School tells braless teen to cover up her nipples with band-aids

lenovox1

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,575
Damn she literally telling her she's to blame for the behaviour of her class mates. Good lord.
Any distraction due to dress can be viewed as a violation. It's an arbitrary standard (and for a reason).

For everyone saying dress code, from the article:

The dress code does not specifically address or require bras.
Every single school's dress code has a "distraction" clause. Not that it was applied well in this scenario.
 

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,761
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you.

You know, I've been watching Friends recently and, particularly in the early seasons, you can see the girls nipples all the time. There's even an episode where you can definitely pretty much see Lisa Kudrows boobs.

Was the female nipple stigma not there in the 90s? Overall is it a recent thing?
Definitely was a thing in the 90s. I remember high school classmates were sent to the principal’s office for wearing revealing halter tops. Keep in mind that TV often is not a representation of everyday life. Also, they were trying to push the envelope and sex sells.
 

nicolasacmf

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
1,115
Fucking awful, unfair bullshit is what this is. Dress codes suck, but they often suck far more for women and this is just another case of that.

OTOH, dress codes are a thing and kids need to understand that, in the real world, that shit has consequences.
But the dress code doesn't specify the need to wear bras. It's in the OP.

But we should be in “hold boys accountable for their actions” era instead of making this about women.
Yes, absolutely.
 

SugarNoodles

Member
Nov 3, 2017
8,627
Portland, OR
How do you know that? She might have been getting bugged by female students as well as getting "google-eyed" stares from the boys.

School handled the whole thing wrong, though.
The longstanding rationale for this kind of action has always been that nips/skin/women are distracting to male students.

Female students are certainly capable of bullying, but no one is trying to protect female bullies from being distracted by another female student’s tits.
 

Dekuman

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,666
This is divisive and perhaps a good argument for uniforms.

If the dress code is clear and the choice to go bra-less is causing a distraction I can see the school officials having a good reason to step in.

Just imagine yourself in the school's position.
Do nothing and possibly get shit on by parents who demand action against exposing their children to nipples
Do something and be accused of blaming the girl

It's a no win.
 

TheIlliterati

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,782
What makes women's breasts more sexual than men's? What makes them sexual at all?
Please. This sort of "enlightened" argument ignores that you can open your Sears catalog and find one covered and one not. We can have an argument that says it should be different, and it should, but how are you supposed to blame a school for changing all of society's general standards that no one gives a fuck about seeing men's breasts while widely sexualizing womens? Get with reality.
 

lenovox1

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,575
Yes...yes she can. "No." It's simple.



Oh..no? The horror?
The point is... That decision would have had consequences for her that she wasn't willing to take. (I, too, would have just gone home, but she doesn't have my frame of mind. She doesn't have your frame of mind.)
 

JSoup

Member
Oct 27, 2017
545
You uh.. might think it is that simple. It's not, really. Determined teachers are the worst.
I..Ok, I'll give you that.
It does seem like something that depends on how determined the final step is.
I saw something like this happen when I was in high school and the final step was having the campus security (read: police) come in to force the issue.
The cop flatly said "This is a waste of my time" and left.
 

Fury451

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,911
So here’s how this should go:

“We have a dress code. You are in violation of that dress code. Please call a family member to bring you and undershirt or bra, or you will be asked to return home for the day.”

Seriously, this is why you have protocol to begin with.

Edit: Since their code doesn’t specify, then they need to amend it to prevent this again.
 
Oct 25, 2017
4,482
Racoon City
The ability to see female nipples will depend almost entirely on whether or not they wear a bra in conjunction with temperatures. Many women will tell you that bras can be uncomfortable as hell so they'll forgo them. So unless they make bras a mandatory part of the dress code, they'll continue to have "incidents" like this.

It'd be just as easy to tell boys (and adult men) to stop getting excited over something so mundane but whatever
 

Ketkat

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,727
So here’s how this should go:

“We have a dress code. You are in violation of that dress code. Please call a family member to bring you and undershirt or bra, or you will be asked to return home for the day.”

Seriously, this is why you have protocol to begin with.
It's not in the dress code that she has to wear a bra
 

Fury451

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,911
It's not in the dress code that she has to wear a bra
I see that. I’m shocked, because at sure as hell was when I was in school.

There were clear outlines for students about was and wasn’t acceptable, and having worked in schools later, I can confirm that proper undergarments are required in all the ones I’ve been at, whether it’s a sports bra or otherwise.

Your mileage may vary I guess.
 

Kirblar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
30,745
Given the escalating solutions and the final one offered, the issue clearly was not the lack of a bra, it was the visible nips. Them being mandated or not isn't relevant.
 

