Objectification Found in High School Girls’ Experience With Dress Code Enforcement

Abstract

Grounded in objectification theory, this study was conducted to uncover adolescent girls’ experience of dress regulations in US public schools. We conducted in-depth personal interviews with thirteen high school girls to explore internal, interpersonal, and contextual factors that might aggregate or alleviate objectifying conditions. Three overarching thematic categories emerged including (1) dressing as a life skill, (2) experiencing a sexually objectifying environment, (3) coping with the sexually objectifying environment. Eight subthemes captured under these thematic categories depicted how the school dress code is experienced and embodied by adolescent girls in their daily lives. Our findings demonstrated how the methods of school dress code enforcement and sex education promote a sexually objectifying environment in which girls feel physically and psychologically unsafe. Also, the findings of this study revealed that girls experience body shame, self-objectification, and powerlessness through dress code enforcement and sex education in school. Implications are discussed.