{"id":6066,"date":"2022-10-04T09:54:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T14:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/?p=6066"},"modified":"2024-06-07T19:51:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-08T00:51:21","slug":"dress-code-chaos-grace-reinforces-old-rules-for-a-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/dress-code-chaos-grace-reinforces-old-rules-for-a-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Dress Code Chaos: Grace Reinforces Old Rules for a New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photograph of a student provided by Alejandro Izurieta ’24<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As students began to transition from summer to the start of school, the main topic of concern was the updated dress code policy announced by the new administration. This decision sparked a lot of emotions from the student body, primarily anger and frustration. What was the reason behind this decision?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, especially during the Covid years, the existing dress code was rarely enforced. The dress code in the Student Handbook<\/a> states that articles of clothing such as \u201csweat and track pants\u2026tank tops and cropped tops\u2026mini skirts and short shorts,\u201d along with many other items are not allowed to be worn at the Grace High School. This dress code has remained constant throughout the years; however, this year the administration has decided to strongly enforce the dress code, unlike in previous years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decision not only sparked conversations within the school community but also beyond with the publication of an article<\/a> in the New York Times. The article criticizes the reinforcement of the dress code policy: \u201cbewilderment seemed like the only rational response, given the enthusiasm with which the private-school environment encourages the free expression of gender and the empowerment of girls, particularly in terms of their bodily autonomy\u201d (Ginia Bellafante, New York Times). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Pennoyer, the new head of Grace, sent an email regarding the new dress code policy a few days before the New York Times article was released. In the email, he highlights how the \u201cdress code fosters a particular sense of culture and community.\u201d He goes on to describe how enforcing the dress code will lead to \u201cadvancing our mission and values\u201d in our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Gazette reporter conducted an email interview with the new head of High School, Ms. Perry, to determine the reasons behind this decision. The impression Ms. Perry left was that there was a lack of time for new administrators to construct a new dress code that is in line with the current values of the school. Ms. Perry wrote, \u201cbecause I needed to sign off on the Student Handbook shortly after I started this summer, what I did was keep the dress code and the enforcements [sic.] of it named in previous handbooks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Perry added that she thought it was important that she \u201ctook out any reference to gender when it came to apparel.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has been conversation within the student body on how the efforts to remove gender implications from the dress code have not been entirely effective. Amani A. \u201823 wrote:  \u201c… the dress code itself comes with the connotation and history of shaming women\u2019s bodies and therefore I believe that it can not be enforced without the surfacing of these topics.\u201d Amani claimed that there is an inherent misogynistic undertone to the existing dress code that is unfixable: \u201cdress codes are rooted in sexism and, even if gendered language is removed, they will perpetuate unfair standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Wood, dean of the senior class, identified the purpose of the High School dress code in a sit-down interview with a Gazette writer: \u201cI think the way that dress codes benefit schools is by just creating a distinction in school life and not school life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Wood explained how \u201c[the dress code] is about the difference between formal and informal.\u201d She distinguishes between shaming students for the clothing they choose to wear and committing to accountability as a community. Ms. Wood explains that the latter is applicable to Grace\u2019s dress code. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement of the dress code policy created some chaos within the school community, provoking dozens of clashing opinions, especially between students and faculty. Hazel Z. \u201825 stated, \u201c[administrators] say that the reason we can\u2019t wear certain items is because it\u2019s not school appropriate, and that\u2019s just not true. You can make a tank top look professional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David C. \u201824 explained: \u201cI think it\u2019s definitely important to [wear] appropriate attire at school, but I think that some rules that are common in a lot of dress codes are kind of archaic and feel a bit outdated to what is commonplace in teenage clothing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students felt the abrupt announcements of the new standards seemed to be closing the conversation instead of encouraging them to express their feelings. The conversation will continue to be ongoing as students increasingly participate and contribute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photograph of a student provided by Alejandro Izurieta ’24 As students began to transition from summer to the start of school, the main topic of concern was the updated dress… Continue reading “Dress Code Chaos: Grace Reinforces Old Rules for a New Year”<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":6069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,13,200,7],"tags":[888,180],"appful":[],"class_list":["post-6066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-opinions","category-recent","category-school","tag-dresscode","tag-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9uEnr-1zQ","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Student-dress-code-please-find-name-of-student.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6066"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6072,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6066\/revisions\/6072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6066"},{"taxonomy":"appful","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/appful?post=6066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}