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The Attire Verdict
The concept of a dress code in colleges might seem
like a very good idea to ensure equality among
students but it is very misleading in the global
south where the dress code dictates acceptable
outfits and is enough to judge the conduct of a
person or character.
Dress code laws were first introduced in the year
1969 by the U.S. Supreme Court when several Nappinnai v
school students wore black armbands to school in 2020-24 ece
protest against the Vietnam War. Hence dress code was implemented to limit
student expression so that it may not interrupt the functioning of an
environment.
We could always notice that the dress codes in any
institution strictly adhere to traditional clothing
and have less acceptance of modern trends. The
dress code often is misused to pass opinionated
comments on a person's character. Even though
dress codes affect every student irrespective of their
gender, women are more prone to it due to the
existing socio-political conditions. Regressive dress
codes lead to moral policing of women that can
affect an individual psychologically; this is
substantiated by the reports of the American
Psychological Association. This leads to tendencies
of self-blaming in cases of abuse.
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