I see this development with something approaching satisfaction:
Women are wearing ‘safety layers’ over their outfits to deter ‘creepy’ men – with many labeling it ‘sad but necessary’.
Let me get all the stipulations out of the way, first.
Yes, I agree that womyns should be able to wear what they want. Yes, I agree that womyns should be “body proud” to bolster their self-esteem. Yes, I agree that (in this respect anyway) Men Are Pigs and shouldn’t respond to scantily-clad womyns with catcalls, wolf whistles and overt sexual behavior (groping, etc.), not to mention trying to sneak some “upskirt pics” (which is really unacceptable).
However:
If womyns are going to dress like prostitutes, please understand that while men like myself can simply appreciate the female form as an object of beauty, Not All Men Are Like That and some may regard displays of flesh and the female form as sex objects. Yes, their behavior is to be deplored.
But, in the words of some wise man, and according to sound marketing principle:
If the goods aren’t for sale, don’t put them in the window.
I hate to sound old-fashioned, but there’s this word… wait, it’ll come to me… give me a moment, what was it again? Oh yeah:
Now I know that the word has been abused, most notably by the radical religionists (Puritans, Muslims an other assholes of that ilk), and if applied to its extreme, you get shunning, niqabs, mercy killings and so on. All bad things.
But can we at least agree that somewhere between this:
and this:
…there lies an expansive area wherein womyns can dress in a non-provocative fashion that is still… sexy, without being overly provocative?
I often use Brit-TV hottie and uber-MILF Charlotte Hawkins as an example of stylishness and sexiness, because she is most often seen in public dressed, ummm stylishly and sexily. This does not means she can’t go deep, so to speak:
…but only when the occasion calls for it, i.e. when display is called for, in a secure environment so to speak.
I know, all this is Not Fair To Women etc., but can we at least try to live in the real world, and not in some ur-feminist fantasy?
Modesty works, ladies, and you need to dial Teh Sexeh back a tad when you’re out in the public eye.
OK Fine……..only please keep the spandex yoga pants. those count as modestly right?
Can I be the terrible person and suggest that not *everyone* should keep the spandex? At least in my, ah, observational opinion.
Agreed. Spandex: it’s a privelege, not a right.
And maybe try and restrict “immigrants” from countries that have not a frigging clue about treating women with some form of respect.
You know, places that don’t have social rules that say if a woman isn’t wearing her black potato sack and isn’t escorted by other women, or her husband, brother(s), or father, it means you can drag them into an alley and rape them.
Somewhere they have stats on that here, and those stats may not fit the “we are the world” narrative so you won’t be seeing them.
Ask the Swedes. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45269764
How you dress and present yourself has consequences for both races.
Interviewing for a job? I don’t care if you have a PhD from the most prestigious university, you dress like a gang-banger and got all sorts of metal ornaments hanging from your face, no job for you.
You’re a female land whale pushing 300 lbs? As Chris Rock said, “Ladies, one size does NOT fit all!”
Men respond to visual stimuli – dress a certain way and expect stares. Yes, it’s not an invitation to rape, but you can expect that men will certainly entertain thoughts. Dress accordingly.
If it’s on display, don’t expect me to not look.
They aren’t wearing the ‘safety layer’ to deter physical attacks or even upskirts. They are wearing it to deter men who are creepy (I read that as ‘men that I don’t find physically attractive’) from staring at them. I quote:
“While others who hadn’t heard of the trend expressed how ‘sad but necessary’ it is to cover up to avoid unwelcome stares.”
I’m betting you if the guy is good looking or obviously wealthy, they will rip off that safety layer to put the goods on display, like a car dealer who runs a credit check before allowing you to take a test drive.
I actually had an encounter with a woman and her meathead boyfriend over this very topic several years ago. The story is here:
https://areaocho.com/hes-looking-at-me/
A while ago I passed a woman walking towards me who was wearing a tee shirt with words across it. It was a long enough sentence that I had to keep looking until she got closer to read it: it said “my eyes are up there”. Yes; she put a message saying don’t look at my tits… across her tits.
dress matters in many circumstances. That’s just the way it is. As someone once said ages ago, a low cut blouse and a push up bra is going to attract attention you may or may not want.
