Fight over fashion

It was August in the US, and the school year had just started, when one parent received an unexpected phone call.
美国的八月，正值开学季，一位家长接到了一通意外来电。

Stacie Dunn had been summoned to Woodford County High School because her teenage daughter had been caught violating the dress code. But the offense left Dunn flabbergasted.
因为女儿违反了学校的着装守则，斯蒂西•邓恩被叫去了伍德福德县中学。而那套违反规定的服装让她大吃一惊。

She arrived to find her daughter in a pretty ordinary ensemble: a cardigan, tank top and jeans. The trouble, administrators indicated, lay with her daughter’s exposed collarbone. Bare shoulders and naked collarbones are outlawed under Woodford High’s dress code. Students who violate these rules can receive detention–or, after multiple violations, be suspended from school entirely.
她到学校后发现，女儿身着一套十分普通的衣服：开襟羊毛衫、背心和牛仔裤。学校管理员指出，问题在于她女儿露出了锁骨。裸露肩膀和锁骨是违反该校着装守则的。违反守则的学生会受到留校察看的处分，多次违反则会被退学。

Dunn was outraged. “Parents are being called away from their important jobs, and students are missing important class time because they are showing their collarbones,” she wrote on the social media site Facebook, attaching a picture of her daughter in the offending outfit. “Something needs to change!”
邓恩有些气不打一处来。“就因为学生露出了锁骨，他们的家长不得不放下手头重要的工作，而学生们没法上重要的课程，”她在社交网站脸书上写到，还附上了一张她女儿不合规定的衣着照片。“有些东西需要改改了！”

Across the US, schools like Woodford are coming under increased scrutiny for their dress codes. Some say the rules disproportionately target young women and members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community. On Oct 20, the Atlantic magazine even zeroed in on certain dress codes as being outright “sexist”.
像伍德福德一样，美国各地学校的着装规范日益受到公众的质疑。有人认为这些规范有失公允，主要针对的是年轻女学生、同性恋、双性恋和变性人群。10月20日的《大西洋月刊》甚至将一些学校的着装守则称为是“赤裸裸的性别歧视”。

Dress codes vary by school district and are often applied at the discretion of teachers and school administrators. Yoga pants and skinny jeans are banned in some institutions, and not in others. Certain dress codes also require pants and skirts to fall to knee-length.
每个学区的着装守则都不相同，具体实施往往凭老师或学校管理员的主观裁定。瑜伽裤和紧身牛仔裤在某些学校被禁止，但在其他学校却被允许。还有些着装守则规定裤子和裙子必须及膝。

Critics point out that these rules apply almost exclusively to feminine attire. Women’s clothes are generally cut to be more fitted and shorter, while men’s clothes are longer and baggier. In practice, that means more women will be caught violating dress codes. The New York Post reported that, last year, one school in Staten Island, New York, handed out 200 dress code detentions in two weeks–90 percent of which went to female students.
批评者指出，这些规定几乎都是针对女性的。一般来说，女性服装更加贴身、更短，而男性的衣服则更长，更宽松。这导致在实践中女性会更容易违反着装守则。据《纽约邮报》报道：去年，纽约斯塔顿岛一所学校在两周内施行了200次违反着装守则的留校察看，其中90%的被处分者为女性。

Some school administrators argue they are simply upholding a professional standard of dress, to prepare their students for their future careers. But others have told students that their clothes present a “distraction” to others. That logic has come under fire.
一些学校管理者认为他们只不过在维护专业的着装标准，为学生未来的职业生涯做准备。不过另外一些人则告诉他们的学生，他们的衣着“干扰”了他人。这种逻辑备受批评。

The “distraction” argument is objectifying, critics say. It caters to the notion that exposed skin is an invitation for criticism or sexual advances. It even launched a trending hashtag on American social media: #IAmMoreThanADistraction.
批评者说“干扰”论是在把女性的身体“物化”。它迎合了暴露身体是自找批评和性骚扰的观点。这种论调甚至在美国社交媒体上引爆了一个热门标签#我不止是个干扰。

But some teens have taken their protests further, employing creative techniques to build public support. Students at Charleston County School of the Arts drew inspiration from The Scarlet Letter, a book from their high school reading list. In September, they wore the letter “A” on their clothes, just like the novel’s heroine did as punishment for her sexual behavior. The book is a biting indictment of the US’ puritanical values.
还有一些年轻人在抗议的路上走得更远，他们使用创意十足的方式来争取大众的支持。查尔斯顿县艺术学校的学生从他们的高中阅读书目——《红字》中寻找到了灵感。九月，他们模仿《红字》中因通奸被惩罚的女主人公，在自己的衣服上写上字母“A”。该小说是对美国古板的清教价值观的辛辣控诉。

Certain schools have chosen to reevaluate their dress codes, with input from parents and students. Even Woodford County High School–home of the “collarbone” ban–is reconsidering its policies this month. But, at least for now, the dress code debate is far from over.
某些学校已决定听取家长和学生的意见，重新评估着装守则。甚至连“锁骨”禁令的始祖——伍德福德县中学也在本月重新审议了它的政策。不过起码现在，有关着装守则的争议还会持续很久。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪英文报》，详情请见《21世纪英文报》1127期