College Student Challenges Dress Code Violation

By Julia Dunn on February 7, 2016

Santa Clara University first-year sociology student Grace DiChristina spoke out on social media this week after the university ordered her to leave the campus gym, Malley Fitness Center, for an apparent dress code violation.

On January 20 when she went to the gym, DiChristina had been wearing black shorts along with a black crop top with the word “Pow!” on it that exposed roughly an inch or less of her stomach.

The student was given two reasons why her outfit was inappropriate: (1) SCU was worried that MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), a form of the staph infection that can be spread through skin-to-skin contact, would spread, and (2) Santa Clara University is a Jesuit university.

Image Via Wikipedia Commons

DiChristina wrote a Facebook post expressing significant distress over not just the incident itself on a surface level, but over the complex messages embedded in this action.

“The fact that this is a Jesuit school should absolutely not be linked to the dress code at the gym. I do not go to the gym to be sexualized or looked at by other people — I go to improve my health and my self-confidence. Being told to leave the facility because my outfit is inappropriate is more than just annoying; it’s humiliating and degrading. My workouts become much less enjoyable when I have to worry about people looking at my body.”

Further into her Facebook post, DiChristina unpacked the claim that her stomach being exposed would promote the spread of MRSA. She identified a double standard in treatment of males and females at the gym, questioning why it really matters that her stomach was slightly exposed when others at the gym (men in muscle shirts, for example) had much more of their skin exposed yet were not asked to leave the premises.

“If I have to cover my midriff, shouldn’t we all be wearing gloves on the elliptical or long pants on the mats,” DiChristina said. “People are still sweating on other parts of the equipment, and just protecting my stomach will do nothing.”

Her response to the incident makes sense. DiChristina points out that the gym’s rule reflects institutionalized sexism that commonly goes unrecognized, if noticed at all among school administration.

Mainly, this manifests in the way girls are subtly shamed for what they wear on a regular basis. Dress codes often include many more strict rules for females than there are for males, including specific measurements for skirt lengths and straps on tank tops.

Furthermore, colleges usually do not have explicit dress codes like high schools do. The notion that DiChristina’s outfit would contribute to MRSA seems a bit exaggerated, though the concern for not spreading the deadly disease is understandable.

In a Buzzfeed interview, a Santa Clara University spokeswoman explained that religious reasons have nothing to do with the school’s midriff policy, which is in place for health reasons. She also said all gym-goers must wear a T-shirt or tank top at all times, and anyone wearing a muscle shirt that has been cut or altered such that bare chest is exposed will be asked to leave like DiChristina was.

According to the Department of Public Health for the City and County of San Francisco, MRSA can be spread when someone’s skin comes in contact with the skin of someone else who already has Staph. This skin-to-skin contact can happen through playing sports, having sex, or other types of physical activity. The only media through which MRSA can spread is with skin-skin contact or skin-contaminated object contact, and MRSA is not known to be spread through the air.

In regards to the MRSA issue, DiChristina said she supports Santa Clara University taking measures to educate the student body on what the infection actually is and how to prevent it as well as treat it if a student does contract MRSA.

DiChristina suggested that her university start posting flyers outlining the symptoms of MRSA (which include redness, warmth, swelling, and tenderness of the skin similar to a spider bite) and taking preventative measures against MRSA that don’t ultimately target students the way she was targeted. She said it would be a good idea to scrub the gym equipment more frequently or increase the frequency of cleaning the facility to reduce the risk of MRSA.

This is DiChristina’s second time experiencing a run-in with school dress codes. She and her sister appeared on HuffPost Teen for organizing a protest against their school, which had a dress code that promoted fat-shaming.

As far as dress codes are concerned, DiChristina’s situation could have happened anywhere. Whether it be at a college or even in a high school, administration should write and enforce dress codes mindfully and equally when applicable, and keep her story in mind for the future.

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