Slowly Connecting The Dots

At lunch today, I heard a caller to Dennis Prager's radio show express her disapproval at the provocative clothes that teenage girls are allowed to wear to church. Which reminded me of this e-mail that I received from Abigail regarding my post decrying the way that the girls were dressed at my newphew's high school graduation ceremony and wondering how their fathers could allow it:

To quote your graduation themed entry:

"Finally a question for the fathers of teenage girls out there. What are you thinking when you let your daughter out of the house in an outfit like that?"

Thank you.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm shocked at what girls wear in public. Yes at school functions but also...at church and youth groups. Now, it's been less than 10 years since I graduated HS, so I'm not a stodgy old woman or anything, but I understand how men think, as you implied in your posting...and to answer your question, I would guess that the fathers are somewhat oblivious and just don't get it. I think the girls are sometimes oblivious as well. I've seen young teenage girls show up at youth group in tight tank tops and not think twice about the effect it has on the young men in the group. This is made worse when one of said girls is the daughter of the youth director/church elder.

I think part of the problem is that when parents dress younger girls in certain clothes they have a hard time changing the clothing patterns later on. Example: Another elder in my church has a daughter who's about twelve. She's sort and (admittedly) not skinny or even curvy...she's just quite chunky. I still think she's adorable and sweet, but she wears tight short skirts (well above the knee) and tight shirts. Now, that may be fine and not excessively attractive *now* but five years from now when she's a foot taller and she's lost all her baby fat, how are her parents going to say "well, NOW you can't wear tight clothes and short skirts because it's too enticing." They wouldn't really be able to do it, and worse yet, I don't know that they would think to do so.

You're exactly right. Fathers need to get a clue. Maybe in Honor of Father's Day we should stay a special prayer that God will open their eyes and tighten their clothing requirements.

Which reminded me of a post that Captain's Ed had on Wednesday covering the subject of young girls who are bucking the trend of wearing immodest clothing:

Ella Gunderson and her peers, who have made their displeasure known at the streetwalker-style outfits that abound these days, somehow have thus far avoided being brainwashed into believing that women become more free and more respected in direct relation to the amount of skin they show.

Of course, Ella and her friends still have to negotiate the rocky shoals of adolescence, but hopefully her values will remain unchanged. It would be good news indeed if we can raise a generation of young women who refuse to sell themselves short. At the least, pressuring retailers, designers, and magazines to give them a broader range of options demonstrates their savvy at standing up for themselves -- and that's a great start.

The news that the some young sisters are doing it for themselves and not succumbing to the pressure of "skin to win" is indeed a great start. A little encouragement (or censure if necessary) from the parents, especially the dads, would go a long way to reversing this trend towards the sexual objectification of increasingly younger girls.