'Your Skirt is Too Short': The Hyper-Sexualisation of Women

Trigger Warning: this piece discusses personal opinions on SA and harassment

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Susie: When I was at secondary school, we had a uniform policy about the length of our skirts. As with many establishments, we were told that our skirts must be knee-length and, whilst I am not against regulated uniforms, I am certainly against the justification for this regulation being that “otherwise it is a distraction to students and staff.” From childhood, we as women are taught that how we dress controls how we are treated, instead of teaching others to treat people with respect regardless of what they are wearing.

Sara: From a very young age, we are taught that wearing certain things is inappropriate and defines our values as individuals. I still remember my teacher accusing me of wearing mascara and calling me a “whore” in front of the entire class. I was 12. For the rest of the year, I was terrified of her. This deeply ingrained sexualization turns appearance into a form of power that others hold over us, shaping how we are perceived. We learn that no matter how remarkable our minds and personalities are, we are deemed unworthy the moment our looks don’t conform to standards set by others. Using harsh labels like “slut” or “whore” not only makes us feel devalued, but it also erodes our confidence, breaking us down as women, bit by bit.

With this mindset being instilled in us as children, it is no wonder we have to rewire our brains later on in life to consider being in a leadership position or believe that we can be equally as good as men. The simplest act of discrimination or violence against women is silencing them and taking control over their way of expressing themselves.

We so often see people communicating their misogynist views through the lens of women’s clothing. It’s an easy way of controlling and suppressing; it’s a powerful way for women to be dominated and silenced in everyday life, the legal system, and their workplaces.

Extending to all areas of women’s lives, the ideology of women being incapable of leading, and having to be subservient to men, is a dangerous one. Instead, women’s worth is reduced to being reliant on factors like appearance and clothing, undermining important facets like intelligence and ability.

“What was she wearing?”

As well as attitudes towards professionalism, clothing controls how women are respected in all areas. As explored in the now world-famous exhibit template 'What Were You Wearing?' developed by Brockman and Wyandt-Hiebert, people are unfortunately subject to unwanted sexual attention regardless of factors like age, gender, or clothing.

However, the attention is concentrated on female victims’ clothing and appearance, with people often asking “what was she wearing?” There is, in reality, no situation where an individual would be “asking for” nonconsensual sexual activity, and yet women are consistently being presented as complicit and subliminally encouraging of the crimes committed against them.

"When any woman is silenced, it diminishes the collectivepower we as women hold in the world."

This is exactly what is happening in Afghanistan right now. The Taliban’s Supreme Leader has officially banned Afghan women from speaking or showing their faces in public, with any violation of these regulations punishable by law. This rule is designed to prevent women from revealing themselves in any way, supposedly stopping men from being tempted or led into vice.

This is an act of men controlling our choices and taking away the ownership of our bodies! It is crucial for all of us to see this as institutionalized violence, restricting women from expressing themselves and permitting men to blame victims in case of a potential assault. It is truly frightening to see such extreme measures being introduced to silence women.

The rationale behind it echoes our school uniform restrictions: women’s appearances are a distraction and the reason men feel entitled to respond. This is a serious regression that affects all of us and should be a global concern. When any woman is silenced, it diminishes the collective power we as women hold in the world.

Shifting the “blame”

In her piece entitled ‘Victim Blame: Why We Do It, How to Stop’, Katherine Manning explains how dangerous this mindset can be, saying that “[to] victim blame is harmful to those already suffering and unhelpful in identifying better paths forward.” (Manning 2023). She emphasises that, rather than asking what the victim could have done differently, we as a society should be questioning what could have been done to prevent the perpetrator from harming in the first place, shifting the “blame” to where it should rightfully be focused.

Instead of asking victims “how many drinks did you have?”, “how much makeup were you wearing?”, or “what were you wearing?”, we should instead be asking why people harm in the first place. By removing this stigma and removing this culture of victim blaming, we can begin to challenge abusers and perpetrators of assault, rather than placing the fault on the victims.

Besides these everyday, personal questions that are asked of women on a daily basis, we face the same exact issues in the workplace. Disguised by corporate lingo and different wording, it might almost not appear as an issue, but the problem remains the same - it’s all about fighting the bias whenever it appears around us. Have you ever heard any of these?

Whether it’s in a professional setting or a personal one, these comments are dangerous. Assumptions about a person’s professionalism or skillset should never be made based on appearance, just as judgements of someone’s character should not be based on how they look. All instances, whether in the workplace, at home, legal, or otherwise, should be taken at face value, and women should be taken as seriously as men regardless of their lipstick colour or the length of their skirt.

Changing our clothing does not change who we are, and it does not change who other people are. Wearing a short skirt does not justify assault, just as wearing a long one doesn’t make you a prude. People’s assessment of your skills should not be dependent on their assessment of how you look, and you should be able to reach your full potential regardless of how you present yourself. By placing such importance on women’s clothing, women’s status is being solidified as that of an object and, in doing so, it suggests that their worth is entirely dependent on how they look.

We have to address those issues and reframe all the ideologies that we’ve been taught in order to step into the world of leadership and not be afraid of using our voices. Don’t let men silence us through dress codes.

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