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"Tank Tops Are Ok but I Don’t Want to See Her Thong": Girls’ Engagements With Secondary School Dress Codes

Brock University

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rraby{at}brocku.ca.

	Abstract

School conduct codes invariably include special mention of dress, often with some reference to concerns about revealing dress. Drawing on eight focus groups with secondary students in Southern Ontario, this article explores female students’ responses to such dress codes. Many young women were critical of certain aspects of their schools’ dress codes and how they are enforced; yet, they were also scornful of girls who wear revealing clothing. These focus group discussions indicate the fine line girls must continue to negotiate in their self-presentation, their active negotiation of school dress codes, their participation in the regulation of normative gender and sexuality, and their concomitant contestation of such regulation.

First published on March 24, 2009
Youth & Society 2009, doi:10.1177/0044118X09333663


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