In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes

Posted on | June 6, 2014 | 94 Comments

Maybe you missed the story about a Utah high school that Photoshopped yearbook photos of girls to make them more “appropriate.” Most people who even noticed the story just shrugged: Whatever.

Yet this story inspired Everybody’s Favorite Feminist™ Amanda Marcotte to go off on a tangent about “modesty” as a weapon of patriarchal social control of women’s bodies:

It’s a belief that because women, especially young women, have bodies that represent “sex” in a straight male-dominated society, then those bodies are eligible for more social control than the bodies of men.
While this school is extreme, anyone who went to a high school with a dress code knows that girls get policed more than boys, often in ways that are sexually humiliating. . . . Hand-wringing articles bemoaning the supposed emergence of “hook-up culture” focus mostly, or exclusively, on scolding and feigning concern in the direction of girls, with boys being left to make their own choices without much concern or judgment.
Because of all this, young women are subject to way more punishment and control from legal and other authorities for their sexuality, starting with the popularity of laws requiring minor girls to notify parents if they want an abortion. . . .

This is a typical feminist non sequitur — from a discussion of school dress codes, suddenly Marcotte leaps to the topic of abortion and specifically parental notification laws. But these are minors, and as parental authorization is generally required for all medical treatment of minors, the onus must be on abortion advocates to demonstrate why abortion should be an exception to the general rule.

As for Marcotte’s rantings about “social control”: Shouldn’t we assume that the community supports the school’s attempt to enforce standards of appropriate clothing? Wouldn’t parents be upset if the school permitted girls to parade through the hallways wearing miniskirts, short-shorts, halter tops, et cetera? Isn’t it likely — doesn’t common sense suggest — that provocative clothing would be a distraction from the learning process? Common sense, however, is impermissible in feminist discourse, and logic is viewed with suspicion by feminists as a weapon of “straight male-dominated society.”

Logic: Children exist because of parents. Children are dependent and are under the supervisory authority of their parents. Therefore, if the parents in a community support the school system’s dress code, it’s not a problem. On the other hand, if parents don’t like the school system’s policies — about dress code or anything else — they are free to send their kids to private school or home-school them. And thus we return to Amanda Marcotte’s mystification about the Utah school:

The school appears to be so out of step with standard American social norms that it’s hard to escape wondering if there wasn’t an attempt to impose a fundamentalist standard of modesty on the girls, regardless of their own religious beliefs.

In a community where most parents are religious, if the school system doesn’t “impose a fundamentalist standard of modesty on the girls,” guess what happens? Religious parents will pull their kids out of public school. What kind of education does Amanda Marcotte think those kids would get if they were home-schooled or sent to private religious schools? Also, who is “out of step with standard American social norms”?

“I don’t want a baby. . . . Nothing will make me want a baby. . . .
“This is why, if my birth control fails, I am totally having an abortion.”
— Amanda Marcotte, March 14

Is this fanatical hatred of babies what she means by “standard American social norms”? And how does the baby-killer Amanda Marcotte, who so deliberately substracts herself from the category of “parent,” presume to tell parents how to raise their kids?

Oh, there I go with logic again . . .

Category: Feminism

Comments

94 Responses to “In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes”

MrEvilMatt
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:28 am

In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes: Maybe you missed the story about a Utah hig… http://t.co/9ZAJf68c0n
CHideout
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:28 am

In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes: Maybe you missed the story about a Utah hig… http://t.co/jYs7DMa6vX
Lockestep1776
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:28 am

In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes: Maybe you missed the story about a Utah hig… http://t.co/XZVNSclu2b
WeRResistance
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:28 am

In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes: Maybe you missed the story about a Utah hig… http://t.co/jjtkAW6B9y
Citzcom
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:28 am

In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes: Maybe you missed the story about a Utah hig… http://t.co/iQCqRQiTsN
Dana
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:45 am

Well, it’s certainly true that, in “a high school with a dress code knows that girls get policed more than boys.” Why? Because other than silliness about “sagging,” high school boys don’t wear shorts so short that their butt cheeks are hanging out, and high school boys don’t wear micro-miniskirts. If it was the girls who wore things which are supposedly shorts, but which came below the knee, while guys wore shorts short enough that their junk was hanging out, it would be the males, not the females, who would be policed more.
Justine Harman’s Boobs Rule 5 | Batshit Crazy News
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:50 am

[…] Update: TOM: Meanwhile Amanda Marcotte is going nuts over a non-story over high school dress codes… […]
Molly Ball Rule 5 | Batshit Crazy News
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:54 am

[…] Update: TOM: Speaking of Amanda Marcotte, here is her latest craziness… […]
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 6th, 2014 @ 8:55 am

Just remember Molly Ball is not Amanda Marcotte!

http://batshitcrazynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Mollys-Cats.png
LeatherPenguin
June 6th, 2014 @ 9:10 am

In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes http://t.co/B0FtWBSclQ
Quartermaster
June 6th, 2014 @ 9:37 am

Girls will be girls, after all. And, they like to get boys looking at them, regardless of how much they may protest otherwise.
Phil_McG
June 6th, 2014 @ 9:40 am

“anyone who went to a high school with a dress code knows that girls get policed more than boys”

Well, the boys don’t usually come to school dressed as hookers.

