Letters to the Editor
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It's high school
You don't have freedom of speech, they can search your locker, and there is a dress code.
There was a dress code in effect for the prom. I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that "hooker outfit" is not on the accepted list of ensembles. Where was the parent who presumably took prom pictures and let her out of the house in this trashy dress? What a proud moment.
They probably didn't have to lock her up, but she had a lot of nerve arguing about being kept out.
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LOLs at all the outrage
I'm not extremely old, but I dare say my high school would have booted such a student out of our prom as well. Really, there's no excuse for showing up like this, or arguing over the policy. I'm amused some of you consider this to be an assault on her rights.
WTF happened to encouraging kids to show up in hot vintage attire, or at the very least create elaborate pieces out of Duct tape? Granted, I stayed at my prom maybe 30 minutes before heading to the hotel debauchery, but I looked hot in a black velvet gown given to me by an older neighborhood woman (for free!) who had worn it in the 1940s.
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Little Too Out There
Haven't even read the comments yet (sure looking forward to it, though) & if the dress in question is the one on the left, then yes, this 48 year man thinks it is a little too racy for a high school function.
She has some chutzpah to try & get in with it though (and does have the body to carry it off).
P.S. I can't believe the other gowns (in the Houson slideshow) were deemed too provacative. Was Cotton Mather chaperoning that prom?!?!
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I have to feel sorry
for that girl; I get a feeling she has no self-esteem if she actually "loves" that dress!
The slide show of the LA dresses didn't shock me--what really shocked me was how overweight most of the girls were. That was really sad.
Lots of things to criticize--class sizes of 1200 students, the huge, impersonal "educational" industrial complex Texas kids are being pushed through (I've taught there), the glorification of sports teams for the guys and ongoing fashion contests for the girls, leaving education as a last priority--all of it. This isn't school, this is (unsuccessful) warehousing of our young, and this dress is only a tiny, tiny symptom of the problem.
And no, it's not a feminist issue. It's a teenager who feels she has nothing to offer but her body. At her own high school prom, no less--that's too bad.
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I'm a sexually healthy guy
I enjoy seeing a good looking female.
What I do NOT enjoy is a female who has so little self confidence that she has to "DEMAND" attention.
It's really a shame that a pretty girl like the one in the story has to do this.
She would have gotten more attention had she shown up in a sexy and understated great prom dress.
I would NEVER wanted to be with her on that night and, it is ONLY because of what I said above.
Unfortunately, it is not only the young people who are like this.
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Would a white girl have been taken away in handcuffs?
I don't think so.
This girl asked for her money back if she couldn't participate and they refused.That could have ended it.She would have gone home and there would have been no issue.Its not that they refused her its the way they refused her.They had an opportunity to help a youngster that seems to be lacking appropriate parental guidance by teaching her the acceptable community mores , but as usual in America its all about authoritarian power tripping. Centuries of racism make African Americans the dog most easy to kick. A white surburban family would have a lawyer up their butt in no time.
She may not remember what to wear but she and hers will sure as hell will remember the humiliation, which we all pay for down the line .Most likely she will become anti authoriatarian , just to salvage her dignity.Wonder why people complain of disaffected youth and alienation? Wonder why the drop -out rate is so high ? This is the perfect example that shows how high school is a little kingdom of frustrated bureaucrats who get a rush from their power over others .No wonder kids don't want to go to school.
And the bra issue - totally sexist.Lets start have boys wear cups all the time, if covered body parts are so dangerous.
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IT SEEMS...
that you have a hard time differentiating between slut and the average prom dress that shows some cleveage. Just like pornography, we all recognize it when we see it, but it's kind of difficult to describe to another person.
Schools have the right to impose a dress code and that includes for every event held on school property. If many of these girls had their way, they would still be wearing Daisy Dukes and halter tops to class, as they did before the schools finally wised up and established a dress code out of necessity. The girls can't be counted upon to do the right thing.
How about standing up for good taste for a change if you can't bring yourself to stand up for school officials once in awhile. Any girl in doubt as to whether or not her dress is up to code can take a photo of her in it and run it by the Office.
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AND ANOTHER THING...
besides the obvious.
A long, long time ago in America, parents, adults, churches, our schools, and many other institutions were the gatekeepers to adulthood. Children were considered children,for the most part, until they turned age 16 - except in some Southern states where authorities allowed 14 year olds to marry. (Yeah, those famous Dixie family values we're always hearing about had not yet been politically born.)
Howver, parents were the primary gatekeepers who used schools, churches, and other institutions to reinforce their own values and to keep the gate to adulthood closed.
Today, crass commercialism, Hollywood, music videos, magazines, fame, celebrity, corporate greed, and the exploitation of sex have all conspired to throw open those gates to adulthood and parents are hard-pressed to keep them shut!
This crass cultural assault knows no limits or boundaries in selling their crap to a younger and younger audience, and in persuading them that they are "entitled" to look like sluts if they want to!
Parents have relinquished their role as gatekeepers to adulthood, giving in more and more to the absurd. And come to think of it, it's hard to find a 30-year old mom who isn't trying to dress like her 13 year old daughter, complete with push-up bra and cleaveage hanging out all over the place. And then there's Dad, who buys the services of whores, the pornography that often depicts females who look like his daughters, and can't ogle enough women no matter where they go or what they do.
And yet these parents are the ones who bitch the most that schools are "not doing their job" in raising their kids. It never was the responsibility of the schools to raise kids - it was the responsibility of the schools to reinforce society's standards. And it seems sometimes that the schools are the only places left that recognize that standards still count for something.