In response to the March 22nd letter to the editor, “LSU needs a dress code to teach students self-respect”:
In the March 22nd edition of The Daily Reveille, there was a call for LSU to implement a dress code for all students on campus. The issues addressed in the letter were the self-respect of “inappropriately” dressed students, the discomfort of others, the simplicity of implementation and the lack of social norms to which some students are exposed. This is not only an immoral solution to the problem; it is also a solution that doesn’t actually solve the problem.
While I agree that modesty is something to which people should aspire and a trait that is highly beneficial in a professional setting, it is not something to be forced.
There is the old saying that you cannot legislate morality, and while LSU has the right to enforce a dress code by making breakers of such a code trespassers, creating said code will not “teach [LSU] students the value of dressing appropriately.” People have their values as conclusions based on their beliefs and, as you said, some people hold different beliefs than you. It is not your job to change those beliefs by force.
I can’t figure out why it would be your business how others dress. If someone doesn’t care what they look like to others, who are you to force them to live up to your standard? If someone wants to advertise themselves as promiscuous, why is it up to you to regulate that? And who are you to say that is what they are doing? Perhaps they feel comfortable in that clothing or it expresses how proud they are of what they look like. Perhaps, contrary to your assumption, their revealing clothing is how they express their self-respect.
I don’t have to agree or disagree with those possibilities to support their validity, and because there are so many possible beliefs about personal composure, your particular view should not be forced on others. Your only possible defense of your ideology is that it might offend others. Being offended is a product of things having to do with you, not with other people. You are offended by others’ actions because you believe them to be wrong or disgusting despite others’ beliefs. Perhaps if Rick Santorum has his way, we will all be forced to conform to the Judeo-Christian form of obscenity restrictions on the penalty of stoning, but until then, we thrive on the values of personal liberty and personal responsibility.
The price of liberty is responsibility, and that is how people will find that one action is better than another – dealing with natural consequences. Imposing your will to alter behaviors that will naturally either thrive or die out is a selfish and – in your words – “egocentric ‘my opinion comes first’ mentality.” LSU should continue a policy of liberty in dress.
If the problem is really unbearable to you, I encourage you to begin an advocacy campaign to educate young women about what you believe are the benefits of proper dress and address what you believe to be the root causes of the phenomenon. Do not, however, simply say that the LSU faculty and staff, who already have enough work on their hands, should be charged with being the fashion police on your behalf.
Alex Braud
Political science junior
 
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