THE LEORA LETTER

Slut-shaming matters because when people are dismissed as sluts, hoes, and thots, they are denied care and compassion as human beings and in a variety of situations, including when they are sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, and need an abortion.

Many school administrators claim that regulations over girls’ clothes are necessary because otherwise, guys will be “distracted” and won’t be able to focus in the classroom.

Let’s put aside the problematic assumptions of this thinking (that all students are heterosexual and cisgender and that the learning and comfort of boys are more important than those of girls). Is it even true that boys can’t focus in the classroom when a girl sitting nearby is wearing a crop top or shorts or has a visible bra strap?

Let’s find out.

Danny (22, California, bisexual): The clothes that distracted me in high school were not necessarily clothes that revealed body parts. Sometimes I would be distracted by clothes that were just very colorful.

One day in high school, a girl in my class was not wearing a bra. My friends and I noticed and talked about it. But my learning was not affected.

I went to college in southern California, and everyone dressed like they were going to the beach. There were a lot of short shorts and crop tops. It’s part of the culture because everyone bikes and surfs, and lots of people go to the gym and work out all the time. When you see everyone dressed in that style every day, your brain stops processing it, and it becomes a non-issue. I can’t remember any time where I was distracted in the classroom because of the way people were dressed.

Look, people notice if you show up dressed like a Hooters waitress. But just because they notice doesn’t mean they will be distracted. On the other hand, if a guy thinks a girl is hot, he will look at her in the classroom no matter what she’s wearing.

Jake (21, Colorado, non-binary, male presenting): I never heard anyone say they were distracted from learning by the way a girl was dressed. But they did notice. There’s a difference between noticing and being distracted.

My high school had a dress code. It didn’t seem sexist because it was the same for everyone. But it was enforced differently for girls. Guys could wear shorts that were on the shorter side, and that was never an issue. But when girls wore shorts that were the same length, then it would be an issue.

At one point, some guys made a list of all the girls and ranked them on attractiveness. They called it the Big Booty list. The girls I was friends with were, like, “This is really rude; this is not cool.” It made the girls really uncomfortable. I would think that they found that distracting.

Zach (24, Pennsylvania, heterosexual): Yes, I was distracted when certain girls wore revealing clothes, but I would not have been less distracted if they had covered their bodies more. What I’m saying is that it would not have made any difference if they were covered up or not because some girls are hot, and it really doesn’t matter what they wear. If I think a girl is hot, then she’s hot. The real issue is that if girls want to wear revealing clothes, that is their choice, and young men need to know how to control themselves when they think a girl is hot.