While schools might claim that their dress codes are intended to avoid the sexualization of girls, they often actually serve the opposite purpose: to objectify them by putting focus on their looks and painting their bodies as a distraction.
In a viral video, 15-year-old Melbourne student Faith Sobotker describes exactly how this works.
Sobotker had attended an assembly where girls were admonished for rolling up their skirts, Cosmopolitan reported. She claims that the speaker told students they had to cover up to show self-respect.
In the middle of textiles class, she went on an epic rant addressing this advice. "I have self respect. I look after myself. You can't tell me what self-respect is. You can't tell me what ladylike is," she said.
Then, she got to the crux of the problem. "You do not get to sexualize me like that. You do not get to tell me that my body is sacred, because it isn't. Half the population is female," she said. "[Women] can be however they want to be. They can be however makes them comfortable and confident."
Can this woman please run for school president?
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