A 15-year-old teenager in Quebec, Canada is causing quite a stir at her high school after she launched a protest against the school dress code, accusing officials of shaming girls for their bodies.
After she was cited for “too short” jean shorts, Lindsey Stocker printed 20 posters (above) criticizing the policy and putting the school on blast for its sexist undertones. The sign reads:
“Don’t humiliate her because she’s wearing shorts. It’s hot outside. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects.”
The posters were taken down almost immediately, but snapshots of the fliers, and the message they sent, are quickly making rounds on the internet.
From Think Progress:
The incident began after two school vice principles walked into Stocker’s classroom and asked the 11th grade students to press their arms to their sides. If the students’ shorts did not reach their fingertips, they were asked to change clothing.
“In front of all my peers and my teacher they said I had to change,” Stocker said. “And when I said no they said I was making a bad choice. They kept shaking their heads. In front of everybody.” “They continued to tell me would be suspended if I didn’t start following the rules. When I told them I didn’t understand why I had to change they told me that it doesn’t matter – I don’t have to understand the rules, I just have to comply by them.’
Stocker argued that the rule was unfair and especially designed to “target girls,” since school officials “don’t really care what guys wear.”
“People are being judged for the way they dress, they have to change because boys look at them,” the teenager later told the Canadian Broadcast Corporation. “The boys should be the ones who have to learn to treat women better and look at them in a different light.”
Lindsey has since been suspended from school.
Her experience isn’t an isolated incident — in fact, it’s just one of many examples where schools tell girls to cover up so as not to distract the boys.
SOURCE: Think Progress | PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter
