A comprehensive guide to clothing for the average female college student
In early March, CNN published an article about an Illinois high school’s guide to acceptable prom attire, which was criticized for body-shaming women.
The 21-slide presentation included two slides about attire for male students. The remaining slides were specifically directed at female students. The presentation was divided into the “acceptable” and “not acceptable.” Guidelines included regulations such as girls’ dresses should not have necklines low enough to show cleavage, and the skirts of dresses should hit below mid-thigh. The guide also noted: “Some girls may wear the same dress, but due to body types, one dress may be acceptable while the other is not.”
To be fair to this Illinois high school, it is important to police the way women dress. We’re only women, after all. Are we, with our sultry wiles, really capable of determining what is and isn’t acceptable for ourselves?
Because we can’t all attend high schools that are so kindly willing to tell women how it is and isn’t acceptable to dress themselves, here are a few clothing guidelines for the average college female, organized by the “acceptable” and “not acceptable,” for easier navigation.
Acceptable: All and any types of necklines. Halter top? V-neck? Scoop neck? Deep V? Underboob, sideboob, complete boob coverage? The 21st-century female should choose the neckline that suits her best, because how much cleavage she chooses to show (or not show) in no way impacts her merit as a human being pursuing a higher education.
Acceptable: Hems that hit above mid-thigh, are at mid-thigh, or below mid-thigh. The average college female should show as much or as little leg as she likes.
Acceptable: Wearing some sort of boob covering, including bras, bandeaus and circular nipple coverings. Also acceptable? Not wearing a bra. The average college female should prioritize breast comfort over anything else, because they are part of her body that may or may not one day serve as a source of sustenance for the offspring she may or may not choose to have. They are not inherently sexual magical masses of fat, muscle and glands placed upon her chest for the sake of the heterosexual male’s gaze.
Acceptable: wearing rompers, miniskirts, shorts, high-waisted shorts, bodycon dresses, shift dresses, loose-fitting blouses, all types of jeans, literally any piece of clothing regardless of body type. The average female college student is beautiful, regardless of what form her body takes.
Not acceptable: The fact that in the 21st century, the ways in which women present and conduct themselves are still being socially policed.
There is nothing wrong with setting clothing guidelines for underage students who are about to attend a formal, school-sponsored event. There is, however, something wrong with a 21-slide presentation about clothing guidelines that almost exclusively addresses female students. There is something wrong with the exceptionally inappropriate misconception that, “Some girls may wear the same dress, but due to body types, one dress may be acceptable while the other is not.”
Perpetuating clothing policies in which the bodies of females are specifically being policed is demeaning for both men and women. To say a woman needs to cover her shoulders, chest or legs is to sexualize completely normal and inherently non-sexual body parts. It tells women that the societal sexualization of their bodies is their own fault, and that they need to be ashamed of showing any body parts that could be seen as even vaguely sexual, especially if they are of a certain size and shape. These policies also send the message that men are wild sex fiends, who can’t control what they are and aren’t turned on by.
This is not just about the 21-slide presentation created by a high school. It’s about dress code policies across the country that penalize female students for the smallest discrepancies, such as failing to wear a shirt that covers their collar bone.
At the end of the day, viewing the female body as inherently sexual and policing it as such is damaging for both men and women, and it’s not acceptable.
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CorrBond