Strict dressing rules in high school generate a culture shock for students as they transition into a lenient post-secondary fashion experience
By: Aliya Karimjee
In an accepting fashionable university, students are often dressed creatively. (Eze Joshua via Pexels)
Shorts must be fingertip length. No cleavage. Top straps must be three fingers wide. These are only the basics of most dressing restrictions affecting young people’s self-expression throughout their high school education.
Most Canadian high schools have strict dress codes or even uniforms, with a common excuse for their enforcement is to prepare students for the “real world.” But what grounds many dress codes in Canadian schooling are classist, misogynistic and racist biases that keep students surveilled, contained and unable to express themselves completely.
Social class biases
Mirek Bialas, a first-year biology student at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), explained the social class biases schools possess when enforcing uniforms.
Students at his school needed two uniforms consisting of many different pieces, including grey canons, a collared shirt in the summer, a fancy dress shirt in the winter, a tie, all-black shoes and more.
“Especially because we had two uniforms, one for summer and one for winter, it was double the amount you must pay,” said Bialas. “So they were expensive and would charge way too much for them, too.”
Bialas said his school sent students home if they were missing a part of the uniform, a common and continuous occurrence for the student body.
In a Toronto Star article, a mom in the GTA explained she spent $413 on her daughter’s school uniform, with the most expensive garment being a jumper that cost $42. “I feel torn,” writes the mother.
Many students and parents face barriers to education because the expensive uniform costs have to be paid upfront and many feel Canadian schools don’t necessarily consider people from lower-income households.
Dress codes enforcing gender roles
Other students share that their uniforms were too-oft gender-focused and gender-marginalizing.
At All Saints Catholic Secondary School in Whitby, Ont., girls had to wear quilts or pants while men wore pants. And while subverting these archaic fashion standards is commonplace, this progression has not been represented in uniforms.
Erielle Edisane, an engineering student from TMU, elaborated that as girls were encouraged to wear skirts with stockings, she wondered why some teachers would dress code women on the sheerness of their tights.
“Why are you staring at girls’ legs anyways?,” said Edisane.
Since entering university, Edisane expressed that being able to express her individuality has been empowering to her.
“I like wearing bright colours and puffy sleeves because I like how that looks on me. I wear whatever I want. I have even considered going to school in a cockroach costume once or twice,” said Edisane.
Edisane is wearing her favourite puffy sleeves outfit described above.
A first-year creative industries student, Samantha Hawes, expressed the sexism she witnessed within her French catholic school and school board. There were stringent dressing restrictions such as the straps of tops needing to be three fingers wide, no crop tops or low backs and shorts at knee-length.
In contrast, restrictions that applied to their male counterparts were lighter; they were even allowed hats in the hallways.
On a hot summer day of 31°C, a school in her school board, Béatrice-Desloges, decided to conduct a random dress code check.
On that day, female students were asked to bend down to measure their dresses and shorts, among other sexist measures.
Students organized a protest against this. An Instagram account by the name Instagram account called @walkoutbd2022 posted a meeting time for students to walk out of their class to condemn the dress codes’ inherent sexism and policing of students’ bodies.
Numerous students walked out with signs and posters saying “l’humiliation n’est pas l’éducation,” translating to embarrassment isn’t education, and “fierté, excellence, respect. Où était votre respect hier?” translating to the school’s values of being proud, excellent and respectful, asking them where their respect towards students was.
The young people also used this opportunity to voice their concerns with the dress code with the media who approached them, such as CBC and CTV Ottawa.
Hawes, being from another school but witnessing this happening in her same school board, was shocked but was happy there was finally a protest. With such a negative high school dressing experience, Hawes struggled to feel empowered in her choice of clothing.
“Because it was so strict, I didn’t feel comfortable wearing what I was wearing anymore. I think it got better in my high school fashion program and now in university, but it brought a certain amount of guilt and shame when you’re breaking those rules because they’d make it seem like it was such a shitty fit,” said Hawes.
Religious bias in educational and governmental institutions
Dress codes also marginalize and restrict individuals’ freedom of religious expression.
Dan Horner, an expert in Quebec history and society, explained in an email interview that Bill 21 in Quebec imposes a dress code in schools and Canadian Society.
“Muslim women living in Quebec under Bill 21, therefore, face a level of scrutiny that men and women of other faiths and backgrounds do not encounter, and is thus a fundamental attack on their equality and their religious freedoms,” said Horner.
He elaborates that dress codes, whether in an educational or governmental society, can deepen hostility.
“The kind of divisive language used by supporters of Bill 21 has created a cultural landscape where some feel more comfortable engaging in racist attacks, be they physical or rhetorical,” said Horner.
He explains that Canadian schools’ dress codes are among the sources of unspoken biases and outdated, harmful rules that encourage a divided society