[BenLurkin]

Dennis Prager bump.

[BackInBlack]

It's a shame. Somehow being feminine became worthy of derision. Being a full-time mother became worthy of derision. Refusing to be promiscuous became worthy of derision. Makes things confusing, that's for sure.

[TheWriterInTexas]

I like Dennis Prager, and there is something to what he is saying...but as a woman, myself, I believe the greater contributing factors to the degeneration of my sex is the push for sex as a replacement for love (breaking down the honor of family for the false promise of flings) and the erosion of the feminine mystique - that is, the belief that you are special and unique and worth the effort. Nowadays, young women have no mystique left - those who hold themselves back from decadence are criticized, not praised, and are labeled "unliberated" or "oppressed."

And the women who label them have bought into the lie that sexuality will bring them happiness and a sense of self worth, when what they really need is to be cherished and loved.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Why young women are exposing themselves: Part one

This coming from a guy...?

[weegee]

It's not just "exposure". It's sex in general that women will use to say "look at me".

It can be a flirty girl who kisses other girls passionately at a bar so that guys will look at her. It can be exposing her breasts for beads, photographers, drinks, etc.

"Girls Gone Wild"-type bottom feeders turned a weekend moment of wild abandon into "instant celebrity".

In a cultural realm where everyone young is trying to top everyone else, the threshold required to get noticed keeps moving.

Pierce your lips, your nipples, your genitals (and tell everyone). Flash strangers on your webcam. Brag about how young you were when you lost your virginity.

By the time they are in their 20s, they've "seen it, done it".

[Prime Choice]

Playing with the sex drive, the most powerful force in nature, is far more dangerous than playing with fire.

While I am certainly in favor of a bit more common sense and modesty in today's fashions, I don't buy this "dangerous" line. Like it or not, men have the conscious ability to behave in a moral or immoral manner too. To claim otherwise insinuates that we're all just mindless Bill Clinton clones just waiting to be set off by the sight of cleavage and bare midriffs.

Sure, women should hold themselves in higher regard by dressing in a manner that respects themselves...but arguing that women should dress in a certain manner so as not to arouse men's desires is going the way of the Taliban. And I'll suffer none of that horse**** here.

[daybreakcoming]

I believe it is more complex. Reseach needs to be done on why women/mothers dress their young daughters as Britney wannabes. Are they trying to market them in a way that they themselves can't be marketed any longer? Is the media/parent teaching them they are of no value unless they dress this way?

[paulklenk]

As Kathy Bates said in Misery, "It's a theory."

[longtermmemmory]

because their mothers don't know what it means to be a woman. These girls have no fathers to teach them about men.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[lewislynn]

This is all very interesting but pictures say a thousand words.

[Dan Evans]

I'm not sure girls are exposing more now than they did in the late sixties and early seventies they are just doing it in different ways. Those mini-skirts they had back then showed a lot of leg.

My theory is that women dress to attract a certain level of attention. During wartime, when there is a shortage of young men, women notice that they aren't getting enough attention and so they dress more provocatively to compensate.

[tdadams]

It's just a shame that it seems like the only women who enjoy showing their stuff are the ones who look like burly male truck drivers.

[stainlessbanner]

bttt

[WV Mountain Mama]

I taught at a combined jr/sr high school. What made the teachers sick is that girls think that just because clothes (belly shirts and low rise jeans) are made in her size, it is ok to wear. This includes girls with the bellies that jiggle. Granted there were only a couple of inches exposed. I was pregnant with morning sickness at the time, breakfast was hard enough to keep down, let alone looking at jiggling bellies and push up bras that literally had their boobs up by their shoulders. The last day of school, the male teachers with HUGE bellies wanted to go around the school with their shirts up to show everyone how it really looked, I was invited because I was 7 months pregnant by then. Luckily, I don't work outside the home anymore.

[Cronos]

I went to Edinburgh a month ago. I have the utmost respect for those Scottish girls (or should I say gels) who wear micro-minis and teensy bikini tops while standing in 0 Celsius weather with artic winds to get into night clubs. Yessir, these wimming are gutsy when they go with nothing. I even say some of them when I went to The UAE in '99. Now there's some women who feel it's their right to reveal the most flech in a deeply conservative Arab society, increasing their revulsion against us (and letting the Arab lechers have somethign to do).

[Gritty]

History sometimes shows parallels. I hope this is not one of them...

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

[Little Ray]

Before I fell in love, I would have said, "Ain't it wonderful?"

Now I don't even notice. She ain't my love and I don't care if she's stark naked.

[Lorianne]

But in the name of equality and comfort, distinctive female dress -- such as dresses and skirts -- has been largely abandoned

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.

[woofie]

This thread needs pictures