High School Principal Lectures Teen Girls to 'Cover Up!' to Preserve Virginity
The principal of a Christian high school has sparked a controversy with his online editorial supporting school dress codes, especially for female students, for whom he says modest dress is important to “preserve this wonderful gift (virginity) for their ‘one and only.’”
Jim Bazen, principal of Plymouth Christian High School in Michigan, wrote his op-ed on Michigan Live in response to a Grand Rapids Press editorial that called school dress codes sexist. “School administrators seek to limit distractions by banning certain types of clothing, such as apparel sporting profane messages. But, in an effort to limit harm, it has become abundantly clear that schools are actually doing more harm to female students and their self-image,” the Grand Rapids Press editorial board wrote. “Schools need to do away with policies that disproportionately penalize female students. … Educational energy could be much better spent teaching our children to respect themselves and each other. This will allow female students to dress in a way that appropriately expresses their individuality and intelligence, and helps male students gain the enlightenment they need to function in a world where men and women should operate as equals.”
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But Bazen, whose school implemented uniforms last year, argues that male students will inevitably have sexual thoughts when faced with girls in provocative clothing. “As a female you will never completely understand the male mind,” he writes. “Being wired more visual, males are attracted to shape and skin. Yes, a lot of bare skin or tightly covered (Spandex!) skin is a sexual distraction to a male. He will say, the more skin the better … but this leads him to treat women as ‘sex objects’ rather than respect her for who she is. So, it would seem to me that if you do not want women treated as ‘sex objects,’ you should tell them to cover more skin.”
Because boys can’t control these thoughts, Bazen says, strict dress codes are vital. “A dress-code policy stating ‘Women, dress how you wish’ and at the same time expecting the guys to keep their eyes off young ladies with shirts revealing their cleavage, short skirt, tight pants/leggings, shorty shorts, or tight shirt, is like walking out into the rain and expecting not to get wet,” he writes. “The only way you can help young men not treat young ladies as sex objects is by telling the young ladies to cover up! A young man will not think of a respectfully dressed young woman as a ‘sex object’ but is more likely to see her for who she is.”
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Dress codes are not a penalty for females, Bazen writes, but a measure of protection.
The piece drew immediate backlash, with readers comparing Bazen’s comments to a call for burkas, and calling the principal sexist. “How about you just teach boys to actually respect women? That’d be nice. Women don’t need to cover up to not be treated as ‘sex objects.’ Men need to learn how to NOT TREAT WOMEN AS SEX OBJECTS,” wrote a user in one of more than 2,000 comments in response to the article. “What about having classroom time teaching our young men that women are not objects to be ogled at by male students and teachers. This guy is the problem; he objectifies women and girls, and then blames them for his own shortcomings. Get such people out of our schools,” wrote another.
Bazen told People that he’s been surprised by the reaction to his op-ed — which has drawn criticism on social media and in public opinion pieces from women’s rights groups such as Progress Michigan — but says he stands by what he wrote. “Now, I also wish I’d added, ‘Men, you need to control your eyes. You need to look away instead of make a woman a sex object in your mind,’” he said. “But I stand by my basic thought: The way to help women is to get rid of pornography, and get rid of the dress that is provocative.”
And the problem isn’t just male students, Bazen said. “I don’t put myself above anybody. I say to the ladies, ‘Please dress in a nonprovocative way.’ And I need to control my eyes as well and not think in a lustful way,” he told People. “I’ve done a number of surveys of the male population, and it’s almost unanimous on this issue. They are affected by revealing clothing. It does have a turn-on effect. I’m not anti-women. I just don’t want them to be seen as sex objects.”
(Photo: Offset)
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