Today a United Airlines gate agent refused to let two girls wearing leggings board their flight. In a series of tweets (x, x, x), Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand, a group working to end gun violence in America, explains what happened. According to Watts’ tweets, the gate agent forced the girls to either change their clothes or put dresses on over their leggings if they wanted to be allowed on the flight. The two girls did change and were later allowed to board their plane.
The United Airlines official twitter responded to Watts saying that they have the right to “refuse transport for passengers who are barefoot or not properly clothed.” The Airline says that the two girls were traveling on “buddy passes” and were expected to dress nicer because they are representing the company. This event begs the question: what qualifies as “not properly dressed” when it comes to traveling?
I for one have traveled in several airports using several different airlines wearing leggings, or even pajamas. When you have to wake up early to drive to the airport to catch a flight that is most likely going to late more than a couple of hours, you just want to be comfortable. Leggings are notorious for being comfortable travel wear, so why all the sudden are two girls being prevented from boarding their flight, a flight that United Airlines is getting money for anyway, just because they are wearing leggings? Their rules only state that passengers who are not wearing shoes are not “properly” dressed are not welcome to board their flight. They do not specify what clothing items fall under this rule. What makes leggings inappropriate for girls, one even as young as ten, to wear while traveling?
I think the bigger problem, as with most incidents with girls being dress coded, goes back to girls being sexualized even at a young age. Girls are taught by society, albeit unconsciously, that their worth is tied to their appearance. Girls are always made to feel like that bodies and their looks are their most valuable asset, and the fact that we live in a world where young girls are not even allowed to dress comfortably while traveling because their outfits are deemed inappropriate or might be distracting to others. This is something that needs to change, and we can start by allowing people to wear what they want and not making them feel like their appearance is the most important thing about them.
