So, it's close to summer which means we are now entering the "telling women what is appropriate or not appropriate to wear" season. Scrolling through the Odyssey, I found so many women writing blogs telling other women what was unacceptable to wear over the summer. Many of these items include crop tops, bathing suit bottoms that show a little more booty (a 2017 trend), bralettes, etc. Most of the reasoning behind these arguments is pretty typical: "You shouldn't show your body off for attention, you shouldn't show your body off because it's inappropriate, what if your daughter was wearing that?!?" Listen, I get it. Most of us have grown up learning to sexualize every. damn. part. of a woman's body. As much as I hate it, in this moment, that's how our society is. So, I'm proposing an idea..... stop it.
I will admit, I am not one to wear the booty showing bathing suit ( to be fair I have barely any booty to show). They don't make me feel confident, therefore, I do not wear them. Just because I don't like them doesn't mean another woman shouldn't be wearing them. If you're comfortable in what you're wearing. WEAR. IT. I have seen many a man wear a speedo, to which I respond with, okay, cool, I'm sure they like that better than the other kinds of bathing suits. Men wear speedos all the time in different countries, no one has a problem. Women have been wearing thong bathing suits in different countries for YEARS, no one has a problem. This is a society problem, not the individual's problem. So, in other words, if a woman wants to wear a thong bikini, let her. I promise your children are not going to be scarred unless you make a point of it, you will still enjoy your day at the beach, and she is still a confident, valued, woman. A women's value or virtue is not determined by what she is wearing, and frankly, even if it was, that isn't any of your business.
Bralettes and crop tops are a whole different story that I truly, TRULY, do not understand. I love crop tops, they make me feel confident, sexy, and fashionable. I truly do not understand what the visibility of my stomach has to do with how good I am as a person, or how smart I am. It's a stomach. Men walk around shirtless all the time and you say nothing, and yet here you are policing women from showing their stomachs? No. You should be applauding that women's confidence, not tearing her down for it. Confidence with one's body is extremely difficult to come by, do not diminish this accomplishment because your confidence may be based on a different type of outfit.
Women need to support each other. If you see a woman rocking the crop top, cool. If she's wearing a sweater, cool. If she's wearing a thong bikini, cool? Who are you to tell another woman what she needs to feel good in? You focus on what makes you feel good and let other women do the same. We will live in such a better world because of it. I think the best way to sum this blog up is with a Mean Girls quote because, well, obviously.
"You all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it ok for guys to call you sluts and whores."
