Gotta love prom season. It's such a festive time of adolescent angst, clique drama, overpriced updos, cheap champagne, and absurdly sexist dress codes that body-shame teenage girls across the country.
These days, it seems like if you come up with a prom outfit — any prom outfit — there's a school administration somewhere that will tell you it's "inappropriate." In recent years, girls have been criticized, shamed, or even banned from prom for wearing everything from a long-sleeved dress to an African print to a suit to a crop top. School administrations have taken issue with such "scandalous" visible body parts as an arm or a back — and god forbid anyone should dare to be plus-size at prom.
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It's time for this nonsense to stop. And at least one high school has taken steps to dial back the madness — or has it?
Yahoo Style reports that the Osakis School District in Minnesota has announced that it will not require female students to submit a photo of their prom dress for pre-approval after all. Um, hooray?
“In an effort to prevent putting both our students and prom advisors in a difficult position on the night of prom and to prevent our students from spending hundreds of dollars on a dress inconsistent with the prom dress code, it was suggested that the prom advisor could pre-approve the dresses worn ahead of time," said interim superintendent Randy Bergquist in a statement. "We were hoping this would ensure that no one would be denied the privilege of participating in the grand march on the night of prom. We are not going to require any such photo prior to the prom.”
Psych! You, girls of America, will no longer have your bodies needlessly policed by school officials before prom night. Because that would just be cruel. Instead, you get to go through this sexist and completely inappropriate vetting process on prom night — once you've shelled out the cash and shown up at the door. It's like prom night roulette! Who will be admitted, and who will be banned? Only the people in power will decide.
Here's a better idea: How about school administrations everywhere quit spending so much time and effort on controlling, nitpicking, antiquated policies to "protect" students from the sight of a shoulder, and instead put some policies into effect on behalf of the students who need real-life protection right now? Just an idea.