Female clothing equality

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

Background

All over the world, historically women have been required to wear certain clothing or accessories that men were not required to wear, or prohibited from wearing certain clothing or accessories that men were not prohibited from wearing. Examples include requiring women to wear bras, skirts, head coverings, burkas, or dresses, and prohibiting women from wearing pants or flat shoes. This is clothing inequality.

Reform

The proposed right to equal regulation protects women from clothing inequality.

Discussion

The proposed right to equal regulation states the following:

* No person shall be required to comply with particular appearance, clothing, accessories, or conduct in a public or commercial space due to a protected personal characteristic.

* No person shall be prohibited from any appearance, clothing, accessories, or conduct in a public or commercial space due to a protected personal characteristic.

This means that no government or business may require a person of any sex to wear clothing or accessories where people of a different sex are not equally required to wear the same clothing or accessories. No government or business may prohibit a person of any sex from wearing certain clothing or accessories where people of a different sex are not equally prohibited from wearing the same clothing or accessories.

Some examples include: If males are allowed to be topless at a place such as a park or beach then females must also be allowed to be topless there. If males are not required to wear skirts at school then females must also not be required to wear skirts at school. If males are not required to wear bras then females must also not be required to wear bras. If a workplace requires wearing pants, steel-toe boots, and hard hats then it applies to both males and females. If a combat sport requires wearing groin protection, then both males and females must wear groin protection, and each participant may choose a shape of groin protection that works best for them as long as it meets the same minimum requirements regarding protection from impact.

The “shall be required to” wording is important because many women may choose to wear a top or a bra but if they choose to go without where men are allowed to go without, they should not fear punishment from the government or their employer.

The right to equal regulation is not intended to protect the ability of anyone to wear clothing which is prohibited for everyone in a certain situation, or to refuse to wear clothing that is required for everyone in a certain situation. However, any clothing which is not explicitly prohibited is allowed, and any clothing which is not explicitly required is optional.

The right to equal regulation protects women from being required to wear high heel shoes, skirts, dresses, bras, hijabs, burqas, or any other clothing which men are not required to wear, and to protect women from being prohibited from wearing pants, shirts, or being topless where men are not prohibited from wearing pants, shirts, or being topless.

A private association may have dress code rules because membership in that association is optional. For example, a ballroom dance club may have a monthly dance event in which it requires women to wear dresses and men to wear suits. This does not violate the right to clothing because anyone who objects to those rules is not required to be there, and it’s not a commercial space because it’s a members and guests event in which people may enter by membership or by invitation only. In contrast, if a dance club is open to the public and charges anyone who wants to enter a fee for admission, that club may have a dress code that applies to everyone but it may not have a separate dress code for men and women.

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