JQ
Modesty. That’s the word. My wife doesn’t, and never has, worn a dress without a slip of some sort.
Back in the day, women knew such things.
One day, back when I worked in DC, me, a coworker, and my boss were strolling down the street, on the way to Starbucks. Walking towards us is a pretty woman in a business suit, of sorts. She had the jacket open, revealing a silk blouse, and I’m guessing no bra, by the way things were moving. Nice…
She saw us gawping at her, pulled her jacket shut and hurried past. Me and the boss cracked up and hi-fived. The coworker tut tutted about us being pigs, (a dude BTW), which made us laugh harder. By the way, that was a full business dress job, we were all in suits.
There was nothing better than being out in that part of town on a nice day. So many hot women.
BTW, that coworker was left leaning, sort of woke before it was a thing, at least with women. It’s why he tut tutted. Didn’t stop him from dating the help though. Still a dude after all.
I remember telling a helpdesk girl (who thought he was great) that he’d bend her over the desk soon as anyone. Only he’d listen to her bullshit first.
You could do that back then.
I once saw something I termed “the american burkha.”
I was up at the daughter’s college, waiting for her to post. I was outside the coffee shop, caffeinating, watching what hot college chicks there were (it was a liberal school, one of the worst). A girl walks by in a tan t-shirt, olive cargo shorts, sneakers. Hair looked like she cut it herself with pinking shears. No makeup. I’d have thought her a lesbian, had her boyfriend not been the beta appropriate 2 paces behind.
Thought to myself that this was what they did to become the more drab of the species. Still…Dirty old man I am, I detected something going on under that tshirt, I’m thinking B+ or C. She wasn’t fat. Ass appeared ok. Not ugly, a solid 5 or so as presented. Clearly a dude saw something he liked.
I used it as yet another teachable moment when the kid showed up. Hard as you try, a dude is gonna see something he likes (long as you aren’t a pig, and even then I’m not so sure). Also told her compared to what I’d seen so far, lesbians and homely chicks, she was a veritable Heidi Klum here and probably had dudes hitting on her right and left. Pick of the litter, so to speak. She didn’t know who that was and got pissed when she found out.
That said, Not all that long ago I was seeing pieces where these 40 something broads that complain we’d ogle them now complaining that dudes treat them like they’re invisible. They’re never happy, are they?
Dave Chappelle put it best. If I go out in a police uniform, and someone stops me to tell me about some crime, that’s not their mistake. I’m not a cop, but it’s also not unreasonable to assume that someone wearing a cop’s uniform is a cop.
So if you are wearing the uniform of a whore, it’s not unreasonable for people to assume you are a whore.
The SCOTUS ruled some years ago that strip-tease was ‘speech’, and thus fell under the umbrella of the First Amendment. By that logic, I maintain that a woman who dresses like a (to paraphrase the Late Sir Terry Pratchett) purveyor of negotiable affection has initiated a conversation about price. I don’t insist on a Burkha, but if I can tell what kind of panties you are wearing from across the room, you don’t get to be huffy when random guys hit on you. And, please stay aware of any printing you have on your person. I used to have a lapel button that read ‘If you don’t want me to stare at them, don’t print on them’. I got it after a your lady came close to slapping me because I was trying to decipher what was printed all over her mammiform development (a good chunk of Hamlet’s soliloquy). And if you are wearing a t-shirt that reads ‘Grab my heinie’ I don’t CARE if it’s an advert for Heineken Beer (it was) you should expect somebody to suit the action to the words, and you don’t get to whine when he does.
Problem is that ever more if you, as a woman, do NOT dress in a burkah you’re getting catcalls and verbal (and ever more often physical) assault from “men”, and not just muhammedan men.
Heck, regular newspapers here would call the last 2 ladies you show “nearly naked” when describing them, quite a change from just a few years ago,.
Second photo shows ladies as I’d expect to see them in summer in a park or near a beach, but ever more they’re covered up as in your first photo for fear of being assaulted.
Companies are implementing dress codes that ban visible shoulders and knees, and some even demand long sleeve shirts, ostensibly to “look professional” but in reality to apeace their muhammedan and christian radical employees.