There’s been palpable tension in the hallways for the past several weeks. Although the insomniacal stress of testing and the pent up proximity to summer certainly add to the climate, the dress code dilemma is the main culprit for this end of year atmosphere.

The uproar surrounding appropriately deemed attire is evident both in students’ defiance and the new measures taken by faculty and staff, such as the new dress code lockouts and the hawk-like hall-time watchfulness of assistant principals.

When questioned about the effectiveness of the methods, Lisa Mann, assistant principal, said, “I have [seen a drop in violations] which comes a lot from administrators and teachers, and as a result of more clearly defined expectations.”

But what exactly are the implications of these expectations?

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According to Mann, the goals of dress code enforcement are to “create a safe and comfortable learning environment [and to] keep the focus on the teacher and the classroom, not on obscene material.”

Junior Meredith Johnston, however, elucidated a varying perspective on the supposed obscenity at which many dress code restrictions are aimed.

“The dress code is unevenly directed at girls. It forces us to cover ourselves up and encourages us to be ashamed of our bodies. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that our bodies are distracting to boys,” she said.

Holding certain female attributes accountable for a disruption of the learning environment is a frequent justification for execution of the rules on raiment, but one with opposition from students of both sexes.

“It’s easier for the school to enforce a dress code rather than trying to develop maturity in guys, which is merely throwing a curtain over the problem instead of fixing it,” Alton Braxton, junior, said.

Indeed, many students feel the curtain-throwing approach could point to deeper ramifications within broader attitudes toward the female physique. Although the AISD dress code can hardly be singled out as the source of female sexualization, it is believed to be a manifestation of this trend.

“By punishing girls for dressing as what our conservative district considers inappropriate, we’re teaching boys that when girls dress a certain way, they’re blameworthy,” Johnston said.

This incongruity does not go unnoticed by the male sector.

“A guy’s biological impulse is just to notice. If he is too immature to get past it then there’s nothing a girl can do about it in that situation,” Braxton said.

Johnston proposed a sententious, if sassy, solution to rectify this approach.

“Maybe the time used to enforce dress code should be spent teaching young men to respect women,” Johnston said.

This stipulation calls into question another issue: whether the measures taken to enforce dress code are truly the best way to ensure a purposeful learning environment. The administration takes the stance that highest efficiency is reached by a compliant student body.

 “The rules have been set and students need to follow these rules. By sending students home, we are punishing the act of defiance,” Mann said.