My Unpopular Opinion by Emma Bova

        I am not a feminist. Now, by no means am I suggesting that women should have no rights whatsoever, I just think its all a bit over the top and extremely over publicized. That being said, read on if you are curious, I'm going to try to be as unbiased and peaceful as possible.
        The idea for this blog originated from the rave and rage of the school dress code. Nobody likes the dress code and yes, there are many aspects of the dress code that I fail to understand the point of, such as the no shoulder rule, because I do not understand why shoulders should be covered. I even participated in the "free the shoulder" rebellion at school today and wore an off the shoulder top. However, I do not believe that the level in which this issue has peaked is necessary. And that doesn't mean other things don't have to be covered either.
        People are now saying that just because the dress code is being enforced now that us girls are being "over sexualized," and "it's unfair because they never dress code boys for anything." First of all, I don't think encouraging girls to dress in an appropriate manner would be classified as "sexualizing." I am a firm believer in "dress to impress," however, there are times that we must sometimes eliminate that cute-but snug fitting tank top when picking out an outfit. Especially for a school environment. Its not so much the boys getting distracted that's the issue; in fact, I honestly couldn't care less. I have not experienced a single instance where a boy got "distracted" by a piece of clothing I was wearing. The issue with dressing inappropriately to school is that it makes teachers and staff uncomfortable when (excuse my abruptness) girls butts are hanging out of their shorts! Its like when you're with your friends and you see a group of sixth graders dressed in short shorts and crop tops and you say "ew! why are they dressed like that, they're literally 12!" That's how adults feel. And the way you dress also says something about you as an individual. Another important point: girls and boys have different bodies. Again, I'm going to be abrupt. Breasts and butts have been considered "sexual objects" for years, probably for longer than anyone can remember. Obviously boys have neither (well, yes, boys have butts, but they aren't considered to be sexual). In addition, boys don't insist on wearing skintight shirts and leggings to school, providing no need for them to be dress coded for anything. That's why I don't understand it when girls complain that "boys are never dress coded," because they really have nothing to be dress coded for, meanwhile girls are wearing short skirts and low cut shirts and just expecting not to be dress coded because its "unfair." This brings me to my second point of this post.
        Gender stereotyping. We all know what it is, and we all know it exists. Our discussion on Tuesday brought this idea to mind. Nowadays girls are getting more and more defensive about this subject. For example, if a boy offers to carry something heavy for a girl and she says "what? You think I can't do that? Just 'cause I'm a girl and I'm weak?" Compared to boys, yes. You see, it all comes down to science. If you put a guy and a girl right next to each other, you'll most likely notice that the male body has a naturally bigger and broader build, due to extra testosterone in the body, while the female body is more lean and narrow. It all comes down to that. Obviously girls are weaker than guys because our bodies are made differently, and if you want to be stronger than a guy, then become a body builder, join the NFL, follow your dreams, whatever.
        I reiterate: I truly hope that this post didn't offend anyone reading it, nor am I speaking about anyone in particular, I am just an innocent girl sharing her innocent opinion. I usually am fairly quiet, but the dress code talk gave me the idea to share my unpopular opinion on this matter.