Apparently, the mantra “live your truth” does not apply to teenage boys. This is seen in a myriad of ways, but most especially in the fury over school dress codes for female students.
An article on Vox titled “Students are waging war on sexist and racist school dress codes – and they’re winning” makes clear that attempts to nudge female students to more modest dress, even if just a little, are considered a violation of identity politics’ new rules. Never mind that teenage boys are filled with raging hormones that are exacerbated by the sight of female flesh. And it doesn’t take the sight of much flesh, at that.
That fact, of course, is rarely considered when discussing things like modesty and dress codes for females. Case in point, before providing a list of examples, Vox states:
While many schools continue to impose dress codes shaped by outmoded race, class, and gender constructs, a growing number are addressing how their policies disproportionately affect certain groups of students more than others, and they are letting students dress mostly as they please.
No one exists in a vacuum. What affects one person will affect another person. The question becomes, does the effect on the one justify the effect on the other? In the case of clothing for females in schools, it’s a legitimate (and needed) question to ask if the dress code is helping or hurting male students focus on their studies.
Among their examples, Vox includes a story about a teenage girl whose nipples were evident under her shirt.
Although the dress code at her school in Bradenton, Florida, did not specify that girls must wear bras, Martinez said that her teacher complained and had her removed from class for being a distraction.
“The dean asked me if I was wearing a bra,” she said. “They made me put a shirt on over my shirt, and band-aids over my nipples.”
Well, yeah.
Whether feminists like it or not, males are biologically programmed to love female nipples. What’s more, the hormones of teenage boys have stormed the gates of their still-developing brains and have set themselves up as the despotic ruler over their emotions, sex drive, and reasoning ability. That’s a fact. And while I understand that postmodern leftists aren’t fans of facts, discarding that biological reality about teenage boys will only serve to undermine the education of males and, ultimately, of females.
I also understand the desire to iron out the effects of dress codes, but I’m not sure if that’s completely possible. If leftists have their way and females are allowed to display their nipples through thin shirts, for example, will teenage boys be penalized for enjoying it? Because they will enjoy it. I promise you that male students are some of the biggest supporters of the removal of dress code standards for female students.
Teenage boys need to be taught to not be ruled by their hormones. It’s not okay for them to objectify females, no matter how much their hormones may push them to that. Pushing back on that for them is part of the job of the adults tasked with their education and development. However, placing them in an environment where they are surrounded by the objects of their overwhelming desire is akin to locking a smoker in a cigarette factory in order to help him quit smoking. If leftists want to do away with “sexist” dress codes, maybe we should go to gender-segregated schools.
I’m not suggesting that teenage boys should be encouraged to allow their smoldering lust to burn unabated. I’m asking for a little bit of consistency and honesty in acknowledging how the hormones of teenage boys affect them when discussing things like modesty and dress codes. Like it or not, more people are involved in decisions about female dress codes than just teenage girls.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member