Tuesday, February 20, 2007

6 Comments:

> But when I found myself "tsk
> tsking," I thought back to my
> sixth grade years, I remember
> girls who dressed and acted
> provocatively.

But Syd! This begs the question of whether they ought to dress or act provocatively and whether their mothers and teachers should have prevented them from doing so.

We should not norm against common behavior any more for girls' modesty than we should for hospital charges. Just because it is commonly done does not make it good, or useful, or even normal.

And besides that, the styles of the 1970's were about the sexualization of teens. What you experience now with respect to pre-teens reflects a further corruption of our culture.

Your initial reaction is the right one.

t

By  Anonymous, at 12:27 PM  

Of course!
That's why my daughter does not dress that way.

By  Sydney, at 12:39 PM  

There's plenty of bands out there that are more modest. Typically they are the retail store's house line. Also, Ralph Lauren has pretty decent clothes from infant up if you're a more trendy mom. My uncle is a minister and he and my aunt lucked into these clothes lines growing up. I think it's more a parental choice than anything else.

By  Anonymous, at 5:44 PM  

Honestly, though some times girls don't realize how stuff makes them look. As a high schooler I once bought a top I thought was incredibly cute not realizing it was also incredibly see through. I got sent home from work with a warning. The next day my mom took me shopping and taught me stuff like putting your hand behind the garment to see how see through it is. Sometimes perfectly ok things on the rack can be horrible on and I think there's a learning curve for most girls in realizing it. My poor mom, to this day I don't know how she got through high school with me. ;-)

By  Anonymous, at 5:47 PM  

Let's go to the video tape. We have the HPV ads encouraging girls to get their shot early. Low dose birth control pills end with the girl walking off hand in hand with her boyfriend. STD's are not a problem, we have Valtrex and any time is the right time. All of this is brought to you by Smilin Bob.

Medically we have Scrubs, 7 PM on the Comedy channel. Sex and buddy sex are common topics. Who can forget Heather Locklear as the drug rep "Take a pen, any pen" from her tight shirt pocket.

Kids are bigger and stronger at an earlier age today, and just as inquisitive. I am glad I am not a parent.

Steve Lucas

By  Anonymous, at 8:59 AM  

Well, I noticed this trend years ago when A & F were spanked for selling little girls' underwear with phrases such as "hottie" and "eye candy" across the butt. Consequently, my daughter isn't allowed to go in there. At all.

Thank goodness for school uniforms- though even they can be "altered" by a creative mind...

We went shopping for a starter bra, and I had to really look hard to find one that wasn't padded. That is also true in the women's department. I personally don't want to look like at least a size bigger, but I don't have much choice, either.

We watch "What not to Wear" on TV- besides being funny, they do two things that I love: They never harp on women about their weight; and they spend at least 50% of their time getting women to look less skanky. Now they've expanded to teenagers, and I think it's great.

I tell my daughter what my mom told me: "Girls that show more of themselves usually think less of themselves." I think she's listening.

By  Anonymous, at 3:47 PM  

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