Florida students protest for right to wear revealing dresses at prom: ‘Amounts to slut-shaming’

Students at the Stanton College Preparatory School—a prestigious, high-quality high school in Jacksonville, Florida—are protesting en masse over the school’s decision to issue guidelines banning clothes the administration considers to be too revealing at the school’s upcoming prom.

Fliers were posted throughout the school earlier in the week with images of girls in prom dresses and captions indicating which dresses would be considered appropriate and which would prevent students from attending the event, according to a report by Yahoo News.

Accompanying the pictures showing girls in revealing prom dresses were captions saying at the top “Going to Stanton Prom?” alongside “NO YOU’RE NOT” at the bottom. Images of girls wearing clothing deemed to be appropriate were posted besides captions that read “Going to Prom?” and “YES YOU ARE. GOOD GIRL.”

Good thing they told us a week before prom it's not like everyone has their dress already....... pic.twitter.com/3nOKhSTu4R

— Lily (@LILwillingham) March 27, 2017

Female students at the school reacted in rage, with many calling the administration’s posters sexist. They used the social media hashtag #SCPGoodGirl, which soon garnered attention from social media users across the country.

The Stanton College Preparatory School’s Gender-Sexuality Alliance was one of the most outspoken critics of the rules, referring to them in a statement as an example of “sexism.”

“We must all stand in solidarity against sexism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and all forms of ignorance, hate, and/or fear, no matter how big or small the fight appears to be,” said the group on Twitter. “To all those who stood together in the wake of the school administration’s miscue, thank you. … And this kind of energy can be funneled to achieve great good both in and beyond the Jacksonville community.”

#scpgoodgirl is only the beginning. Feminism is intersectional. pic.twitter.com/Ilwyt27SvL

— Stanton GSA (@gsa_stanton) March 29, 2017

Numerous left-leaning media outlets also came to the defense of the students. Writing for Cosmopolitan, writer Samantha Swantek said the school’s posters were a form of “slut-shaming.”

“Let’s be clear, labeling girls as ‘good’ for following said rules, and therefore ‘bad,’ by inference, for not amounts to slut-shaming,” wrote Swantek. “Prom is a once-a-year occasion where students can dress up, and many girls enjoy selecting a gown that makes them feel beautiful (though, sure, it’s also a stressful process that I can personally attest to). It’s not about making teenaged girls feel ostracized, or judged, for their fashion choices.”

WJXX-TV reported school administrators have removed the signs to prevent further backlash.

SCPS was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the 31st best school in the nation on its most recent “National Rankings” list.