But if they come to school with their trousers hanging below their underwear or a swear word shaved into their hair, then yes, they’re going to be “policed” too.

Because it’s school.
Quartermaster
June 6th, 2014 @ 9:43 am

Betcha didn’t know this:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/how_not_to_be_wrong/2014/06/03/berkson_s_fallacy_why_are_handsome_men_such_jerks.html
Matt_SE
June 6th, 2014 @ 10:13 am

It isn’t the patriarchy that enforces codes against girls, but other girls. It turns out, many men/boys like sluts.
Morgan in Canada
June 6th, 2014 @ 10:39 am

Ha. Amanda Marcotte clearly never attended a Catholic school. At my high school, the men were policed with vigilance and the girls wore what they wanted because the administration didnt want to be accused of sexual harassment. I once wore the women’s uniform, precisely as laid out in the code, to demonstrate the difference. If at 6’2, I could wear a kilt to the knee, with socks that reached the knee, and a “non-fitted” shirt and school sweater, so could all the girls, right?
Wrong. While I was required to wear a precise style of shirt and pants that fit a certain way, with my tie done just so, I went to class with girls who wore kilts that covered less than some of my belts.
Patriarchy indeed…
Dana
June 6th, 2014 @ 10:48 am

Well, we certainly liked to look at them, and even take advantage of what was offered. It’s just that we chose different women to actually marry.
richard mcenroe
June 6th, 2014 @ 10:54 am

So the obvious problem here is that we still discriminate against boys who WANT to wear micro-miniskirts, no matter how many bathrooms and locker rooms we let them into.
TheOtherAndrewB
June 6th, 2014 @ 11:39 am

I love liberals like Miss Marcotte. Who else but a feminist would say that invasive medical procedures like abortion–which always result in one death and sometimes in two–should be available to minors without parental consent. Here in Florida, at least, a minor cannot rent a paddleboat without parental consent. Minors cannot purchase spray paint, broad-tip markers or propane. They cannot purchase certain cold remedies, take kayaking lessons or go on a zip-line without parental consent. I have never heard anyone raise a fuss about any of that. But prevent a pre-teen from getting an abortion without her parents knowing? HERESY!
rsmccain
June 6th, 2014 @ 11:53 am

RT @LeatherPenguin: In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes http://t.co/B0FtWBSclQ
Dana
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:18 pm

Yes, I absolutely do want to discriminate against boys who want to wear micro-miniskirts! But the school administration doesn’t have to; the other boys will do plenty of discriminating against them for the school.
Dana
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:19 pm

Why, it’s because the parents might say, “No!” We can’t have that!
The Daley Gator | Did mention that Feminists are crazy yet today?
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:19 pm

[…] it is the PATRIARCHY of course, and because every topic Marcotte writes about leads back to her twisted obsession with killing babies. Yes even high school dress […]
rsmccain
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:32 pm

Everybody’s Favorite Feminist™ Amanda Marcotte goes off on a tangent about “modesty” http://t.co/WwKtdQcP5Z cc @rdbrewer4 @instapundit
LeatherPenguin
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:33 pm

RT @rsmccain: Everybody’s Favorite Feminist™ Amanda Marcotte goes off on a tangent about “modesty” http://t.co/WwKtdQcP5Z cc @rdbrewer4 @in…
rdbrewer4
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:34 pm

RT @rsmccain: Everybody’s Favorite Feminist™ Amanda Marcotte goes off on a tangent about “modesty” http://t.co/WwKtdQcP5Z cc @rdbrewer4 @in…
Billy___Bob
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:40 pm

I was curious about one thing. Were any of the boys photographed with bare shoulders and left alone?

