It’s not often that I disagree so vehemently with a protégé of Gloria Steinem. The author of this article published in Ms. Magazine criticizes institutions for banning girls from wearing skimpy clothing because she says it contributes to the sexualization of young women and perpetuates the victim-blaming mentality by making it girls’ responsibility to cover up to avoid inappropriate male attention. Camp Arowhon, like many schools, has a dress code for girls. We don’t allow skirts, tube tops, crop tops, or booty shorts. We do not, however, do so in order to prevent boys from being distracted by girls’ bodies (I am equally as inclined to tell a boy to pull up his pants when his underwear are showing). We do so to give our girls a much-needed escape from a world where they are so unfortunately judged by both the shape of their bodies and the clothes they (or their parents) can afford to adorn them. I agree that such a simplistic, dictatorial approach is not the solution to the fact that we live in a culture that systematically objectifies women. Which is why we also train our staff on how to speak and act respectfully and help young people have conversations about the pressures they face. But I do believe that our dress code contributes to changing that culture by removing a very obvious measure by which young women are often judged. By taking away what some might call our girls’ “freedom of expression” in this respect, we are forcing them to define themselves (and forcing others to assess them) by characteristics deeper and more important than their appearance. We choose to value our young women for their accomplishments in activities, their courage, their kindness, and sense of adventure. And as you can see from the picture above, there is no shortage of opportunity for creative expression at camp! What do YOU think about Arowhon’s dress code and how we can create a positive body culture for our young men and women? Looking forward to reading the comments on this one!