Dress controversy: Girls turned away from homecoming dance

STANSBURY PARK, Tooele Regional — Stansbury High school plans to hold a “replacement dance” and make changes to its dress code after at least two 12 teens were averted from attending a weekend homecoming dance because of the attire. “As much as we want to have a certain level of appropriateness and reasonableness, there was never any objective for people to leave heartbroken and disgruntled and confused and frustrated, ” Principal Kendall Topham said Friday. “So that apology needed to happen and it did happen. ” Several teens at Stansbury High school donned their inexpensive homecoming dresses to class Friday in protest of a dress code that got them kicked out of Saturday's dance. They also signed a case to offer the dress code changed to be more specific with input from the student body.

 About two 12 girls were turned away from the dance because some schools workers monitoring the dance deemed their dresses too short or otherwise inappropriate. But the White Tulle Homecoming Dress With Beadings code itself is a matter of handling. “It was just total shock at first, ” said Amber Hesleph. “Here we are spending all this time and everything and then we make it and they just turn us away. It’s just kind of dismaying. ” Donna Hesleph, Amber’s mother, said the of the dance for many students was "very sad. ” “If you’re going to with little thought paint scarlet letters all over children, then something has to change, ” she said. Homecoming Queen Erica Alvey was those types of turned away. “They said that it was showing my knees so it was too short, and in order to get into the dance I had to put on stockings, ” she said. “So I did so, and I got back in the dance, but that was before I realized that this thing would definitely turn into such a big issue. ” Students and parents immediately took to the Internet voicing their outrage in what happened. A Facebook page known as Stansbury High Homecoming Spirit Massacre had more than 3, 100 "likes" Friday afternoon.

 Topham said information about the dress code was included on fliers prior to the dance and was posted on the school’s website. It said: "Reminder: The Formal Dance Dress Code is found on page 30 of the student planner and there are cards up around school showing examples. Students are expected to look their utmost and dress appropriately. "Dresses should be at or near knee length. Slits in the dresses should not be any higher than the top of the knee. Strapless dresses are disallowed unless a jacket or shawl is worn. 'Plunging' necklines are disallowed. The backs of dresses should not show more than 1/3 of the back (directly below the armpits). Midriffs should not show in any way. 'Sheer' fabric is acceptable, as long as skin is not showing underneath. inches That's what several parents say their daughters donned, and added that the administration had not been fair in deciding who got to stay for the dance and who was turned away. “One individuals standards for formal wear is that skirts be at or near the knee, ” Topham said. “There’s some ambiguity in what it means to be near the knee. ” He said teachers and an associate principal were enforcing the dress code Weekend. “There were some dresses that I’ve been informed that were clearly not in concurrence, ” Topham said. “But there were those that, depending on the handling, would be allowed for some and not allowed for others. And so that part of it needs to be fixed and that needs to be addressed.

 There’s no question about it. inches The principal met with the student authorities and held assemblies with the students Friday to handle what happened during the dance. Students were also asked to give their input on the dress code and done a questionnaire. The student authorities can look those over and then meet with the administration to clarify the dress code. “I feel bad because we have a lot of good kids at the school, ” he said. “We just need to better clarify things. ” The school's website now shows a clarified version of the student dress code. Dresses will have to reach or go below the knees, and not just near or just above the knee. Two researchers who have studied body image and objectification of women say the incident at Stansbury High school is a teaching moment for parents and girls. Lexie and Lindsay lohan Kite have spent the past decade studying the issue and will end the school year with a doctorate thesis on the subject. They launched Beauty Redefined, a not for profit group that helps change the way people see beauty. The school is within its right to have a dress code, they said, but the enforcement of the code was skewed. “We had people maybe implement their own ideas about what’s appropriate and that didn’t really fall in accordance with what many of the girls and their parents thought about what was appropriate, ”

 Lindsay lohan Kite said. “When you implement these kinds of arbitrary standards that aren’t necessarily unplaned in other areas of the school’s events or other life experience, that teaches them that they are bodies, that they are to be looked at, and that those bodies are shameful. ” "When we were holding at the door and turned away, it breaks my heart a little, ” Lexie Kite said. “It teaches girls that that extra inch here or there, if that is showing, then suddenly they are harmful to people and we need to be shy individuals bodies because of it. inches Both say girls need to be taught that they are more than just bodies and they can be empowered to do great things. “We know that when girls respect their bodies they actually make better decisions for them, in terms of nutrition, conditioning and also in terms of the direction they dress, ” Lexie Kite said.