Ladies, when it comes to wearing leggings, there are only three rules you need to remember:

Rule #1: Your bum, and your vagina, must always be covered.

Rule #2: You must never, ever, EVER wear see through or sheer leggings. Your underwear might be super cute, but nobody wants or needs to see that (at least not out in public).

Rule #3: This is the most important rule. No matter what size you are, you CAN wear leggings. And you will look fantastic. End of story.

To the South Carolina principal who told students during a 10th grade assembly that “Unless you are a size zero or a two and you are wearing something like that [leggings], even though you’re not fat, you look fat,” shame on you. The dress code clearly states that articles of clothing, such as leggings, tights, yoga pants and spandex, must be worn under clothing that comes to mid-thigh. And even that measure is subjective, given the fact that 90% of your female students are going to vary in height. What is thigh length to you isn’t necessarily thigh length to them. But nowhere in the dress code handbook does it state what size you must be to wear said items of clothing.

You may not have intentionally meant to hurt or offend your female students with that comment but guess what? You did. Telling a sophomore girl in high school that if she wears a certain pair of pants and is not a certain size that she’s going to look fat regardless of whether she is or not, is rude and completely unacceptable. That right is reserved for our nearest and dearest of friends when we go to the mall and ask for their opinion. “Girl! Do these pants make my butt look big?” Even then we think very carefully before answering, but for someone else to answer it, especially a principal and someone in a position of authority, is utterly ridiculous and crosses the line.

I understand there is a dress code that must be followed. However, singling out students based on their size and telling them what they can and cannot (or should or should not) wear is not your job. You do not tell a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl that what she’s wearing makes her look fat. I’m fairly certain she feels self-conscious enough as it is without you having to reiterate and confirm for her that yes, those pants really do make her look fat! If she wasn’t feeling confident in her outfit before, she isn’t going to now.

Telling your female students that because they are not a certain size, they shouldn’t wear a specific type of clothing is absurd. I was a fifteen-year-old girl once. When you are fifteen and in high school, life is rough. Trying to find your way while trying to fit in and stay true to yourself is hard.

Fifteen-year-old girls are young and impressionable, and their self-esteem is extremely fragile at that age. It’s bad enough that we have the media coming at us from all sides, telling women how they should look and giving unrealistic expectations of what ‘real women’ should look like, but when your principal, someone who is to be admired and respected, tells you that what you are wearing is going to make you look fat, even if you aren’t, they might as well just shove the poor girl face first into the dirt.

I know that there are people out there who will argue that leggings aren’t actual clothes, that they shouldn’t be worn anywhere except for home or to the gym, and so on. And that’s okay. But what’s not okay is to tell young girls that if they wear a certain item of clothing, it’s going to make them look fat, even if they are not actually fat. And can we please stop using the term ‘fat’ for girls who are larger than a size 2? The average woman nowadays is a size 14, and the correct term is ‘plus size.’

It is comments and attitudes like those of Principal Heather Taylor that cause or contribute to a girl’s insecurity about herself and her body. Especially when it is said aloud in front of the entire school. It’s not hard to imagine heads turning to point out those girls and the scrutiny that follows. Comments and attitudes such as that of Principal Taylor’s can also lead to dangerous, life threatening diseases such as anorexia and bulimia.

In today’s society, we need to focus on building young girls up and encouraging them to feel confident and beautiful no matter their size, and no matter what they are wearing. Ladies, if you want to wear leggings, you rock those leggings. Strut your stuff and remember Rhett Butler’s infamous phrase in Gone With The Wind, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” You are beautiful. You are amazing. And those leggings do not make you look fat.

What’s interesting about this story, though, is that the school board has yet to make a statement in regards to Taylor’s remarks. While she did issue an apology to students and parents for her remarks, I’m curious as to what other educators and school board administrators think of her statement.