“Got boys acting like they ain’t seen skin before, got sent home to change ’cause my skirt is too short”.
This quote from Melanie Martinez’s song, “Strawberry Shortcake,” shows the continual struggle that young women all across the nation face. Despite the tremendous changes that society has made in the way they treat women, there is still a long way to go.
Men, old and young, continue to treat women with little to no respect for wearing less and not dressing conservatively. This centuries-old way of backward thinking has failed to disappear with changing times.
While other parts of society have changed and grown, our society still believes that a woman’s self-worth is determined by what she wears. Many still believe that the less they wear, the less respect they deserve.
Men harass women for their attire in the streets and now online as well. Online they can hide behind an avatar and say the vilest things, as for the most part, they will never face any repercussions for their actions. Millions of women worldwide have dealt with harassment at the hands of people like this for what they wear and what they post because others refuse to see them as anything else but an object. Unfortunately, this type of cyber-bullying doesn’t seem like it’s going away anytime soon.
Women should feel free to wear as little or as much as they want without thinking of what someone will say to them or what harsh words will be dealt with them if they step out in what they truly want to wear.
Women deserve to be seen as something other than sexual objects. Our self-worth is not tied in with how much clothing we wear, how long our skirt is, how much cleavage is showing, and whether we are showing off “too much shoulder.”
At the end of the day, people need to respect what women wear and not let their clothing affect how they view or respect them.
This starts with not sending girls home because their spaghetti straps are showing or because the skirt is too short. This begins with allowing young women to wear bikinis fearlessly. This starts with allowing mothers to wear what they please and not feel like they have to dress to fit a certain mold. This starts with treating crop tops as any other shirt. This begins with letting women wear what they want to the gym without fear of harassment or being hit on.
It’s time that people learn that the clothing a woman chooses to wear is to feel good and content for herself, not for anyone else. Women deserve respect no matter what they wear, and they shouldn’t need to ask for it.