My Experience With Dress CodesFrom grades 6-8, I had the pleasure of going to a school that enforced its dress code strongly. Now, I have nothing against dress codes - I just have a problem when they are unfair and sexist.
At HPS, the rules are simple; Shorts must be 10 cm long measured from the inseam, sleeve tops must be the width of your hand, no tank tops, belly tops, and no tops with cut outs. Now, I understand why dress codes are in place and I think that some of these rules are fair. Schools want their students to be in proper and respectful dress and there is nothing wrong with that. My problem began when these rules became inconsistent. When I was in grade 6, I was slightly more developed than the other girls in the class. If I wore a pair of shorts that were 8 cm long instead of 10 cm long I was forced to wear my gym uniform whereas my fellow classmates who had not developed as much were allowed to wear even smaller shorts. It was so frustrating. I felt it was unfair, shouldn't we all have to follow these rules? Why should I be the only one punished because of my body? At our school, no dress code rules applied to male students. Female students were punished for wearing shirts where the sleeve is 4 finger width instead of the whole hand, but I always saw guys wearing tank tops with the sleeves cut so low we could see their whole torso (and nipples?? Like ew.). Like what the heck is up with that? The worst part of all this is when I talked to a ‘school authority’ (I won't’ give the position to avoid any trouble) . At that time, many girls in our grade had been arguing these rules to teachers for quite some time, me being one of them and they wanted to meet with some of us to ‘understand our concerns’. When I went there, I asked them what the point of these rules were, specifically for female students because none of them applied to male. They told me it was to keep us safe. I was so socked!! I asked them “safe from what?” They paused for a very long time before finally giving me some silly answer about how wearing short shorts in the woodshop could get caught in the sander. It was sad for me to hear. The fact that this person thought young girls had to cover in order to be safe from predators up really shook me. Not a very good message to send to 14 year old. I really do have nothing against dress codes, in fact, I even think the rules we had in place were fair. Sadly, they were poorly enforced. I really hope HPS changes the way they deal with dress codes because I don’t want to see another generation of girls from that school growing up thinking that they need to cover themselves up to be safe from rape.
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AcneIf there is one thing that is guaranteed in teenage life, it’s acne. At some point in those years, you are bound to get a serious of bad breakouts, it happens to all of us! Some people have it really good, and have super clear skin no matter what. Some of us are not so lucky, and I was one of them.
From the time I was 10 to 15, I suffered from horrible acne. It has only recently went away because I started taking a drug called Accutane May of 2016. Those five years of my life were very hard for me. At the age of 10, who has bad acne? I always felt there was something wrong with me because I was the only one in my class who had this problem. No matter what I did, the pimples would not go away. I had a rigorous skin care routine and tried countless products to try to fix it, but nothing ever seemed to work. After years of frustration, I finally decided to go to my doctor. I tried two different types of treatment. The first was a cream that I had to use for three months. After the three months, it only made my acne worse. After that, my doctor put me on an antibiotic for 6 months. These pills were awful. I had to take four a day for 6 months and the most frustrating part was that they couldn’t be taken with food so I had to take them two hours before or after I eat which was so difficult to manage. The best part of these antibiotics? THEY DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I finally convinced my doctor to refer me to a dermatologist to prescribe me accutane. Accutane is very hard on your body and can cause many negative side effects. Your skin will burn within five minutes of being in the sun, you can gain weight, causes birth defects (only when you are on the medication), it makes you moody. Oh and also, you have to go and get your blood tested every four weeks to make sure your liver and kidneys are failing because accutane can cause severe liver and kidney damage due to the high dose of vitamin A in contains. The worst thing I got out of this medication was horrible dry patches on my chin and around my mouth coupled with cracks in the sides of my lips. Both were embarrassing and painful. Fun, fun fun! And all in the name for clear skin. I was on this medication for 6 months. Those months were difficult, but I don't regret doing it, now I have effortlessly clear (but still very dry) skin!! The point i'm trying to get across here is that acne is something that almost all of us deal with at some point and that it can be really hard to get rid of in some cases, even if you talk really good care of your skin. Abortion
Makeup. Almost everyone wears at least a little bit right? Some more than others, and if you were none at all that’s okay too! Makeup can be a confidence booster and help people feel better about themselves, or it can be a form of artistry. This sounds pretty great, right? You can put some stuff on your face, change your appearance however you like and then at the end of the day take it all off! Sadly there are issues when it comes to wearing makeup. Do you remember that whole “take her swimming on the first date” thing that happened a couple of months ago? Well, twitter user Henny Kravitz tweeted in late 2015 a before and after makeup picture with the caption “This is why you gotta take b***hes swimming on the first date.” This is probably the dumbest tweet I’ve ever seen for many, many reasons. First of all, what girl is gonna want to go to swimming on the date?! Mmhm we would LOVE to go swimming with some guy we barely know for a first date. Second of all, ever heard of waterproof makeup? That stuff will not budge, it is even hard to get off with makeup remover. Girls who wear lots of makeup are often accused of “false advertising”. Girls are not products, we do not need to advertise to you. The fact that wearing makeup is considered being lied to is just stupid, and I’ll tell you why. Do you think girls naturally have red lips? Purple eye shadow? Long black lashes? No, of course we don’t, nobody does! The fact that we are wearing makeup is obvious, so you people who think you need to take her swimming on the first date need to sit down and think about what you are saying. Another thing that bothers me about this tweet is that is saying a girl's appearance is more valuable than her personality.
Also, if a person's makeup is done “wrong” or in done in a way not traditional, that person will be mocked for it. This makes me sad because makeup is something that takes practice and people won’t apply eyeliner or foundation perfectly the first time. People shouldn’t be ridiculed for learning. We all had to start somewhere, right? Another thing that bothers me is when people mock other for wearing non conventional makeup. Let them wear pink eyeshadow and thick eyeliner, it’s not gonna hurt you! I hope there comes a day when we can all let this be, and just let people be happy embracing their individuality. |
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