The One Good Thing About School Dress Codes

Slut-shaming dress code regulations are galvanizing a generation of activists like Riley O’Keefe.

School dress codes are agents of slut-shaming, driven by the belief that girls who don’t cover up are deviant and distracting. But the one exciting upside is that students are so disgusted and outraged by these sexist, racist regulations that they are galvanized to become feminist activists.


“The administration had been looking at my photo, and what they saw was my chest,” says Florida high school junior Riley O’Keefe. “It was concerning to me that they were basically viewing us just as bodies that were distracting. They were sexualizing us even though we’re still children.”.


I spoke to Riley, 16, about her experiences at Bartram Trail High School.



Read my interview with Riley , which appeared in Ms. Magazine on January 18, 2022.

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