Women's Rights & Issues
Related: About this forumTeen suspended f/ prom dress because she has "more boobs than other girls"
See the Long-Sleeved Gown That Got a Plus-Size Teen Booted From Prom | TakePart
Its supposed to be the most special evening of a students high school experience. But thanks to a controversy over her dress, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, teenager Alexus Miller-Wigfalls prom night turned into a nightmare. Her floor-length red gown was deemed inappropriate by school officials, who chose to boot her from the event and subsequently gave her a one-day suspension from school.
According to Miller-Wigfall, who is a senior at the SciTech division of Harrisburg High School, although the gown fully covered her body, the schools assistant principal said the size of her breasts was an issue. Miller-Wigfall said she received compliments from other educatorsincluding district superintendent Knight Burneybut she was asked to leave the dance. Three days later, she was notified that she would be suspended for one day because her gown did not meet the proms dress code requirements.
{The assistant principal} said, You have more boobs than other girls. The other girls have less to show, the teen told Penn Live.
After pushback from Miller-Wigfalls mom, Alisha Sneed, and backlash from the community and on social media, district officials decided that Miller-Wigfall would not have to serve her suspension on Friday. The Harrisburg School District believes that proms are celebratory and memorable events in the lives of its students. Our administration, school board, faculty, and advisors strive to ensure that students enjoy themselves immensely while abiding by attire guidelines and expectations that support and promote the elegance of the prom season, the district said in a statement. Neither school representatives nor school district officials were available for comment.
Sneed said her daughter was targeted because she is plus-size and not flat-chested.
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... Guys attending Harrisburg Highs prom were required to wear a tuxedo or a suit and were prohibited from wearing sneakers. However, the attire rules for girls required dresses to be approved in advancethey couldn't be backless or have a high slit or a deep V-neck.
The emphasis on girls outfits is often perceived as slut shaming; critics say schools are making girls cover up so they dont provoke a sexual reaction from boys. Or, in some cases, from their fathers: Last May a teen in Richmond, Virginia, was booted from her prom after one of the chaperoning dads complained that her provocative dress was causing other dads at the event to think impure thoughts.
Sneed said she sent photos of the dress that her daughter planned to wear to the April 25 event to school officials. The initial design was rejected, so the dress, which mom and daughter created, was modified to include longer sleeves and more fabric over the bust. The school districts spokesperson, Kirsten Keys, told the paper that the teenagers dress wasnt approved by the schools deadline.
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http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/05/04/see-gown-plus-size-teen-booted-from-prom
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)Fire the principal, and dump the entire school board!
Novara
(5,837 posts).....and my comment is about shaming girls because boys aren't expected to control themselves, essentially. What is behind most of these types of dress codes is the implication that the girl is tempting men/boys, so she needs to be shamed into covering up so as not to provide a distraction. Why don't we instead start teaching boys that girls are not slabs of meat for their perusal? The responsibility for others' reactions to her should not be placed on a girl. Teach some damn mutual respect and we might get somewhere. Unless she is walking around naked it isn't the girl's responsibility not to be leered at. How about teaching boys not to leer?
GitRDun
(1,846 posts)Cannot imagine wtf they were talking about.