Dress Coded

This section covers Chapter 104: “Dress Coded: A Podcast, Episode Eight”; Chapter 105: “The Dan Plan”; Chapter 106: “Dress Coded: A Podcast, Episode Nine”; and Chapter 107: “Middle School Is Hard Enough.”

On the eighth podcast episode, Talia shares her experience. A boy sitting behind her in chorus kept pushing down her hair, claiming it was “too puffy.” When she told him off, the choir teacher asked her to fix her hair, then sent her to Dr. Couchman when she protested that her hair wasn’t the problem. He gave Talia detention without discussion.

Molly’s mother cleans the house nervously, preparing for Danny’s return. She offers to accompany Molly to the board of education meeting, and tells her about the “Dan Plan”—in which Danny will return to take his final exams, but will spend the summer with their grandmother. As they discuss their plans for a summer girls’ trip, a ninth grader named Catherine arrives at their house, asking for Molly and wanting to share her story.

Molly and Catherine record the ninth podcast episode, in which Catherine describes how she was constantly dress coded for wearing both shorts and leggings, because she is big-boned; Dr. Couchman even told her that she was “inviting boys to stare at [her]” (236).