{"id":1432,"date":"2009-11-18T23:15:49","date_gmt":"2009-11-19T06:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/?p=1432"},"modified":"2011-03-24T12:12:05","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T19:12:05","slug":"cross-dress-codes-guest-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2009\/11\/18\/cross-dress-codes-guest-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross-Dress Codes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shari Dworkin and I are happy to introduce our first official guest post, from Adina Nack<\/a>, Associate Professor of Sociology at California Lutheran University:<\/p>\n

———-<\/p>\n

By Adina Nack<\/p>\n

What are the overt and covert goals of school dress codes? Are these dress codes developed to ensure that students meet norms of professionalism, or do these serve as tools for schools to enforce heteronormativity and stigmatize transgenderism? Are schools citing safety concerns, warning parents about how to protect youth from harm, or do these intend to distract us from the ways in which dress codes serve to reinforce heterosexist norms? How well can we predict the unintended consequences of dress codes \u2013 both the more \u2018traditional\u2019 and more \u2018progressive\u2019 policies?<\/p>\n

These are the questions I found myself asking after reading Shari Dworkin\u2019s recent post about Morehouse College\u2019s dress code<\/a> and a recent New York Times article by Jan Hoffman that asked, \u201cCan a boy wear a skirt to school?\u201d: (see\u00a0High Schools Struggle When Gender Bends the Dress Code<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"articleLarge\"This NYT piece focused on the number of U.S. high schools who have created dress codes that explicitly classify \u201cunconventional gender expression\u201d as violations warranting disciplinary actions. Hoffman also mentioned some high schools whose dress codes are more accepting of \u201cgender-blurring clothing.\u201d Hoffman\u2019s recent NYT article includes arguments for and against dress codes that allow for a diverse range of gender and sexuality expressions, noting safety as \u201ca critical concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

To exemplify this point, Hoffman mentions Lawrence King\u2019s 2008 murder. Living and teaching near Oxnard, CA, I had immersed myself in the news coverage of this school shooting. Journalists often discussed King as a 15-year-old student who sometimes cross-dressed and who had talked about being gay. For example, Ramin Setoobeh\u2019s 2008 coverage of King\u2019s story in Newsweek included detailed descriptions of the clothing, make-up, and accessories that the 15-year-old often wore to school. At the time of the murder, many local residents \u2013 ranging from the socially conservative to the socially progressive \u2013 were shocked when reports revealed that King had been allowed to \u2018cross-dress\u2019 at his middle school. According to MSNBC, his school\u2019s leniency became the reason for Lawrence King\u2019s family to file a personal injury claim against the school district: \u201cfor not enforcing the dress code.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to questions of school safety, it is not appropriate to posit any dress code as the solution. Blaming a school \u2013 for having a \u201clenient\u201d dress code or for not enforcing a dress code \u2013 is a simplistic and unjust conclusion to reach. Following this line of reasoning, we should not question a dress code which privileges a narrow definition of masculinity. Codes and policies rooted in social inequalities serve to elevate oppressive norms \u2013 we can and should be critical consumers.<\/p>\n

In an SWS listserv discussion inspired by last week\u2019s NYT article, sociologist Joan I. Biddle, raised interesting points that illustrate why a context-sensitive analysis is key. I followed up with her by email, and she clarified her perspective:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe degree to which the faculty become involved with these students may have a lot to do with how the student behaves at school. Is the student doing things which disrupt the learning of other students? Also, how does the student present her\/himself to the others in the school setting? And, is this presentation compatible with the flow of things in the social\/educational environment at the school?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Several questions arise here: How does heteronormativity influence teachers\u2019 and administrators\u2019 definitions of \u2018disruptive\u2019 behavior? Do longstanding stereotypes about homosexual males \u2013 as those who seek to \u2018convert\u2019 heterosexuals or as supposed perpetrators of sexual crimes \u2013 make it more likely for a cross-dressing male student to be labeled as deviant and aggressive?<\/p>\n

Biddle\u2019s point about the social significance of a student being perceived as \u2018disruptive\u2019 is illustrated by a line in Setoobeh\u2019s article about King\u2019s murder: \u201cLarry King was, admittedly, a problematical test case: he was a troubled child who flaunted his sexuality and wielded it like a weapon\u2014it was often his first line of defense.\u201d In U.S. schools, are heterosexual students ever accused of \u2018flaunting\u2019 their sexuality? Are heterosexual boys who flirt with girls likely to be cited for having used their sexuality as a weapon? \u00a0Setoobeh\u2019s use of a \u2018sexuality-as-weapon\u2019 metaphor likely referred to reports of King being accused of \u2018sexually harassing\u2019 several male students, including the student who ultimately killed him. However, framing King as the one wielding \u201ca weapon\u201d distracts from how we problematize any sexual agency on the part of minority sexualities and the numerous reports about King having been the victim of homophobic bullying.<\/p>\n

A year and a half after this tragedy, mainstream media coverage of school dress codes fails to bring sufficient attention to underlying inequalities reinforced by these institutional policies which codify heterosexism. If we want to focus on safety concerns, then what about holding all U.S. schools accountable for not allowing any type of bullying or sexual harassment to take place on their campuses? Reframing the social problem in this way would require a nationwide crackdown on the most prevalent and normalized type of sexual harassment \u2013 that of boys\/men harassing girls\/women. We would also have to address the far too common harassment and bullying of LGBTQ students, heterosexual female students, and students who are marginalized for their ethnicity, social class, abilities, or religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

I agree with Dworkin, who concluded her post with, \u201cSupporting dominant forms of gendered, racialized, and sexualized masculinities (heterosexual masculinities, middle class masculinities) and erasing subordinated masculinities (gay, working class, or urban underclass) whether this is through dress codes, hair styles, speech, or other social practices simply does not recognize that there are many acceptable ways to be a man\u2026.\u201d It\u2019s time to de-stigmatize \u2018boys in skirts\u2019 and keep issues of power and privilege in mind when we discuss students\u2019 expressions of sex, gender, and sexuality.<\/p>\n

__________________<\/p>\n

Suggested Readings<\/strong>:<\/p>\n