Anyone know the answer?
g56yu
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:41 pm

RT @rsmccain: Everybody’s Favorite Feminist™ Amanda Marcotte goes off on a tangent about “modesty” http://t.co/WwKtdQcP5Z cc @rdbrewer4 @in…
Ted
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:44 pm

Odds that Amanda is a virgin…? I bet she has never seen a real penis up close.
FarmBoy11B
June 6th, 2014 @ 12:52 pm

if she doesn’t want a baby, why not just have a tubal ligation and she won’t ever have to think about it. If it would prevent her from spreading her philosophy to the next generation, I would pay for it myself
No1Important00
June 6th, 2014 @ 1:12 pm

RT @rsmccain: Everybody’s Favorite Feminist™ Amanda Marcotte goes off on a tangent about “modesty” http://t.co/WwKtdQcP5Z cc @rdbrewer4 @in…
No1Important00
June 6th, 2014 @ 1:13 pm

RT @LeatherPenguin: In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes http://t.co/B0FtWBSclQ
Art Deco
June 6th, 2014 @ 1:16 pm

Evidently she’s been shacked up for a half-dozen years or more with a gap-toothed bald guy named Faletti. He is – no joke – employed as the IT tech at an abortion clinic.
Alec Leamas
June 6th, 2014 @ 1:24 pm

I’m not quite sure that covering young ladies’ (ehem) shoulders, cleavage and upper thighs qualifies as a “Fundamentalist dress code.” It’s more a matter of classroom decorum and standards of appropriate dress for the educational endeavor that is purportedly being undertaken by the young ladies and their classmates.

It seems that the ringleader of the hullabaloo is the – shall I be charitable and call her course looking – young woman with the tattoo on her upper left breast area. I think that people with a clue might think that such a tattoo on a fifteen year old girl is an indication of some other issues that would render her less than able to navigate life as a teenager in a healthful fashion.
Steve Skubinna
June 6th, 2014 @ 1:48 pm

Our Amanda is the poster girl for the single issue advocate: everything is about the patriarchy and abortion. It gives one an insight how tiresome Cato the Censor must have become in the run-up to the Third Punic War: “Yes, these grapes are very tasty, true, but it is also true that Carthage Must Be Destroyer.”

“Hey, the insouciant expression of that slave girl reminds me that Carthage Must Be Destroyed.”

“You know what really bothers me about this sunset? The idea that thousands are watching it right now not thinking that Carthage Must Be Destroyed.”

Amanda, please, abort yourself.
Julie Pascal
June 6th, 2014 @ 2:23 pm

You know… boys don’t go around half-dressed.

And playing shirts and skins in a ball game does not count.

When is the last time you saw a guy going to class or work or the mall in a spaghetti strap tank top and Daisy Dukes?
JeffS
June 6th, 2014 @ 2:40 pm

Since when does Amanda have to “get” crazy? She’s already crazy, being a feminist and all.
maniakmedic
June 6th, 2014 @ 2:47 pm

Ah, but then she would never have the ability to earn the Abortion Badge, which in feminist circles is only one step lower than the Lesbian Badge, which is the feminist equivalent of becoming an Eagle Scout.
maniakmedic
June 6th, 2014 @ 2:56 pm

As I currently live in Utah, I can personally assure Mandy that should she ever actually set foot in the state, she might be surprised by just how little many women here wear during the summer. Or even the winter. Of course, I’d prefer she – and all her braindead friends and political allies – continue to believe Utah is an icky, religious, uptight state. Because it means they’ll stay the hell away (and I mean that a lot right now as I decided to take a drive on the east side of I215 this morning and was blown away by how damn gorgeous the mountains looked).
Steve Skubinna
June 6th, 2014 @ 3:05 pm

You mean outside of San Francisco? Or maybe prison?
concern00
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:02 pm

So it was an easy association to get from dress codes to abortion, but apparently a leap to this might be a bit more difficult…
Steve Skubinna
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:10 pm

Oh, you mean a real religious patriarchy? But criticizing them would be waaaaacist!
maniakmedic
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:15 pm

Clearly that sign is aimed at Americans. The dead giveaway? The third one has a muffin top.
thatMrGguy
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:30 pm

In Which @AmandaMarcotte Gets Crazy About High School Dress Codes http://t.co/JH7pxPWxxJ
Julie Pascal
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:36 pm

Yes… I mean outside of San Francisco, and maybe prison. 🙂
Mike G.
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:45 pm

Because most reputable doctors won’t give a woman a tubal litigation until they actually have a child/children or they reach a certain age. Of course, Mzzzzz Marcotte probably considers a TL an invasive surgery akin to a sonogram and we can’t have that.
Steve Skubinna
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:52 pm

Oh. Well, then. Never.

I was just asking for a friend.
yidwithlid
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:54 pm

RT @rdbrewer4: RT @rsmccain: Everybody’s Favorite Feminist™ Amanda Marcotte goes off on a tangent about “modesty” http://t.co/NvHOfN3m2P…
Steve Skubinna
June 6th, 2014 @ 4:56 pm

Took me a while to figure out that third one – I kept thinking “But that one’s covered!”

Eventually I realized that the bulge in the middle was the same color as the bare skinned arms and legs and faces and… ugh.

Oh, and right, the denoucnement is a given! Break out the bastinado! Or at least the brickbats! Commence denouncage!
Adjoran
June 6th, 2014 @ 5:03 pm

YET.
Guest
June 6th, 2014 @ 5:04 pm

Trigger warning…