Not Your Body, Not Your Decision
Written by Jenna Sewell, Former Student on Thursday, December 11, 2014
Schools everywhere have certain dress codes, telling you that you can't wear shorts or dresses above a certain length, and you can't show a certain amount of your shoulders or stomach. They do this so that your appearance won't be "distracting" to the staff, the other students, or to keep it "appropriate." But, in this society, why is it considered acceptable to shame students and make them feel less confident in an environment that they are supposed to feel safe in?
As they are walking down the street, people are catcalled and bombarded with comments every day. Instead of teaching individuals to cover up and shaming people for how they look, we should stop sexualizing people's bodies and teach everyone that catcalling is rude, arrogant, and altogether unnecessary. We need to stop teaching people that if someone is wearing more revealing clothing, they are obviously asking for it. For the victims of catcalling, it is embarrassing to have derogatory and rude comments being thrown at them about their body or the way they are dressed. The way other people dress is none of your concern and opinions need to be kept private. Maybe the particular way someone dresses makes them feel good about themselves.
Along with how people dress, body modifications also have a negative stigma following them. They are a form of self-expression. In most jobs, even though it is illegal, an employer will choose not to hire you based solely on if you have "too many" piercings, a visible tattoo, or an eccentric hair color. What a lot of people don't understand is, if you have body modifications, that does not make you a bad person. It doesn't give you the urge to steal, or to harass, or make bad decisions. Chances are, if someone does something considered bad, they made that decision without the help of their body modifications. Think about it- would you respect a war hero any less if you found out they had a tattoo?
When it comes to your body, you're in charge of yourself. No one should make you feel bad about something you choose to do with yourself. No one should get to control how much makeup you are comfortable with wearing, or make you uncomfortable with the size or shape of your body. A piercing or tattoo shouldn't hold you back just because someone else doesn't agree with it. You shouldn't be told that you aren't being modest enough or that you're being too modest. Instead of sexualizing other people's bodies, or making them feel ashamed because it isn't something that is socially "acceptable," we need to respect others and just focus on whatever makes you personally feel comfortable with yourself. You don't get to choose what someone else should do with themselves. If it's not your body, it's not your decision.
