualization.

5.) Giorgis, H. (2019, October 07). ‘Big Mouth’ and the Poisoning of Teenage Boys’ Minds. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/10/big-mouth-season-3/599113/

6.) National Center for Institutional Diversity. “For the Bible Tells Me So: Justifying Gender Discrimination Based on Biblical Text.” Medium, 24 Sept. 2018, medium.com/national-center-for-institutional-diversity/for-the-bible-tells-me-so-justifying-gender-discrimination-based-on-biblical-text-83c61dd4e639.

7.) Rosenblatt, Nina. : “: Visual and Other Pleasures . Laura Mulvey.” Film Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 4, 1990, pp. 59–60. Crossref, doi:10.1525/fq.1990.43.4.04a00370. https://ilearn.sfsu.edu/ay2021/pluginfile.php/137155/course/section/27467/Mulvey-Visual%20Pleasure.pdf

8.) Bever, Lindsey. “The Persistent Myth That Revealing Clothing Leads to Rape.” Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/10/the-persistent-myth-that-revealing-clothing-leads-to-rape.

9.) Lennon, Sharron J., et al. “Forging Linkages between Dress and Law in the U.S., Part I: Rape and Sexual Harassment.” Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, vol. 17, no. 3, 1999, pp. 144–56. Crossref, doi:10.1177/0887302x9901700305.