Dress codes are a controversial topic. Many people believe that rules specifying acceptable outfits need to be followed no matter what. Others insist that it's important to push back on antiquated guidelines for what sort of clothing is and isn't appropriate.
Sometimes, dress codes can be totally arbitrary and simply based on tradition. This was the case for a little girl named Cady, who earlier this year was in the news when she was "uninvited" from her own Communion because she wanted to wear a white suit instead of the traditional white dress worn by little girls.
But often, dress codes — particularly those in school — can seem to unfairly target and punish girls simply for trying to be comfortable.
One young man named Phil Rodriguez decided to challenge his school's dress code by wearing a skimpy, makeshift crop top to school all day — and the lack of a reaction from school officials has gotten a lot of people really angry.
Scroll through to learn more about Phil's crop top experiment!
Thumbnail Photo: Twitter / @philemonimon
[H/T: People]
It all started on October 25, 2017, when Phil (a senior at Hueneme High in California) tweeted claiming that his female classmates were being dress-coded left and right.
"All these girls at HHS getting dress coded for showing too much, ima bout to see if I could get dress coded for the same thing," he said.
"It was very hot," the 17-year-old told Today when detailing the thinking behind his plan. "These girls, they don’t want to wear pants. They want to wear something comfortable… so they wore stuff that would reveal their shoulders, or a little stomach here and there. And shorts. But they would always get dress-coded for it. I felt that wasn’t exactly right."
The next day, Phil (who, in solidarity, had previously shared a female classmate's complaint about getting dress-coded for showing her shoulders) proved he was true to his word.
Phil shared two photos of himself showing off a makeshift crop top, which he appears to have made by deconstructing an ordinary white T-shirt.
According to Yahoo, crop tops are prohibited at his school because they show shoulders and stomach.
In the photos, Phil is barely covered, with his stomach, shoulders, and underwear waistband in full view.
"Told y'all I would do it, catch me tomorrow wearing this to see if I get dress coded," he wrote.
Young women immediately shared Phil's post, thanking him for his support of their cause.
Phil wore his unusual outfit on October 26, 2017, first sharing an update during his third class of the day.
"In 3rd period now, so far I've just gotten little warnings to put something on but nothing serious," he explained.
By his sixth class, it was clear to Phil that he wasn't going to be reprimanded or dress-coded for his outfit.
"UPDATE: I'm in 6th period water polo and I have not gotten dress coded. The day is practically over now. I think we all have our answer," he revealed.
Phil told Today that being "dress-coded" could include anything from being sent home from school to an official telling him to change his clothes. But neither of those things happened, according to Phil.
Phil confirmed to a follower that he hadn't hid from any administrators and that he'd definitely been in full view of several.
He told Today that his teachers were "amused" and "surprised," but that they didn't say anything "bad" to him. At most, they asked him questions about why he was wearing the outfit.
The point of Phil's "protest" was that he took issue with the idea that dress codes for girls are in place to prevent their bodies from "distracting" other students.
"I’m not going to be staring at some girl’s shoulders for 30 minutes of a period," he said. "It’s very odd to dress-code someone because it’s distracting. I’m not distracted."
"Maybe our school is not the only one that has a problem," Phil said of seeing his experiment go viral online.
Hueneme High School officials hadn't returned Today's or People's requests for comment at last check, and People reported that the school's full dress code wasn't available online.
What do you think of Phil's dress code protest and the lack of punishment it received?
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