Wasn't quite sure where to put this - I'm not opposed to it becoming a debate. This is something that's been bugging me the past few days and I figured a community in which there are many who worship/draw upon the masculine and feminine energies might have some interesting things to say about the subject.
First, the issue of dressing provocatively. This is nearly exclusively applied to women. Men who dress in a similar fashion are called "gross" or "d-bags," etc, but never "provocative." This is because many accept that women who wear tight clothes, short skirts, and/or low-cut tops are somehow provoking men. Men who wear clothing to show off their bodies, on the other hand, are never seen as provoking women. This line of thinking is dangerous and leads to the recent situation in the news in which a Canadian policeman told women to not dress "like sluts" in order to avoid being victimized. That policeman put the blame of rape on the victim. This is also even happening in the courts as well, much as it has for decades. This idea also leads to laws requiring women to wear a burka. It is as though the showing any skin is a provocation of all surrounding men.
Because some men see what women wear as a provocation, they see it as their right to have a say in women's clothing choices. What sparked my outrage on this topic were some recent letters to my school's newspaper, in which some of my male classmates thought it was acceptable to complain about girls wearing leggings as pants to the dining hall, likening the experience to one in a strip club. While I do not think that "leggings as pants" is a good fashion choice, that is all it is. It is not a provocation, meant to distract my male classmates from their lunch. They have to accept sooner or later that they get no say in our fashion choices (especially one made for the dining hall, in which a girl rolls out of bed and puts something on in the dark so she can go eat breakfast). Men are not superior to women - they do not have the authority to tell women what to wear.
The excuse sometimes used when men request that women dress more modestly is one of weakness. The idea is that men are powerless against feminine charms, while women are stronger in that they are not constantly distracted by sexual desires. Women should pity them and change the way they dress so that men can have an easier time respecting them. As men are not superior to women, nor are they inherently weaker (aside from lacking half a chromosome - but that is only biologically relevant in the womb and with sex-linked inherited diseases such as color blindness - it's got nothing to do with mental capacity). Men and women are both sexually driven. They desire equally and are equally capable of forgetting sex for a moment to study, work, and eat in peace.
First, the issue of dressing provocatively. This is nearly exclusively applied to women. Men who dress in a similar fashion are called "gross" or "d-bags," etc, but never "provocative." This is because many accept that women who wear tight clothes, short skirts, and/or low-cut tops are somehow provoking men. Men who wear clothing to show off their bodies, on the other hand, are never seen as provoking women. This line of thinking is dangerous and leads to the recent situation in the news in which a Canadian policeman told women to not dress "like sluts" in order to avoid being victimized. That policeman put the blame of rape on the victim. This is also even happening in the courts as well, much as it has for decades. This idea also leads to laws requiring women to wear a burka. It is as though the showing any skin is a provocation of all surrounding men.
Because some men see what women wear as a provocation, they see it as their right to have a say in women's clothing choices. What sparked my outrage on this topic were some recent letters to my school's newspaper, in which some of my male classmates thought it was acceptable to complain about girls wearing leggings as pants to the dining hall, likening the experience to one in a strip club. While I do not think that "leggings as pants" is a good fashion choice, that is all it is. It is not a provocation, meant to distract my male classmates from their lunch. They have to accept sooner or later that they get no say in our fashion choices (especially one made for the dining hall, in which a girl rolls out of bed and puts something on in the dark so she can go eat breakfast). Men are not superior to women - they do not have the authority to tell women what to wear.
The excuse sometimes used when men request that women dress more modestly is one of weakness. The idea is that men are powerless against feminine charms, while women are stronger in that they are not constantly distracted by sexual desires. Women should pity them and change the way they dress so that men can have an easier time respecting them. As men are not superior to women, nor are they inherently weaker (aside from lacking half a chromosome - but that is only biologically relevant in the womb and with sex-linked inherited diseases such as color blindness - it's got nothing to do with mental capacity). Men and women are both sexually driven. They desire equally and are equally capable of forgetting sex for a moment to study, work, and eat in peace.
I don't like how acceptable it is to just make rude comments at girls either. I think it shows bad taste and I think it's definitely coming from a time when women had less status.
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