Young students across the nation are beginning a new school year just as the Delta variant of the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans continues to surge across the country.
Despite the increased threat the variant poses to children, a number of school districts have opted not to enforce the wearing of masks during in-person learning, despite their proven effectiveness and despite the ineligibility for children under 12 to get the vaccine.
Now, an email from an outraged Tennessee mom to her school board is going viral for her takedown of the school board's optional mask policy, but mandatory—and misogynist—dress code.
The letter reads in part:
"As the parent of a daughter at East Hamilton, I find the school's dress code policy to be misogynistic and detrimental to the self-esteem of young women. Rather than shaming young women into covering their shoulders (and other parts of their body), I believe we should empower female students to have agency over their own bodies and to wear clothing that is comfortable for them and contributes to their ability to enhance their learning experience."
That's when she went in for the kill:
"In light of the opt-out option related to the recently announced mask mandate, I can only assume that parents are now in a position to pick and choose the school policies to which their child should be subject. As someone who holds a strong commitment to my feminist ideals and my desire to raise my daughter to be a strong and empowered woman able to make choices for herself, I find that the school's dress code policy does not align with my belief system."
With the same determination as the anti-maskers who have become all too familiar since the pandemic upended daily life in the United States, the letter emphasizes to the officials that the daughter is "not, under any circumstances, to be dress coded."
People cheered the clever callout.
People praised the woman's parenting skills.
We hope to have an update on how the school board responds.
