Who says you can’t look good and be a teacher? We all remember that one “hot” teacher we had in middle school or high school.
Nowadays, it seems you can actually get in trouble for being too curvy and attractive.
Patrice Brown, a teacher from Atlanta, has come under fire for being a “distraction” to her students for her apparel choices. America seems to want to know if her attire is inappropriate for the classroom, but is that the real issue?
Part of the issue is the gender bias placed on women.
Men usually aren’t called out for having sexual or distracting parts that can be viewed in the professional world, while women are quite the opposite.
From “cat-calling” to having their worth placed on how they look, the physical appearance of women has been nitpicked by American culture.
If a woman is too skinny, she needs to gain weight. If she is deemed too big, she needs to lose weight. If she is too muscular, society criticizes her for not be feminine enough. If she is skinny, she’s “normal.”
What happens when she is too curvy? Should she should be fired and get publicly shamed for her figure?
Women just can’t seem to win in America. If Brown wore a giant pillow case, it would be seen as seductive in some way.
A different part of the issue is race.
Brown, an African-American woman, is genetically disposed to curves; like most women in the world.
She unrightfully became sexualized and shamed for how she looks because of her physical characteristics that are because of her race. Yet, if someone of a different race wants to get lip-injections, breast implants or a nose job, they’re seen as trendy and fashionable.
Brown broke no rules under the school’s dress code policy, unless you deem being attractive as a major transgression.
The school in question did speak to her. However, in a “warning fashion,” about her presence on social media. Sounds like even the school knows she did nothing wrong. We need to stop nitpicking at issues like this.
Ms. Brown could easily be out making money off of her looks, but instead chose to do the most important job in the United States: teaching the future of our nation.