Update: A Six Flags rep reached out to Refinery29 regarding Bima Ramesh's claims of the amusement park's sexist dress code. "We strive to maintain a family-friendly environment and, similar to many other public venues, we have a dress code," according to a statement provided by the rep. "Our team members are trained and then asked to use their good judgement in carrying out our policies, which did not occur in this case. [Ramesh] should not have been denied entry."
The amusement park's corporate offices apologized to Ramesh and offered free admission for her friends, because Ramesh already has a season pass. According to the rep, Ramesh accepted Six Flags' apology for the cringe-y incident.
Originally published on July 30, 2016.
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Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ, is under fire for accusations of sexism after it tried to make a woman change out of her "inappropriate" shirt, but was just fine with a man wearing the same thing.
Bina Ramesh told Seventeen that she had been reentering the park on her birthday after going out to the car when a security guard stopped her. He called over a female guard, who said that the gray tee was inappropriate because the bright blue bra she had on underneath was visible through the fabric.
She was told that her option was to buy a new shirt in the park. “I refused to spend money because a security guard couldn’t keep his eyes away from my cleavage,” she wrote in a Facebook comment.
But when Ramesh saw a man entering the park in a sheer shirt — with his nipples entirely visible — inspiration struck. She and her male friend went back out to the parking lot, where they switched shirts and reentered without any problems. The pair took a photo of themselves in the swapped shirts (they later switched back without any problems) to demonstrate the double standard on Facebook.
“I was so upset and angry,” Ramesh told Seventeen, noting that her own mother had seen her wearing the shirt and thought it was fine. “And how could I have been let in earlier that day by a female guard? Now suddenly the rules have changed when there's a male guard paying closer attention to my cleavage?"
While Six Flags Great Adventure does have a dress-code policy, Ramesh’s clothing didn’t seem to fit into any of the prohibited categories. Among the restrictions are bathing suit tops and clothing that contains inappropriate language.
Six Flags did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.