Mom’s Facebook response to sexist school dress codes deserves a slow clap
We’ve celebrated so many students this past year who took a stand against their middle and high school’s sexist dress codes. We love these young women for rallying together and forcing their administrations to take a long hard look at their unfair policies. We also LOVE when these girl’s parents stand up for their daughters’ right to receive their education without being shamed about their wardrobe and/or their bodies.
Today, we’re celebrating Deanna Wolf, the dream mom whose daughter Josephina Thompson recently found herself in conflict with her school’s dress code policy. As Alabama.com reports, Thompson entered Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama wearing black leggings and a baggy black sweatshirt with a hem that complied with the school dress code by going no higher than three inches above the bend of the back of her knees.
Still, even though Thompson’s outfit complied with dress code, she was reportedly pulled aside by a female security officer and forced to miss her first class as she waited in a discipline room for a change of clothes to be brought to her.
Well, Deanna “Mom of the Year” Wolf was NOT going to just let this one go. She took to Facebook and wrote a blazingly great post that gets right to the heart of the problem with creating and enforcing this kind of dress code:
It makes our hearts sad to think of a student missing out on her education because of what she was wearing. School districts often pull out the old excuse that they don’t want a dress code violation to “distract other students,” and in this situation we have to ask “How is ANYONE going to be distracted by leggings and an oversized sweatshirt? The only one distracted here was poor Josephine, who was forced to miss an entire class as a result of her administration’s poor judgement.” We also agree with Deanna that the notion of girls’ bodies being a “distraction” in the first place is shaming and reinforces negative, misguided concepts about gender.
And we’re not alone. Since Wolf wrote her post, it has gone viral, and has been shared over 1200 times. We love how fiercely this mother defended her child and we one-hundred percent co-sign this statement. While a rep for the school told Alabama.com that the policy is not biased against girls and applies to everybody, Deanna maintains that her daughter was unfairly targeted.
“It’s the cultural norm to shame girls and to hold them responsible for other peoples’ actions and thoughts,” she told the publication. “I don’t think it’s going to change, but that’s not to say I won’t fight for change, because I will.”
Let’s here it for Deanna—for having her daughter’s back and for fighting for change.
Related:
How to shut down sexist dress codes? With the perfect yearbook quote.
Teens are using this hashtag to fight back against unfair dress code policies
(Images via Facebook)
