Picture via Twitter
High school senior Philip Rodriguez noticed that his female classmates were getting sent home from school because of their clothes or told by authority figures to put on more clothing. However, these girls were wearing what he thought was perfectly acceptable attire.
Angered by the double standard in his California school’s dress code, 17-year-old Philip decided to take action.
The teen took to the school halls in a white t-shirt that he had cut into a crop top. He knew any of his female counterparts would most likely get in trouble for wearing such a garment. He wanted to see if the administration would also tell him that he needed to cover up or go home.
Philip told TODAY Style that he was inspired to advocate for his female classmates after a scorching heat wave late in October, during which girls wore less clothing for the sake of their own comfort. Female students then got in trouble for their exposed shoulders and legs, which seemed unfair to Philip.
The 17-year-old documented his sartorial protest via Twitter.
All these girls at HHS getting dress coded for showing too much, ima bout to see if I could get dress coded for the same thing
— phil (@philemonimon) 25 October 2017
Told y'all I would do it, catch me tomorrow wearing this to see if I get dress coded pic.twitter.com/IIo6wom7a7
— phil (@philemonimon) 26 October 2017
In 3rd period now, so far I've just gotten little warnings to put something on but nothing serious https://t.co/0UvjoKcBgU
— phil (@philemonimon) 26 October 2017
UPDATE: I'm in 6th period water polo and I have not gotten dress coded. The day is practically over now. I think we all have our answer pic.twitter.com/ILpqf43UUo
— phil (@philemonimon) 26 October 2017
Thank you for standing up for young women, Philip!
It's a disappointing revelation about the double standard present in school dress codes, but it's not necessarily a surprising one.
The student also expressed his confusion that ‘distraction’ is often cited as the reason for schools to censure female students’ clothing, saying to TODAY Style, “I’m not going to be staring at some girl’s shoulders for 30 minutes of a period. It’s very odd to dress code someone because it’s distracting. I’m not distracted.”
What do you think? Have you noticed a double standard in school dress codes?
