This week, United Airlines has received some negative attention for stopping teenage girls from traveling due to their apparel, specifically their leggings.
This inspired the Hatch Kids team at SheKnowsMedia to discuss how school dress codes make them feel. They talk about how they dress to express their personal style and the implicit gender bias in school dress codes.
Hatch is a program that empowers kids to use media and technology to express themselves in productive and positive ways. Emphasizing media literacy, digital storytelling, and social issues, Hatch enables kids to create content that is responsible and represents their unique perspectives.
As one of the “tweenagers” pointed out, “If men are distracted, why don’t you just tell them to just look away instead of body shaming women?” -Gabrielle, age 12
DIVERGE talked to Jennifer Denton. Vice President, Corporate Programming, SheKnows Media to find out more:
Where did the idea for this video come from?
It stems from our belief that school dress codes are particularly unfair to girls and we wanted the Hatch kids to explore this through their unique lens.
Why is this something that needs to be addressed, especially in a younger generation?
It is important that we stand up for the rights of girls and call out when we see things like gender bias and objectification.
How are the HatchKids views different?
The Hatch kids like many Gen Z kids are willing to challenge the status quo and they are comfortable demanding change where they see a need for it.
What does this show about the future?
It shows that kids today are more progressive and open minded than prior generations which has been a theme throughout the Hatch program that SheKnows Media created 3 years ago.
