We asked the BuzzFeed Community to share their wildest and most ridiculous dress code stories. Here are the responses that prove these policies probably aren't really about "dressing appropriately," and are more about sexualizing and controlling women's bodies:
1. "My sister switched math classes because, on the first day, the male teacher talking about the dress code said, 'You'd better obey the dress code, because my eyes tend to wander.'"
2. "My senior year of high school, one of my classes was as an office aide, so I was always very careful about what I wore. They decided to 'crack down on the dress code' one day, so they started pulling girls — only girls — into the office for various things. One girl was pulled in because her khaki pants 'accentuated her butt and hips' too much. KHAKI PANTS!"
"I happened to have on a knee-length skirt that had a slit on the side. The slit came to just barely above my fingertip, so they gave me a detention. It was my one and only detention of my whole high school experience. I'm still pissed about it."
3. "In Catholic school, I got detention for having the wrong pattern on my navy blue knee socks."
4. "My sibling had three teachers yell at them for wearing a tight T-shirt. Not a see-through one or a low-neckline one. Their chest and stomach were just 'showing too much' and 'distracting male teachers.' It revealed absolutely nothing and other people had literal tube tops with miniskirts on. It proved that if you're overweight, it's inappropriate to show your body."
5. "I went to a private Christian school. There were so many sexist double standards in our uniforms, I could write a book about it. BUT, there's one that stands out as my all-time favorite: They introduced a new rule that girls were not allowed to carry any items — bags, totes, etc. — with the Victoria's Secret logo on them. Why, you may ask? Because, and I quote this directly from a school administrator, 'We all know what boys think of when they see Victoria's Secret.' You can't make this up."
6. "I’m large chested, just genetics. At the time of this story, I was in seventh grade, so I knew that breasts were secondary sex characteristics, but nobody at this age cared. I was wearing a comfortable T-shirt with a slight V-neck. My class was in the library, working on typing up some paper. Halfway through the period, I was leaning over my computer, almost done, when a teacher yanked me up out of my seat and into the office. She told me, and I’ll never forget these words: 'Your chest is distracting. Fix it.' I was 12 years old."
7. "When I was in high school I was sent to the office to put on a more 'appropriate' shirt. What was I wearing? A cami tank top under a hoodie. I was approached by a male security guard and asked what I had under my jacket. When I answered, I was immediately sent to the office to change. When I asked why, I was told, 'Because, you might take it off at some point.' I mean, by that logic, every girl was in violation because they might take their clothes off. I wasn't one to make trouble, so I changed, and they kept my tank top until the end of the day."
8. "I went to high school in Scotland, where we wore school uniforms. I used to wear a tank top under my shirt, which I would wear unbuttoned to below my chest. I was always quite busty for my age, so not wearing a fully buttoned shirt with a plain-colored top underneath made me feel more comfortable. One day, the head teacher — a middle-aged man — came into our classroom to check that everyone was dressed appropriately. He saw my unbuttoned shirt, and proceeded to BUTTON ME UP, then gave up on after one or two, and told me to do it myself. I was around 15 years old."
9. "My junior year, I was coming back from a dance class (so I was wearing short shorts), and was on my way to the bathroom to change. I was stopped in the hallway by the principal, and he made me come into his office. He told me that I was ‘extremely provocative.’ I was a minor? And he was like 78?? And I was ON MY WAY TO CHANGE. It was ridiculous."
10. "My best friend and I wore matching V-neck shirts to school — exactly the same. During lunch, a security aide started to write me a detention for my 'inappropriate' shirt.' My identically dressed friend didn’t get a detention slip. We asked why and showed we had the same thing on. The aide told me that I should know better than to wear a shirt like that, being 'more developed.' I had to wear a PE shirt the rest of the day, and my friend got to keep wearing her shirt."
11. "I got dress coded a lot for really stupid things in school, but one of the most ridiculous was when I was wearing a shirt that showed the top of my tank top, which was 'three fingertips below my collar bone.' Apparently, if my tank top was showing, it had to be AT my collar bone. The receptionist proceeded to pin my tank top higher to my shirt so that it fully covered my collar bone."
12. "A security guard decided, on a random day, to walk into a classroom, interrupt the teacher, and tell all the girls to stand up. She took all the girls with shorts shorter than fingertip-length to the main office. The boys got to stay seated and laugh at all the girls who were taken out of class."
13. "I got dress coded when I took off my cardigan because I was about to pass out and was getting hot. I had problems with my blood sugar and would pass out if it got too low. That particular day, it was getting low while I was in a male teacher's class, so I took off my cardigan to try and cool myself down. As my teacher was writing me up, I passed out, and they had to call an ambulance. I never got dress coded by him again."
14. "When I went to a Christian college, there were very gender-specific dress/appearance codes. One time, I got in trouble for going to class with wet hair because it could make the boys 'think about me in the shower.' Women also weren't allowed to wear pajama pants to class, to avoid male students 'thinking about them in bed.' But the guys could come to class in whatever the hell they wanted, and it was totally fine."
15. "I watched my friend get dress coded for drawing stars and hearts on her arms in fifth grade. They said she was 'encouraging bad decisions' and made her put a different shirt on that covered her arms."
