I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want: for beauty to regain its former glory and for women to not feel the pressure to rate themselves and each other based on sexual desirability. I know, it’s a goal which is highly idealistic, but I believe women can snap out of it and start to see themselves as valuable individuals, who do not need the type of validation that comes from drawing the admiring eye of another.
It seems to be hard-wired into us women to make ourselves attractive to men. In the past, however, social convention tempered the behaviour (at least, that which was overt) of men and women when it came to sexual relationships. In the more desperate times of human history, these types of social conventions, along with many others, kept life safer and more peaceful. In some cultures it was even a matter of life and death to avoid offending your neighbours by breaking societal rules or taboos.
Today there is hardly any limit to how revealingly a woman may dress. Just the other day I saw a teenage girl walking down the street wearing lycra shorts that were essentially the dimensions of underwear, paired with a midriff-showing tank top. It was one step up from simply walking down the street in her undies. Most of the shorts worn by teenage girls in recent years only just cover their bottoms and the skirts are only slightly longer. Jeans are skin tight, as are shirts. Very little is left to the imagination.
And since I lived in Canada rather than Beverly Hills, I also wore an oversized sweater with that ensemble for most months of the year.
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