DRESSCODE: A memo sent by Loyola Law School in Los Angeles about appropriate work attire backlashes.
By Valeria Gutierrez, Staff Writer
The only time we are not judged by what we wear is the moment we are born. Every day afterwards, we are judged by our appearance. Although children have little to no freedom when deciding what to wear, teenagers have the ability to decide what goes in their closets. Over the past few years it seems that the dress codes at high schools have become stricter, while clothes have become more revealing. Although teenagers strongly believe that what they wear defines who they are, a few clothing items they choose are inappropriate for school. As people grow older, their outfits mature with them. Or at least that is how apparel used to work.
Unfortunately for professional schools, and perhaps even businesses, a stricter dress code is necessary. Loyola Law School is one of the few schools that felt the need to remind students—particularly women—of professional law firm attire. Although Loyola Law School is unable to see its students outside of the classroom during extracurricular jobs, the law school reportedly received complaints from employers. When law students apply for internships, they must write down what college they attend. They therefore represent their school, whether in a suit and tie or stiletto heels and a miniskirt. Law school students expect to be taught and prepared for
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the real world. As part of this preparation, it is only reasonable for law schools to require appropriate clothing and behavior not only to preserve the schools’ reputation, but the students’ as well. While some of the students believe Loyola Law School acted appropriately, some critics thought the memo came off as sexist.
It is hard to believe that a memo intended to assist students could come off as an insult. Critics like Peggy Dexter view the memo as an unfair act against women. Dexter believes Loyola Law School’s memo implies the way women dress reflects how well they perform their jobs. By pinpointing issues concerning cleavage and heels, critics like Dexter see the memo to be prejudiced against women—in reality, they are taking the memo too literally.
In the work force, women can choose from workpants, different lengths of skirts, blouses, cardigans, coats, suits, dresses, heels, flats, hundreds of ways to arrange their hair and even more ways to apply their make-up. On the other hand, men can only choose from basic pants, shirts, suits and simple hairdos. With such limited apparel choices for men, it is easy to see why women’s fashion garners more attention.
Based on studies done by the University of Messina in Italy, Yale University, the University of Texas, the University of Michigan and many more colleges, employees who are more attractive earn more money than those who are not as good-looking. As a result, women are able to use their looks to their advantage through wearing slightly more inappropriate clothing. Fortunately, the study found that a majority of the women unconsciously take advantage of this and do not dress as if they were going to a night club instead of a law firm in order to get paid more money, but to appear more “beautiful.”
This “beauty” is little more than superficial and inappropriate. Instead of showing small heels with a medium skirt and plain tights, the media tends to portray women wearing stiletto high heels with a miniskirt and fishnet tights. Once a teenager becomes an adult, the freedom to wear whatever he or she wishes should not be abused. A mid-twenty year old lawyer is not the same teenager who dressed to impress a sixteen-year-old boy. Therefore, professional working women should not need to be reminded of their appropriate dress code.
In addition to the recent memo at Loyola Law School, other incidents have been taken as sexist and out of line. The critics of Loyola’s memo are taking the school’s message the wrong way, considering that none of the law students have openly been insulted by the school. These backlashes claiming that women are unfairly judged by what they wear are absurd. The students are professional women who study law in the hopes of becoming either lawyers, attorneys or judges. Loyola Law School only hopes to assist their students in determining the right appearance to maintain professionalism. No law firm is going to take a lawyer in a bright miniskirt and colorful make-up seriously. Although we are told not to judge a book by its cover, everyone does. Workers must dress for the job they want, whether it is one as an attorney, a doctor, a police officer or a teacher, with a sense of professionalism.