Just keep swimming?
More like… just get the heck out of here and don’t let the door hit you on the way out, apparently!
A 20-year old college student from Grand Rapids, Michigan has gone viral because she claims in a Facebook post that she was recently kicked out of Woodland Mall in Kentwood.
Her crime against humanity, according to the establishment’s set of guidelines?
Wearing short jean shorts and a Finding Dory tanktop and…
… no, wait. That’s it.
The ensemble you see below is allegedly the entire reason Hannah Pewee was asked to leave the premises.
“As many of you know, it is NINETY degrees outside today in West Michigan. Aka, really hot,” Hannah wrote to open her lengthy social media entry regarding what happened.
“So, of course, I decided to dress for the weather: shorts and a tank top.
“But apparently, how I was dressed was too ‘slutty’ for the public, as I was kicked out of the Woodland Mall today.”
Other patrons reportedly complained to mall security and other mall employees about Hannah’s outfit, which seems impossible to comprehend on a number of levels.
First, it isn’t all that revealing.
Second, who doesn’t love Dory?!?
“Yup. Apparently some anonymous person reported me to MALL SECURITY for inappropriate dress and I was kicked out,” Hannah explained.
In a post that has been Liked over 17,000 times as of this writing, the student continues:
“Never mind that within a one foot radius there were plenty of girls dressed just like me, since it’s NINETY degrees outside. I am so angry right now I’m shaking.
“I felt so embarrassed I almost cried. All because a stranger didn’t like how I dressed.”
For good reason, Hannah wrote on Facebook that she was “feeling angry” as a result of the incident, concluding as follows:
The Woodland Mall should be ashamed of themselves, as well as that anonymous complainer. It’s my body, and it’s hot outside!
I’m not going to show up in jeans and a sweater, sorry. Don’t like it? Look away!
I was out having a fun time with my sister and next thing I know, I’m out on the street. Slut-shaming how girls are dressed is deplorable and outdated, and it needs to stop.
The Woodland Mall does try to enforce a dress code policy, which you can find on its website.
“Appropriate attire, including shirts and shoes, is required,” it reads, continuing:
“Clothing with inappropriate words, phrases or graphics is not permitted and is subject to mall management approval. Excluding attire worn in accord with religious practice, tradition or significance, deliberately obscuring the face is prohibited.”
We’re not sure how a Finding Dory tanktop falls into any of these categories.
“Several women reached out to me saying that this had happened to them, too – not on the same day as me, but in the past!” Pewee told The Today Show, adding:
“They’d been kicked out for various reasons, all related to their attire. All of them felt, like me, that they hadn’t been treated fairly.”
The day after Pewee’s post went viral, she got on the phone with the management team at the mall.
She says these executives apologized for the incident and that the mall will revise its clothing policy.
Said a spokesperson for the mall this week:
“Woodland Mall has a dress code policy in place that we enforce. We’re currently reassessing the level of detail in our dress code and will train our team on it in hopes to avoid situations like this in the future.
“Our ultimate goal is to create an environment where all of our shoppers feel welcome and we, again, apologize for how this matter was handled.”
That apology is a good start at least.
And fortunately Hannah needs only to look to the shirt she’s wearing in the photo above to know how she ought to respond in a situation such as this.
Just keep swimming, right?
In the face of adversity, always keep swimming.