A principal has sparked outrage after demanding that female students show pictures of their dresses before they would be allowed to wear them to prom.
As Principal Kim Pendleton of Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, told her students, they aren’t allowed to purchase outfits that are too “sheer or revealing.”
To make sure that doesn’t happen, the principal threatened the women they wouldn’t be allowed to attend the prom unless their dresses get approved in advance.
“As you begin shopping for your attire, please make sure you do not purchase any clothes that are sheer or revealing in any manner,” Pendleton’s message read according to KTAL, an NBC News affiliate.
“[…] Prior to purchasing an outfit, I will need you to send me a picture of you in the outfit with your name and grade. Once I approve the outfit, you may purchase it. The approved outfit is the only one you will be allowed to wear to prom.”
According to the principal, the controversial decision followed after she had received worrying comments from parents and other staff members who expressed their concerns over girls’ outfit choices.
Following a major backlash after the message went viral, the principal insisted that parents are “proud of the school for taking a stand to ensure prom is an encouraging, wholesome event.”
“In communicating the guidelines for appropriate conduct and dress, which are similar to what schools and districts require across the country, a decision was made to proactively work with families to ensure parents would not spend money on a dress which would be turned away for being inappropriate,” Pendleton added in a statement to NBC News.
While some people have defended the principal’s decision, others have slammed it and accused it of being “insulting to both genders.”
“I hate dress codes. They are 99% of the time directed toward girls and imply that boys are innocent little flowers that must be protected from us dirty hoes either that or sex-crazed maniacs that can’t see a bare shoulder without losing all their good sense. It’s gross and insulting to both genders. If private parts are covered, the rest should be up to the child’s parents,” someone argued on Facebook.
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