Mom Calls Out School’s Dress Code for Girls in Epic Facebook Rant

Kids across the country are gearing up to head back to school. But while many teenagers are still soaking up the summer sun, one girl in Alabama has already been censured for her clothing choice.

A security guard stopped student Josephina Thompson in the halls of Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama, told her her outfit was inappropriate, and barred her from class until a friend’s parent brought her different clothes. Her offense: wearing leggings and a long sweatshirt, according to local newspaper website AL.com.

Thompson’s mother, Deanna Wolf, was outraged by the way her daughter was treated. She took to Facebook to vent her frustrations, along with pictures of Thompson in the offending outfit.

“What are you teaching our children about their bodies and their minds?” Wolf wrote, tagging the school in her post. “You are telling girls that their bodies are to be hidden, and that boys cannot control their minds if they see the basic female figure. It’s disgusting and it belittles both sexes.”

School officials did not respond to Wolf’s post or comment directly on Thompson’s outfit but told AL.com that “the dress code applies to everybody.”

The school’s dress code allows leggings as long as they’re covered by another item—like shorts, a dress, or a skirt—that is no shorter than three inches above the knee. Thompson says her daughter’s outfit met the length requirement.

While boys have occasionally come under fire for wearing inappropriate clothes, recent years have demonstrated that girls’ outfits are often the targets of scrutiny. Thompson is the latest in a long line of girls removed from class because her clothes were considered “distracting” to her male peers. A senior in Texas was sent home for wearing a similar outfit in June, while a teen in Pennsylvania was kicked out of her prom because her long-sleeve gown was considered too low-cut.

“This whole situation clearly states that a girl’s education has less importance than a boy’s education, and that her right to said education is secondary to providing a distraction free learning environment for the opposite sex,” Wolf wrote. “Your misguided attempt at disciplining my child has only succeeded in giving an example of the skewed gender bias perpetuated by society.”