A Catholic High School in Rockford, Illinois, which is striving to uphold Catholic moral teaching on modesty, is being accused of body-shaming because of its new dress and dance policy for the upcoming prom season.
The Rockford Register Star (RRS) is reporting on the dust-up taking place over a 21-page rule book distributed by school administrators at Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford which gives students guidance on what is considered acceptable attire for this year’s prom.
For boys, the book features just four illustrations of the various types of tuxedos that can be worn. For girls, the list is understandably much longer, with prom attendees expected to wear gowns that do not expose cleavage, bare the back or midriff below the navel, or feature slits that are more than three inches above the knee.
“We wanted everyone to know the expectations ahead of time,” Boylan President Amy Ott said. “We think it’s important as a Catholic institution to help our students see that they can be elegant and modest and beautiful at the same time.”
However, a line in the policy book is being interpreted in a negative way that is causing many to accuse the school of trying to make girls feel ashamed of their bodies.
The line states, “Some girls may wear the same dress but due to body types, one dress may be acceptable while the other is not.”
The sentence was referring to how a dress on a more full-figured girl might reveal cleavage whereas a slimmer girl would not have the same problem.
Amy Ott, Boylan High School President
But that explanation isn’t satisfying everyone.
Robyn Goodman of the University of Florida, a body image and media expert, told the RRS that this sentence sounded a lot like body shaming.
“This line in the code is discriminatory and supports body shaming,” Goodman said in an email. “Girls do not have a choice in how their bodies were made so more voluptuous bodies are going to have more cleavage and curves. Taller girls’ dresses will hit higher up on the leg than a shorter girl. It’s nature. You should visit https://www.jvn.com/prom-dresses/floral-prom-dresses to look for your prom dress so you can find a dress that fits you better. “Telling one girl she has to restrict her body by only wearing certain fashions and telling another her body is fine for any fashion is sending a message about what is the ‘right’ body to have and what is the ‘wrong’ body. These messages are often damaging to girls. We are not allowed to discriminate in the U.S. based on race, disability, gender, age, etc. … So why are schools discriminating against girls based on their bodies?”
Ott countered by saying that the school’s intent was to give girls guidelines that would help rather than hurt them.
“We’re all different shapes and sizes,” Ott said. “You have to try a dress on and see what it looks like on you, not how it looks on someone else. … It’s like shopping for any other kind of clothing in this day and age. You want to look your best and look appropriate.”
After all, what the girls choose to wear could make or break their evening as anyone who does not meet the school’s standards will be turned away from the prom and the $65 per person cost will not be refunded.
Students know that the school means business. At the Homecoming dance last fall, several girls’ dresses failed to meet the school’s standards and they were made to wear large t-shirts over their dresses for the evening.
“Since then, school leaders have decided enough is enough,” the RRS reports. “There will be no T-shirts at prom. Students who break the rules will be told to leave.”
How do the girls feel about it?
“There is a lot of understandable discontent among the girls over the strict enforcement of the new dress code,” said Boylan Student Council President Kaleigh Brauns.
Senior girls recently held a meeting at the school where they were given a presentation about the dress code and an explanation on how one dress doesn’t fit all body types. Many of the students questioned the school’s intent and messaging. Some even talked about not going to the prom, but Braun says she thinks most students will attend.
“We must understand that being part of a Christ-centered community means holding ourselves to a higher discipline in the way we speak, in the way we act and in the way we dress.”
Local dress shop owners are well aware of what kinds of dresses will be allowed into the prom and have filled their racks with acceptable choices.
“The two-piece dress that shows some midriff is very popular right now,” said Nino Castronovo, owner of Castronovo’s Bridal Shop of Rockford. “Most schools have some criteria about what you can or cannot show. … Like it has to be above the belly button.”
Castronovo said girls are mirroring the styles they see on television and those that are popular on the east and west coast.
“I’ve seen some pretty revealing dresses over the years,” said Castronovo, who served on Boylan’s prom committee years ago. “I think some of the sponsors may have just seen too much.”
The school is sticking to their policy.
“Boylan Catholic High School dances are an event, which reflects the philosophy of our school and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Among our most important considerations is adherence to Church teachings regarding modesty,” the school says in its “Proper Dance and Dress Policy.”
It goes on to quote from the Catechism: “Purity requires modesty. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness … Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet … Teaching modesty to children and adolescents” means awakening in them respect for the human person” (No. 2521, 2524).
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