Guest Opinion: There's No Code for Sexualization

by Akeeya Sylvester

Imagine this: your five-year-old daughter was sent home because her skirt rode up a little too high. You say it’s no big deal, but is it? What is this teaching her?

A five-year-old little girl should be worried about what color crayon she wants to use, not worrying about “trusted” teachers and older men goggling at her skirt and tights. The problem with the dress code that has been drilled into a girl’s head from a young age is that it’s teaching girls that they should be viewed as sexual beings. Look at it like this: a young boy can take off his shirt and run around without the worry of an older woman wanting to sexually harass him. A young girl will wear a shirt that exposes her shoulders, and instantly, adults are drilling in her head that “flaunting” around a body like that will attract predators.

Why are we putting all this pressure on the girls? It’d be simple to drill it into a young boy’s head that touching any girl without consent is inappropriate, so we could prevent events like rape and sexual harassment from happening. “Let boys be boys” is no excuse; a boy is taught the way he acts by people he looks up to and by never being taught what he’s doing is wrong. Instead schools and media focus in on body parts on girls, like showing bit of stomach, shoulders, or thighs. Simple body parts that could easily have no meaning are given a reputation to be viewed as sexual. It does not have to be that way.

For example, at the age of 12, I was sent to the office because my shirt was cut “too low.” I was pulled out of class to go to the office and hear a lecture about my body, concerning the way it was covered. Who reported it? An adult.  

When young children are put in a classroom, they pay attention to the teacher. Some students may doodle and some may talk when they’re not supposed to, but I have never in my life known students in middle school or younger pay attention to the way their classmate’s collar bones show. At that age most young girls are not even fully developed, yet they’re still being sexualized for something they don’t have yet. Young boys may be curious, but something as innocent as shoulders showing should not drive their imagination wild. It shouldn’t for adults either.

A child or teen with a pair of shorts that fit above mid-thigh or a top that has spaghetti straps/no straps most likely walked out of the house with her parent or guardian viewing what she chose to wear. A school is meant to be a learning environment and should have adults capable enough to not view girls as sexual objects and instead as human beings. If a boy can wear a muscle tee with his entire side being shown, a girl should be able to show her shoulders in her favorite dress, for example. Unless there is a very vivid view of a girl’s privates I don’t believe they should be distracted from learning to be told they could be distracting others. Isn’t the school the one distracting the student? The amount of time a girl spends calling home, changing, or sitting in the school’s office is taking away from her time to be learning in class.

If we put a stop to sexualizing young girls and start teaching young boys the word “no,” then girls could grow up feeling safer and more confident in their skin. I believe our next generation could start a revolution for girls and their children’s future education system. So the next time you look at a young girl and only pay attention to her so called “revealing” shorts, remember in that moment of time you are sexualizing a minor for legs that could easily be viewed as we view boys’.