Role Model: The Britney SPears Controversy

Essay by lannebamaCollege, UndergraduateA-, April 2002

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Role Model: The Britney Spears Controversy?

Eleanor Roosevelt, Sandra Day O'Connor, Rosa Parks, and Britney Spears. The first three names have little in common with the last. Three of them are extremely respected women, candidates for any young girls role model. However, if you walk into any adolescent girls' room, you will most likely not find pictures of Mrs. Roosevelt or Rosa Parks. Britney Spears, the racy pop icon, prevails over many well-respected females as one of the top role models for young girls (Labi 2). They idolize Spears, mimicking everything from her dress to her attitude conveyed through her music (Spears Matters 1). Britney Spears has altered dress codes throughout the country, and challenged adolescent girls self of sense, while claiming to promote a wholesome self-image.

"I like wearing shirts that show my stomach. I have a really flat stomach, and I like it," states Tonya Rodriguez, and eighth grader at Seven Springs Middle School. Principal Roni Sushko has given Rodriguez eight dress code violation and two suspensions. Sushko claims that when students come in dressed like Spears, they also come in with an attitude. Sushko has been known to give 40 dress code violations a day since the implement of their revised dress code policy. The policy states that shorts and skirts must be less than four inches above the knee and shirts must be tucked in (Labi 3).

In the past, schools have created dress codes to promote a violence free environment. They also existed to help relieve social and economical tension among students (School Uniforms 1-2). However, Spears's impact has created many schools across the country to stiffen their dress code policy. In Chicago, 80 percent of public schools require uniforms (Labi 3). In Miami, 196 out of 328 schools have adopted...