A high school principal in South Carolina was recently recorded telling students they shouldn’t wear leggings “unless you are a size 0 or size 2” because it makes them “look fat.”
As People reports, Heather Taylor, the principal at Stratford High School in Goose Creek, recently spoke about the dress code at assemblies for ninth- and tenth-grade students. In a recording shared with WCBD, Taylor is heard saying, “I’m going to tell you now, unless you are a size 0 or 2 and you wear something like that, you look fat. Even though you are not fat, you look fat.”
Parents and students alike are understandably outraged at the comments. Allison Veazey, a sophomore at Stratford High, told WCBD that she felt targeted during the assembly, as she isn’t a size 0 and wears leggings.
“It was really hurtful, cause I felt like my size made me look disgusting towards someone in the clothes that I wear,” Veazy said. “I wear leggings outside of school and I wear leggings when I go and hang out with my friends, and to think that someone would think that I look like a stuffed sausage — that was kind of hurtful.”
One parent, Lacy Thompson-Harper, wrote on Facebook that she felt the comments were “uncalled for, inappropriate, and unprofessional.” She posted that she spoke with Taylor after the assemblies and that Taylor had agreed to apologize to the student body, according to People.
“When I spoke with her, she talked around the issue, and made excuse after excuse, effectively calling all of the students liars,” Thompson-Harper wrote. “This has upset many, many more students than just those in the 10th grade. My daughter is in the 11th grade, and is livid. She has been ridiculed by students for her body, and shouldn’t be subjected to it from teachers.”
