學生穿什麼由誰說了算 Fight over fashion

It was August in the US, and the school year had just started, when one parent received an unexpected phone call.

美國的八月，正值開學季，一位家長接到了一通意外來電。

Stacie Dunn had been summoned to Woodford County High School because her teenage daughter had been caught violating the dress code. But the offense left Dunn flabbergasted.

因爲女兒違反了學校的着裝守則，斯蒂西錠榐被叫去了伍德福德縣中學。而那套違反規定的服裝讓她大吃一驚。

She arrived to find her daughter in a pretty ordinary ensemble: a cardigan, tank top and jeans. The trouble, administrators indicated, lay with her daughter’s exposed collarbone. Bare shoulders and naked collarbones are outlawed under Woodford High’s dress code. Students who violate these rules can receive detention–or, after multiple violations, be suspended from school entirely.

她到學校後發現，女兒身着一套十分普通的衣服：開襟羊毛衫、背心和牛仔褲。學校管理員指出，問題在於她女兒露出了鎖骨。裸露肩膀和鎖骨是違反該校着裝守則的。違反守則的學生會受到留校察看的處分，多次違反則會被退學。

Dunn was outraged. “Parents are being called away from their important jobs, and students are missing important class time because they are showing their collarbones,” she wrote on the social media site Facebook, attaching a picture of her daughter in the offending outfit. “Something needs to change!”

鄧恩有些氣不打一處來。“就因爲學生露出了鎖骨，他們的家長不得不放下手頭重要的工作，而學生們沒法上重要的課程，”她在社交網站臉書上寫到，還附上了一張她女兒不合規定的衣着照片。“有些東西需要改改了！”

Across the US, schools like Woodford are coming under increased scrutiny for their dress codes. Some say the rules disproportionately target young women and members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community. On Oct 20, the Atlantic magazine even zeroed in on certain dress codes as being outright “sexist”.

像伍德福德一樣，美國各地學校的着裝規範日益受到公衆的質疑。有人認爲這些規範有失公允，主要針對的是年輕女學生、同性戀、雙性戀和變性人羣。10月20日的《大西洋月刊》甚至將一些學校的着裝守則稱爲是“赤裸裸的性別歧視”。

Dress codes vary by school district and are often applied at the discretion of teachers and school administrators. Yoga pants and skinny jeans are banned in some institutions, and not in others. Certain dress codes also require pants and skirts to fall to knee-length.

每個學區的着裝守則都不相同，具體實施往往憑老師或學校管理員的主觀裁定。瑜伽褲和緊身牛仔褲在某些學校被禁止，但在其他學校卻被允許。還有些着裝守則規定褲子和裙子必須及膝。

Critics point out that these rules apply almost exclusively to feminine attire. Women’s clothes are generally cut to be more fitted and shorter, while men’s clothes are longer and baggier. In practice, that means more women will be caught violating dress codes. The New York Post reported that, last year, one school in Staten Island, New York, handed out 200 dress code detentions in two weeks–90 percent of which went to female students.

批評者指出，這些規定幾乎都是針對女性的。一般來說，女性服裝更加貼身、更短，而男性的衣服則更長，更寬鬆。這導致在實踐中女性會更容易違反着裝守則。據《紐約郵報》報道：去年，紐約斯塔頓島一所學校在兩週內施行了200次違反着裝守則的留校察看，其中90%的被處分者爲女性。

Some school administrators argue they are simply upholding a professional standard of dress, to prepare their students for their future careers. But others have told students that their clothes present a “distraction” to others. That logic has come under fire.

一些學校管理者認爲他們只不過在維護專業的着裝標準，爲學生未來的職業生涯做準備。不過另外一些人則告訴他們的學生，他們的衣着“干擾”了他人。這種邏輯備受批評。

The “distraction” argument is objectifying, critics say. It caters to the notion that exposed skin is an invitation for criticism or sexual advances. It even launched a trending hashtag on American social media: #IAmMoreThanADistraction.

批評者說“干擾”論是在把女性的身體“物化”。它迎合了暴露身體是自找批評和性騷擾的觀點。這種論調甚至在美國社交媒體上引爆了一個熱門標籤#我不止是個干擾。

But some teens have taken their protests further, employing creative techniques to build public support. Students at Charleston County School of the Arts drew inspiration from The Scarlet Letter, a book from their high school reading list. In September, they wore the letter “A” on their clothes, just like the novel’s heroine did as punishment for her sexual behavior. The book is a biting indictment of the US’ puritanical values.

還有一些年輕人在抗議的路上走得更遠，他們使用創意十足的方式來爭取大衆的支持。查爾斯頓縣藝術學校的學生從他們的高中閱讀書目——《紅字》中尋找到了靈感。九月，他們模仿《紅字》中因通姦被懲罰的女主人公，在自己的衣服上寫上字母“A”。該小說是對美國古板的清教價值觀的辛辣控訴。

Certain schools have chosen to reevaluate their dress codes, with input from parents and students. Even Woodford County High School–home of the “collarbone” ban–is reconsidering its policies this month. But, at least for now, the dress code debate is far from over.

某些學校已決定聽取家長和學生的意見，重新評估着裝守則。甚至連“鎖骨”禁令的始祖——伍德福德縣中學也在本月重新審議了它的政策。不過起碼現在，有關着裝守則的爭議還會持續很久。