Zoc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,016
We live in a society, and in our society, women's nipples are definitely sexualized. I'm really having a hard time seeing why that's a bad thing, or a good thing, for that matter. It's arbitrary, but so are all the other social rules. That's what makes them social, and not moral or legal, rules.
 

Keldroc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,545
Given the escalating solutions and the final one offered, the issue clearly was not the lack of a bra, it was the visible nips. Them being mandated or not isn't relevant.
Why is that an issue? Why not just tell the people distracted by them to focus on school and to stop staring at their classmate? Why is the impetus on the girl to alter her behavior because of the behavior of others? If the problem is the behavior of others, it's on those others to alter their behavior.
 

Anton Sugar

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,090
We live in a society, and in our society, women's nipples are definitely sexualized. I'm really having a hard time seeing why that's a bad thing, or a good thing, for that matter. It's arbitrary, but so are all the other social rules. That's what makes them social, and not moral or legal, rules.
wut

Is your position that arbitrary rules can be neither good nor bad?

Also, there are *numerous* examples of social rules being directly informed by the morality of whoever the "rulermakers" are. Just because it is a social rule/law, doesn't mean it doesn't have basis in someone's/a belief system's morality (for better or worse).
 

Yasuke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,033
Should she have obeyed the dress code?

Probably.

Is the dress code kinda dumb and archaic?

Sure.
 

RDreamer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,389
Dressing appropriately isn't that hard.
She's covered up. That's appropriate. I don't get why we have to police body parts literally under clothing. Is a dude dressing inappropriately if he's wearing pants that show a bulge? The wrestling team gonna have to get a different uniform?

Like, I kind of understand not allowing full on fucking nipples, but come on. We shouldn't be policing women to have to wear bras under their fucking sweatshirts.
 

TaterTots

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,412
Just start wearing uniforms. Straight guys are naturally attracted to the female body. That's not going to stop. There will be some quick glares, but its going to be a lot worse as a teenager. Only way to stop this is to enforce a uniform policy.
 

HyperFerret

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,140
Given the escalating solutions and the final one offered, the issue clearly was not the lack of a bra, it was the visible nips. Them being mandated or not isn't relevant.
Yeah, some of my thinner bras still show my nipples through them. What are they gonna do, force all girls to wear sports bras?
 

UltimateHigh

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,240
It probably wasn't particularly distracting to the students, but instead to the puritanical (or aroused) bullshitters in charge.
 

Ketkat

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,727
Just start wearing uniforms. Straight guys are naturally attracted to the female body. That's not going to stop. There will be some quick glares, but its going to be a lot worse as a teenager. Only way to stop this is to enforce a uniform policy.
Or they could just punish the guys who are being creeps instead of blaming a girl for not wearing a bra
 

ashep

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,703
Does a woman have a right to feel differently about being touched on the breast as opposed to being touched on the arm?

Of course.

Let's stop with the "breasts are just another body part" rubbish.

Does she have a right to not be stared at or harassed? Obviously. But the school also has a right to mandate that she dress appropriately.
 

okayfrog

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,968
It'd be just as easy to tell boys (and adult men) to stop getting excited over something so mundane but whatever
For several of the guys in her class, it was probably the closest they've come to seeing tits IRL. I can't see nipples being considered mundane for teenage men unless there's a major societal shift.

As for the topic at hand, they definitely handled it poorly. The guys (and girls, if there were any) who heckled her should have been disciplined.
 
Mar 10, 2018
6,577
Please. This sort of "enlightened" argument ignores that you can open your Sears catalog and find one covered and one not. We can have an argument that says it should be different, and it should, but how are you supposed to blame a school for changing all of society's general standards that no one gives a fuck about seeing men's breasts while widely sexualizing womens? Get with reality.
So just because the rest of society thinks it's okay, we shouldn't make any efforts to change it?
 
Oct 25, 2017
6,927
They had extra large clothing for situations like this when I was in school. A woman showed up wearing a shirt against the dress code because it showed her shoulders or something, and instead of suspending her, they just gave her a large sweatshirt to wear for the day.

Edit: Now that I think of it, I also remember a girl wearing a very tight, almost translucent shirt and not having any problems, and a guy wearing way too tight of shorts that outlined everything. Dress code stuff can be strange, but I'm glad I never had to deal with uniforms.
 

TaterTots

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,412
Or they could just punish the guys who are being creeps instead of blaming a girl for not wearing a bra
Punish the teenagers who's hormones are going bananas? It's natural. Enforce a uniform policy and you'll hear about this a lot less.

To make it clear, trying to have the girl wear band aids is incredibly wrong. When I was in school and something like this happened the staff would contact the parents.