Posted on 02/16/2004 10:17:33 PM PST by kattracks
You may have noticed that many young women wear less, and more sexually provocative, clothing in public than they did a generation, or even 10 years, ago.
It is easier to notice, however, than to explain.
But explaining it is crucial to understanding what has happened to men and women in the last 40 years and where male-female relations are headed. Women exposing their bodies in public is a big deal. Playing with the sex drive, the most powerful force in nature, is far more dangerous than playing with fire. Even if one welcomes this development -- and for the record, as a male I am turned on, while as a man I am turned off -- it begs for explanation.
I will offer at least five reasons that may be less obvious but more important than the valid ones usually given -- peer pressure, women buy what stores sell and the sexual revolution.
The first is "equality."
By equality, I do not mean the belief that men and women are equal human beings, a belief that all decent people hold. Rather, I mean the feminist and politically correct definition of equality: sameness. Men and women have come to be regarded as the same, not simply as equals.
Thanks to feminist doctrines that pervade education from kindergarten through graduate school, men and women increasingly believe that the sexes are largely identical. Therefore, the arenas wherein women can feel and demonstrate their feminine distinctiveness have narrowed appreciably.
By showing more of their bodies, women can announce that they are women. There are other ways young women can publicly demonstrate their distinct female identity -- for example, by wearing feminine clothing and other feminine behavior, being a wife, being pregnant and being a mother.
But those ways are increasingly ignored, deferred and discredited. Among egalitarians, being a wife is no different a role than that of husband, and motherhood is no longer regarded as distinctively female. Husbands and fathers are supposed to play identical roles, and because of the movement for gay equality, mothers have been declared unnecessary -- two fathers, most well educated people now contend, are every bit as good for a child as a mother and a father.
So, for the young woman for whom marriage, pregnancy and motherhood are remote or even undesirable given the anti-traditional education she has received, her primary vehicle of proclaiming she is a woman is literally to expose the fact.
A second, related, reason is the death of femininity.
In the past, expressing one's femaleness was done through expressing femininity. In addition to the female roles of wife and mother, there were numerous ways of doing so. One was, of course, dress. But in the name of equality and comfort, distinctive female dress -- such as dresses and skirts -- has been largely abandoned. A young woman who wore a dress or even a skirt and blouse to a college, let alone high school, class would probably be considered stranger by her peers than one who wore a see-through top.
Today, instead of women wearing feminine clothing, they either wear essentially male clothing (such as pants and pants suits) or flesh-baring sexually provocative clothing. Feminine attire -- i.e., clothing that is very female but not very revealing -- is rare.
Femininity was also expressed by sexual reticence. Again, such a notion is laughable in much of contemporary society. The idea that a man made great efforts to be allowed sexual contact with a woman rendered women feminine in men's eyes. They are different from us -- they are feminine. Women who act as sexually available as a man -- through their behavior or their dress -- are not perceived as feminine, since they are perceived as being male-like.
Likewise, the myriad ways in which men treated women as women -- such as opening doors for them -- all declared that women were feminine, i.e., different from masculine. That is why many feminists opposed men opening doors for women -- it reinforced notions of femininity, a value that feminism has sought to extinguish.
So, femininity is largely a dead concept. Ask most young women -- or men -- what it means, and you will get either a blank stare or a hostile reaction.
Thus, many women are now saying: "I am a woman. And I will declare it in one of the only ways left to me -- I will show you my female body."
©2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
4 I will make boys their officials;
mere children will govern them.
5 People will oppress each other-
man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
The young will rise up against the old,
the base against the honorable...
12 Youths oppress my people,
women rule over them.
O my people, your guides lead you astray;
they turn you from the path...
16 The LORD says,
"The women of Zion are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks,
flirting with their eyes,
tripping along with mincing steps,
with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
17 Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald."
18 In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, 19 the earrings and bracelets and veils, 20 the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, 21 the signet rings and nose rings, 22 the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses 23 and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.
24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench;
instead of a sash, a rope;
instead of well-dressed hair, baldness;
instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;
instead of beauty, branding.
25 Your men will fall by the sword,
your warriors in battle.
26 The gates of Zion will lament and mourn;
destitute, she will sit on the ground.
Isaiah 3
Largely abandoned? Hardly. Dresses and skirts have always been popular with women and continue to be so. Many women find skirts much more comfortable and practical. Look at tennis for example, where the tennis skirt has been worn by the most visible female tennis players for the last 25 years.
I agree that men and women are different, duh. The author's hypothesis is interesting. Personally I think the immodest clothes have more to do with the fitness craze in Hollywood. Anyway, I consider that I am very feminine. I am neither a mother or a wife, but I show my distinctness as a girl by my dress. Even when wearing pants I strive to look like a girl. I'm also kind and caring and offer nurturing to my nieces and nephews whom I adore. I like to decorate, and I love to sketch and write poetry, activities that have been traditionally viewed as feminine. I'm also a feminist and very proud to be one. But feminists are not a monolith of women who think exactly alike. I can only speak for myself, but what may upset some feminists is that the traditional role of women has often been looked down upon as inferior. That some guys take women being different to mean that femininity is not complimentary to masculinity but inferior. Also feminine differences have been used as an excuse to exclude women from things they can do which fall outside of their gender role. Incidently the same applies to men. Is a woman not a real girl if she isn't a domestic goddess? Is a man not a real man if he could care less about sports?
This thread needs pictures
This thread is worthless without pics. Let's see some examples.
I have no research, but I think these mothers are trying to be their daughters' friends rather than their mothers. (Anyone who saw Mean Girls would remember Amy Poehler as the really pathetic mom trying to be hipper than her teenage daughter and friends.)
Guys don't look at you these days if you aren't showing anything or don't dress provocatively.
I seem to see 12- and 13-year old girls looking like whores wherever I go these days, sometimes even accompanying their own mothers! It shows how much work we have to do to reverse the Clinton Era.
hmm. gender-confused. And the militant gay movement moves right in to "allow" children to choose the gay lifestyle...almost like it was planned that way.
got a question for you... Who do you think has had more impact on teaching thier daughter the message sex=love the Father or the mother?
and some parents are viewed as "cool" (by their kids) precisely because they won't allow their children to live without morals.
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