School Administrator Blames High School Girls’ Outfits for Boys’ Bad Grades
An assistant principal’s apparent attempt at humor fell flat at Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas, last week. Phil Morgante sent kids and parents into an uproar with his sexist comments while addressing students about school dress codes at assemblies last week. Morgante’s words were meant to be lighthearted, according to Liberals Unite, but instead seemed sexist and to blame girls and their revealing outfits for boys’ poor grades.
“Ladies, I know you’ve been working on your abs since the Olympics,” Morgante quipped in audio released online. “But your shirts can’t be up here. It’s gotta cover the whole gut, OK? So, cover up.” Then came the bombshell: “Ladies, I still blame you all for boys’ low grades because of tight clothing.” Yes, he really went there.
“Saying a boy gets distracted, or gets worse grades, because some girl’s showing her bra strap or her tummy or her shorts are too short, that’s wrong,” said Elizabeth White, the mother of a middle school boy in the Fort Bend school district, to ABC 13. White added that at 48, she’s still being told what is and isn’t appropriate to wear at her age. White told the network she’s using the unfortunate incident as an opportunity to talk to her son about sexism.
“It’s just kind of gross because he teaches teenage girls,” said Piper Cotton, a Clements student. “He made it seem like girls are just in school as a distraction for boys, when in reality our education is just as important as theirs,” added Em (not her real name), a junior, according to ABC 13. Still other students felt Morgante had a right to enforce the school’s dress code, but went about it in an ill-advised way, blaming the girls and failing to hold the boys accountable for their own behavior and academic performances.
“Maybe I can improve my rank if I wear tight, distracting clothing often enough,” snarked one anonymous female student on Twitter, according to Odyssey. “I regret not telling off Morgante when he basically said it’s us girls fault that boys over-sexualize girls because of our clothing smfh I’m heated,” added another.
This incident comes about a week after a high school in Victoria, Australia, made headlines for blaming the female students’ short skirts for landing the school on a porn-sharing website, and one brave student came forward to defend herself and the rest of the young women. It seems like quite a few school officials could use some sensitivity training when dealing with incidents that objectify their female students.
It’s understandable that Morgante would want to address the poor grades among his students. According to the Odyssey, Clements High School is one of the top 100 high schools in Texas and has a high rate of placing students at universities across the country. But poor grades are no excuse to send the message that it’s a girl’s responsibility to not dress provocatively so a boy can excel in class — in fact, it’s flat-out misogyny.
Morgante has not commented on the incident himself, but the Fort Bend school district did release a statement to the media, which read:
During assemblies last week, when speaking about the dress code, a Clements High School administrator made comments that were inappropriate and offensive to students. These comments should not have been made, and do not represent the beliefs of Fort Bend ISD or the Clements administrative team or faculty. The comments were a failed attempt at humor and inappropriate.
Following concerns expressed by students, the Clements principal took prompt action to address the comments and apologized to the student body.
We have high expectations for both students and staff at Clements High School and throughout Fort Bend ISD. Our goal is to provide a safe, positive learning environment where all students feel supported and valued.
Please know this situation is being addressed, and appropriate actions will be taken.
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