Another body-shaming dress code for girls—and the high schooler who’s had enough

With prom and graduation season in full swing, it seems like there’s a new story of an overly-restrictive high school dress code policy every other day. And it looks like today is no exception: A mother and daughter in Adams County, Pennsylvania are outraged after receiving a crass dress code letter from Biglerville High School ahead of this week’s graduation.

On Tuesday, the school’s graduating class received letters instructing them on what would (and would not) be appropriate for the upcoming event. Unsurprisingly, there are warnings about not showing underwear (for both young men and women) and for women, rules about keeping skirt lengths appropriate to keep all their “bits and pieces” (ugh) in place. But from there things went decidedly downhill: As a final warning to the seniors girls, the letter states that they should be sure to wear clothes that fit well to avoid “sausage rolls” because “you can’t put 10 pounds of mud in a five-pound sack.”

Accordingly, senior Bri Burtop was not having it with the body shaming and sexism. The 18-year-old blasted the school on Facebook before appearing on the local news to voice her disappointment with the tone and content of the letter.

“You’re supposed to feel safe and comfortable here,” Burtop told ABC’s WHTM affiliate. “And for a letter like that to come from the administration is really appalling.”

“It’s totally wrong, it’s totally degrading,” added Burtop’s mother, Jessica.

The Burtops are now threatening to sue the school for sexual harassment, which led the Biglerville High administration to issue an apology, stating that the letter was “drafted years ago, and the author of the original document has since retired.”

Backpeddle or not, Burtop summed up our collective exhaustion with the body shaming of young women perfectly, writing online, “I didn’t know it was okay to insult your female students. Weight shouldn’t be used for comedic relief.”

Right on, Bri. RIGHT ON.