Feminist Praxis

One way I see myself engaging in everyday activism is when I am teaching dance class and the girls are worried what other might think about what they wear for the recital. Some are worried that they will be called a slut or a whore because of what they are wearing. And to be honest with you I would never let the girls out on stage like that, but they have different feelings on how clothes look/ seem to look, than  I do. I just tell them that they aren't a slut or a whore for wearing this outfit that makes them look good, they are wearing something for themselves not for other people.  In TC on pg. 157, they talk about Jessica Valenti's  book, Full frontal feminism: A young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters, and basically says that she tells these girls to stand up for themselves and challenge what society set for them. For example, she says about beauty, " if you wanna wear makeup wear it! if not don't, either way you are beautiful". And that is something that I was trying to get across to my dance students. These outfits don't make you slutty- they show a more beautiful side. I have changed the outfit to make everyone comfortable because I don't want them thinking that they are looking slutty on stage.

This is something that still affects me because of my mom, but was a huge deal in high school, middle school etc. On page, 174 in TC it states, " Bodies:  a key focus of feminist activism has been the idea that women have the right to control their own bodies". I know this is talking about rape, sexual assault and street harassment. But I think that the dress code has some play in this too. It isn't said in school, but we hear it all over that, the reason us girls have to cover up is because this body part or that body part is distracting to other students- they usually say male students too. They just reinforce that boys can do whatever and girls are just a little bit lower than them. and what I mean by that is yes, there is a dress code for boys in high school, but a girl is more likely to get talked to about dress code than a boy is. A girls is going to be asked to go home and change rather than a boy. They say it's because " boys can be boys" So, it's okay for boys to do whatever they want and girls have to follow the rules- and if boys do break the rules then it's not a big deal. That's not how this works. I have seen tons of girls posting lately that they want to see a change in the dress code. Not all women are alike -like some like to think- we are all different. Different sizes, heights, weights, weight in certain areas more than others. The dress code needs to made for everyone ( all girls equal) so everyone can wear shorts when it's hot. Boys need to learn that just because what they see on tv, movies, and music videos ( girls half naked and some being taken advantage of ) doesn't mean you can do that in real life. Boys need to be taught that they have rules to follow like respect a girl don't treat her like a piece of ass. And girls need to be taught that they aren't a whore for wearing this shirt or wearing those pants or wearing this makeup- they need to be taught how to look at themselves in a positive light.