Everyone at the University with functioning eyes and a basic level of situational awareness knows about the “Pants Guessing Game,” although some know it by other names. The Guessing Game is a mode of dress popular among female students, wherein a baggy shirt is worn over Nike shorts or leggings. Most agree that it’s pretty silly, and some find it tasteless.
But Kirby Johnson, in her recent letter to The CW, argues that it’s a little worse than that. Her letter made the case that wearing “inappropriate” clothing is disrespectful to professors and The University of Alabama as an institution. “School is not an extension of the gym or bedroom,” she argues. “We should dress accordingly.”
Kirby Johnson means well, and I respect her values. In as much as I think that The Guessing Game is pretty ridiculous, I even share some of them. But I disagree with her assertion that girls somehow owe it to the University to dress in a certain way.
Fashion is a personal choice. If you prefer to shell out for high-end designer clothes, then do so. If you dress for comfort, that’s your right. And if you want to show off your body, as long as you aren’t stepping outside the law or the Code of Student Conduct, that’s also your choice. It’s a choice that we wouldn’t have had in high school, admittedly, but everyone at UA is an adult vested with the power to manage their own lives.
Furthermore, I contest Johnson’s argument that revealing clothes are wrong because they disrespect the University. Like every student at the University, I pay to go to school here. I also have to follow a student code of conduct or be expelled. And I have to maintain a certain standard of academic rigor or be put on academic probation. These are my obligations to the University, and I – like every student here – fulfill them.
My obligations do not extend so far as to require me to dress a certain way. That’s a personal choice that is extended to me, and only me.
And, finally, I don’t agree with Johnson’s assumption that female legs are inappropriate. They’re legs. Everyone sees at least a few of them every day, and I like to imagine that most men have the strength of will to ignore them during class. I don’t feel degraded when I wear a muscle shirt to the gym, and I don’t think anyone is degraded by looking at me.
Frankly, I’m a little tired of the idea that a woman is reduced in worth when someone sees her shape. It hearkens back to the times when society thought a woman’s only value came from her body.
In short, I think the Pants Guessing Game is ridiculous, ugly and unoriginal. But I’ll stand up to anyone who says it’s wrong.
Nathan James is a sophomore majoring in public relations. His column runs weekly on Thursdays.
