Back to school time! And with it comes back to dress-coding teen girls for having bodies time. In this case, 17-year-old Kelsey Paige Anderson, who attends Joplin High School in Joplin, MO, was sent to the office because, according to her teacher, "bustier women need to wear clothing that cover their cleavage." What risque outfit was she wearing, you might wonder? The answer is: a long sleeve shirt with a regular neckline and a pair of skinny jeans. Huh. Sounds pretty school-appropriate to me.
The teen's mom, a woman named Melissa Barber, wrote a few posts and put up some pics and video on Facebook about the ordeal, revealing that the same teacher also told her daughter, "Plus size women need to dress accordingly." Oh, and by the way—this wasn't even a private conversation, this was happening in front of the entire class. She included a picture of her daughter wearing the very outfit that got her in trouble, and you know what, she looks fine.
Barber's full post reads,
I received a call from the school about my daughter being sent to the office for a dress code violation. I was told that the teacher was being unreasonable and obviously made a mistake. My daughter was speaking to the counsoler and I was asked to attend a meeting with her and the principal. (A different principal than the one I had just spoken with.) She was sent to the office by her Child Develoment teacher Mrs. Morris. When my daughter asked why she was being sent to the office, this teacher told her "bustier women need to wear clothing that cover their cleavage." Then followed it up by saying "Plus size women need to dress accordingly". My daughter has just been called "Busty" and "Plus Size" in front of the entire class. I was called to come to the school for a meeting with a counsoler (female) and a principal (male). This principal continued to defend the teacher by saying "Well, we have never had a problem with her before." I began explaining that my daughter was just sexualized by her teacher in front of the whole class. She was embarrassed and horrified. She requested to be removed from the teachers class. He said no. He continued to defend the teacher. I could see we were getting nowhere. I was close to loosing my temper. I took my daughter by the hand and we left. I refuse to put my daughter in a situation where her self esteem is completely destroyed. She is there to learn. This whole time she was missing out on an education while we were all sitting in a room discussing her boobs. How often does this happen to your sons? Seems like another way to keep girls uneducated.
Barber makes some strong points—and she's right, this sort of thing does not happen to boys. And it's screwing with girls' educations, because they're too busy making sure they're so covered up no one would be able to tell they have a human body lurking underneath their clothing to learn anything.
The secret's out, everyone—most women you encounter in life will have breasts. Can girls LIVE? APPARENTLY NOT.
