The St. Johns County School District is forming a committee to consider dress code changes after Bartram Trail High School edited the photos of 80 female students to cover more of their bodies.
The school’s yearbook advisor altered the photos without first telling the students or their parents. The cover-ups have drawn national criticism.
Flagler College Assistant Professor Lorna Bracewell studies feminist political theory. She applauded the district’s decision to review its policies and suggests they look at the dress code reform written by an Oregon chapter of the National Organization for Women in 2016:
“Its aim is not to impose sexist, racist, classist and heteronormative ideals of what’s respectable or appropriate which I think is often the aim of a lot of dress codes,” Bracewell said Wednesday on First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross.
Bracewell calls the model dress code “gender-neutral” and free of descriptions like “distracting” clothing.
The entire interview with Bracewell can be heard on Wednesday’s First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, which encores at 8 p.m. on WJCT News 89.9.
Michelle Corum can be reached at mcorum@wjct.org, 904-358-6308 or on Twitter at @MCorumonME.
