Missouri state Representative Ann Kelley recently proposed a new rule package that required women in the House of Representatives to cover their shoulders by wearing a jacket. This new rule package outraged many of the Democrats in the House, and many other politicians.
Not only is this a sexist proposal, but it is another step backward for women in America. By requiring women to cover their shoulders, they are giving the power back to men to control what is okay for women to wear.
According to CNN, “The previous dress code for women required “dresses or skirts or slacks worn with a blazer or sweater and appropriate dress shoes or boots.” This is a reasonable requirement that most professional workplaces also ask of their employees. By restricting the dress code even more would be ridiculous.
Kelley said she proposed the change that “cleans up some of the language…by mirroring the language in the gentleman’s dress code.” The men in the Missouri House of Representatives are required to wear a jacket, shirt and tie.
The men’s dress code is also similar to that which would be required in any professional setting. There is no real reason to require women to cover up in the same way as men. The new rule would be sexist and objectifying for women.
From a young age, girls are constantly being told to cover up so they do not distract boys. Dress codes in schools have always targeted girls, saying they had to cover their shoulders so they do not keep the boys from learning. This has always been an obscure rule, not only because it objectifies young girls, but it also enables boys to sexualize girls from a young age.
By enforcing this new rule, women will continue to be judged for what they are wearing, even if they are professional, simply because they are a woman.
Democratic state Rep. Peter Merideth refused to even vote on the amendment. He told his colleagues, “I don’t think I’m qualified to say what’s appropriate or not appropriate for women and I think that is a really dangerous road for us all to go down.”
More politicians should have this mindset. If anyone were to propose a law restricting the types of clothes men could wear, it would have been shot down before it even came to a vote. But since this rule involves controlling women’s clothing, it passed in a 105-51 vote.
There are so many more issues politicians should be worrying about rather than if a woman’s shoulders are showing. If a man in the House of Representatives cannot get his job done because he saw a glimpse of skin on a woman, should he really be making important decisions regarding the state?
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