It’s no secret that schools can be strict when it comes to dress code.
A Michigan high school principal recently went so far as to call his school’s dress code regulations for female students a necessary measure to “protect the gift of their virginity, which should be preserved for their one and only.”
It’s understandable that attitudes like this would leave any student perplexed and angry.
Carey Burgess of Beaufort High School is one of those students.
However, Burgess is also her school’s student body president, a junior marshal and a scholarship recipient, which means she has a large degree of influence among the school’s staff and students.
When her teacher sent her home for wearing an above-the-knee skirt, she channelled that anger into an essay posted to Facebook and Instagram.
It has since gone viral – and you’ll see why.
"Maybe our society isn't yet advanced enough to handle three inches of my thigh,” her scathing letter begins.
"This is a patriarchal society and I am a woman. I have to be kept in my place, or I may do something that is so rarely seen in Beaufort High School - learn.”
Burgess’ letter then takes a markedly sarcastic turn, taking aim at the hypocrisy of the school’s policies.
"You saved me, Beaufort High. As Student Body President, junior marshal, and a recipient of the Palmetto Fellows, I was heading down the path of hard drugs (good thing you're testing next year!), strip clubs, and sugar daddies. I don't where I would be without your misogynistic views.
"How could I go on without a certain math teacher making sexist jokes all class?
“How could I survive without my science professor letting me know I am an inferior woman? Yes, I am a woman. I am woman with thighs, a butt, and a brain. I am bigger than Beaufort High School. All of us are.
“Maybe instead of worrying about my skirt, Beaufort High should take notice of its incompetent employees, and sexist leaders."
A Michigan high school principal recently went so far as to call his school’s dress code regulations for female students a necessary measure to “protect the gift of their virginity, which should be preserved for their one and only.”
It’s understandable that attitudes like this would leave any student perplexed and angry.
Carey Burgess of Beaufort High School is one of those students.
However, Burgess is also her school’s student body president, a junior marshal and a scholarship recipient, which means she has a large degree of influence among the school’s staff and students.
When her teacher sent her home for wearing an above-the-knee skirt, she channelled that anger into an essay posted to Facebook and Instagram.
It has since gone viral – and you’ll see why.
"Maybe our society isn't yet advanced enough to handle three inches of my thigh,” her scathing letter begins.
"This is a patriarchal society and I am a woman. I have to be kept in my place, or I may do something that is so rarely seen in Beaufort High School - learn.”
Burgess’ letter then takes a markedly sarcastic turn, taking aim at the hypocrisy of the school’s policies.
"You saved me, Beaufort High. As Student Body President, junior marshal, and a recipient of the Palmetto Fellows, I was heading down the path of hard drugs (good thing you're testing next year!), strip clubs, and sugar daddies. I don't where I would be without your misogynistic views.
"How could I go on without a certain math teacher making sexist jokes all class?
“How could I survive without my science professor letting me know I am an inferior woman? Yes, I am a woman. I am woman with thighs, a butt, and a brain. I am bigger than Beaufort High School. All of us are.
“Maybe instead of worrying about my skirt, Beaufort High should take notice of its incompetent employees, and sexist leaders."