New Resource: Dressed and Ready to Learn

If you are being watched, leave now!

October 5, 2022

Dressed and Ready to Learn: A Resource for Students, Parents and Educators to Identify, Challenge and Change Gendered Dress Codes in K-12 Schools

With the school year in full swing, students throughout the country are waking up every morning and facing the perpetual question, “What should I wear today?” What should not factor into their decision is whether they will be shamed or disciplined by school administrators for wearing something that fails to comply with sexist dress codes. Girls, in particular Black girls, and LGBTQ+ students face disproportionate enforcement of gendered dress codes. Dress codes have, in too many instances, become another mechanism to police students of color and push them out of school while re-enforcing outdated stereotypes about gender roles and girls’ value.

In recent years there has been an increase in attention to dress codes that rely on biased notions of gender and race and inspiring advocacy by students and parents to root them out. Our new resource, Dressed and Ready to Learn: A Resource for Students, Parents and Educators to Identify, Challenge and Change Gendered Dress Codes in K-12 Schools, aims to help students, parents and educators identify dress code provisions that perpetuate harmful biases and provides tools to advocate and implement change.

If you’re being affected by a gendered dress code reach out to us at our Syms Legal Momentum Gender Equality Helpline at 1-800-649-0297 or Help@LMHelpline.org