FHSTheFlash The Flash Volume 46, Issue 4 February 2006 | Page 3

February 2006

Beauty, according to
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person
or thing that gives pleasure
to senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. The
definition would imply that
this noun is subjective to
who’s looking, but a recent
ad campaign by Dove would
like to suggest otherwise.
Launching a website that
promotes “real beauty,”
Dove is fighting for the
world to think outside of the
box when it comes to attractiveness. The main goals of
their
site,
www.CampaignForRealBeauty.com,
are to make sure every person feels accepted, and to
redefine beauty in society.
The latter is where I stop
with my disagreements.
It wouldn’t be fair to condemn the campaign without
touching upon its positive
and hopefully effective acts
first. A main objective of the
advertisement is to help everyone find his or her innerbeauty and feel confident.
Helping by providing counseling and advice, Dove’s
site is definitely doing something constructive to push
their point in the right direction. I would never deny
anyone the right to feel good
about how they look and
feel. The site itself also creates a significant expansion
on change by allowing

Opinion

3

“unique” and “different”
looking models to pose for
its campaign. Many individuals see this diversity as
groundbreaking and acceptable; it rightfully should.
It’s in the key focus of
Dove’s movement where I
find myself with a completely different attitude. In
order to fulfill its goals, the
company “aims to change
the status quo and offer in its
place a broader, healthier,
more democratic view of
beauty.” They offer a democratic view of beauty?
Doesn’t that mean the world
as a whole decides on what’s
beautiful, not Dove? The
statement in contradicting in
itself, and it’s exactly why I
am opposed to what they
want to achieve.
The phrase “beauty is in
the eye of the beholder”
comes into play during this
argument while it still holds
its true meaning. It’s a
choice, plain and simple, for
one to decide for oneself
what is physically attractive:
this is not an ad campaign’s
job. Forcing an opinion,
such as “real beauty comes
in all shapes and sizes,” into
everyone’s media isn’t
democratically correct in the
first place. Dove’s campaign
for real beauty can’t change
minds; it can only try to fix
something that isn’t broken
to begin with.

What’s Up Doc? Students question the dress code
to be comfortable in pajama
pants. Why is the dress code
so strict? If its not reviling
clothing what harm could it
do? What’s Up Doc?

By Dr. Richards
Flash Contributor
Our Question:
What is the big deal about
wearing winter jackets in
class? Most students carry
backpacks, hoodies and
sport jackets; what is the difference? Students also sit in
classes for 89 minutes, so
what is wrong with wanting

Dr. Richard’s Answer:
Before I respond to the
specifics of this question, I
would like to state that the
dress code at FHS serves the
important purpose of providing consistency for our students on what they can and
cannot wear during the
school day. The FHS dress
code provides fair guidelines
for our students and is one
that may even be perceived
as being more lenient when
compared to dress codes of
many high schools throughout our area and Michigan.
In addition, one of the roles

of a high school is to help
prepare you (our students)
for the work environment.
As such, what you wear and
how you present yourself is
important.
Question: What is the big
deal about wearing winter
jackets in class? Why can’t
we be comfortable and wear
pajama pants?
Response: There are several reasons why students are
not allowed to wear winter
jackets at FHS during the
school day. First, the pockets and size of the winter
coats provides the students
with an excellent opportunity to carry a variety of
items without detection.
Obviously, for safety reasons, this is unacceptable.
Though you may think that

safety is not a justifiable reason, providing a safe learning environment everyday is
a top priority for our staff and
parents. Another reason is
that many of our classrooms
have a limited amount of
seating space for students. If
coats were allowed to be
worn, that space would become even more crowded
and much less conducive to
learning. Finally, we are all
much more likely to become
sleepy whenever we are sitting still for a block of time
and wrapped in a warm piece
of clothing. Again, that is not
the ideal environment for
being attentive and learning
the material. As a side note,
I find it interesting that in
many instances when I have
asked a student to remove

his/her coat, I will often get
the response - “but it’s so
cold in this building”. As
they remove their jacket, I
find that the student has
elected to only wear a shortsleeve shirt to school on this
cold winter day. I’m still trying to figure out the logic on
that decision.
In responding to the question regarding the rationale
for not allowing students to
wear pajama bottoms to
school, I would ask if your
mom or dad are allowed to
wear their pajamas to work
everyday? Of course not –
they are expected to dress appropriately for the environment in which they work.
Our students need to do the
same.