VEGANGELICA

We agree, we agree...boo boo agrees with me! (I'm doing a little dance over here).

I agree that banning certain types of clothing to reduce actions of violence is similar to banning black people to avoid racial violence...both end up punishing the victims for something for which those being violent should be accountable. If people are beng violent, then I feel a college should focus on stopping the people who react to (clothing? colors?) by being violent, since that is what the real problem is. The clothing is not the problem.

I watched the video in the news item you posted, boo boo, and the feeling I got was that the interviewer and the interviewed gentlemen both have a snooty attitude that "we in our suits look well put-together and professional, and those students showing off their underpants (gasp!) are slovenly and scornful!" To me these two men smirking at others and complimenting each other on coming to work wearing "professional clothing" sound laughably shallow. Part of the history they are mired down in is that Martin Luther King and related civil rights crusaders tried to dress very professionally so that they would be taken seriously rather than have their message dismissed. Morehouse is probably afraid of African American men losing power and status in society if they don't dress "professionally."

I happened to be in a book mobile last night and found a children's book all about the history of underwear and preposterous undergarments as well as preposterous views over the years about what has been considered appropriate attire. Showing underwear under baggy pants may seem silly to those not used to it...but people with that reaction should think about the fact that the T-shirt was once *only* an undergarment, and it took a movie to boost the T-shirt into mainstream outerwear.

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FaSho

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storymilo

^ Who posted that? It's deleted now

CAPTAIN CAVEMAN

oh no!

mr dave

there's a time and place for everything. the school is not trying to enforce a lifestyle change or anything of the sorts.

a dress code is not a cause for major distress. consider it from a business perspective - where it generally applies the most. if an employee can't be personally inconvenienced enough to not show up to the job in their PJs do you really think they're going to be focusing their full attention on what anyone else wants? would any of you go into a business deal with someone who can't be bothered to wear pants?

while there would obviously be a few who would, the vast majority of people would not. if i'm making a business deal with someone i expect them to be taking my interests seriously while they're working, if they can't be serious enough to dress the part then i'm not going to stick around to watch their attempt at acting the part.

plus it's an all male school... i'm sure some of the older faculty really liked seeing dudes in drag. they lived through riots and discrimination and beat down at every turn so that some guy could wear a dress on their campus? pretty sure i'd object to that, like i said at the start, time and place. part of post secondary education is to prepare the student for the realities of working for a living, if a dress code is causing you major issues you'd better hope mummy and daddy didn't renovate your room.

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VEGANGELICA

Hello Mr. Dave,

While I agree that in business, people will likely wish to deal only with employees who put them at ease by wearing "professional clothing," I feel that a dress code at a college *is* a cause for distress because a code is built on, and perpetuated by, a power structure in which the majority dominate the minority.

The liberal arts tradition...and education as a whole...should be about much more than simply getting and keeping a job. A dress code represents a mental limitation, an unquestioning deference to "authority," an acceptance of one's subservience to others, that are the moral opposites of the freedom of thought and inquiry I feel institutions of higher learning should support.

Morehouse claims to be more than just a trade school teaching people to get jobs. Indeed, their website states:

A dress code, which is based on unquestioned, traditional views, is a form of oppression that stands in direct opposition to self-realization, diversity and equal access, which Morehouse professes to value. I feel that college is the perfect time and place in which to allow young adults to learn about, question, and challenge social structures. College should, I feel, be a time of discovery during which people get to flex their minds rather than feel constrained by the realities of the working world that they may soon face.

People who "lived through riots and discrimination and beat down at every turn" should understand that they did so *exactly* so that "some guy could wear a dress on their campus." Interestingly, studies show that African Americans tend to be more homophobic than Caucasian Americans, but are more likely to support equal legal rights for people who are homosexual or transgendered (http://alligatorreport.wordpress.com...ty-homophobic/).

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boo boo

^ What she said.

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mr dave

it's also the best time to learn how to pick and choose your battles. i could understand calling it oppressive if they were instituting a specific uniform, they're simply asking their students to dress appropriately. like i said before, if having to change out of your PJs is considered a form of oppression then you should just go back to your parent's place and leech off them.

even finding dress code information on their site is challenging. the closest to a defined wardrobe that i found were a few classes that specified a business casual wardrobe. a collared shirt and dress pants!!! oh the humanity! no tie, no jacket, heck any office i've worked at that had a business casual dress code didn't even require you to tuck in your shirt. OPPRESSION!!! wait.... it specifies that your hair has to be combed and your shoes tied!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Scarlett O'Hara

Personally I think college kids should be wearing high fashion designer clothes!

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adidasss

You're not actually providing any valid reasons for the said policies, instead you're just saying they're minor inconveniences that the students should live with. I don't think they're going to have a problem doing that, but they do have the right to question the dress code if they feel, as Vegangelica so eloquently explained, it serves no particular purpose other than restricting freedom of expression. And yes, any restriction of freedom, if its not based on valid reasoning, is oppression, no matter how minor YOU feel the oppression is...

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