Modest Fashion Sense

My husband sent me this article today. I'm so glad I'm not the only person who doesn't approve of Hannah Montana, Bratz, and current girls' fashion.

Joe Cummings of Universal City, Texas, links self-esteem issues about appearance in young women to influences including suggestive apparel stores, Hannah Montana and the Bratz doll line. "It is no wonder that this might be the most difficult period in recent history to be a teenage girl in school, or a parent of one," says Cummings, who has a 12-year-old daughter.

I am often appalled by the clothing I see even elementary aged girls wearing.

There was an 8-inch-long skirt from Abercrombie & Fitch, one of the store's shopping bags with a near-naked man on it and a "Bling Bling Barbie," who looked suspiciously like a prostitute. Sharman also showed a camisole that's now sold as a top but was considered lingerie at the time Sharman modeled it in the 1990s, when she says bras and underwear "were more full coverage."

Sharman didn't have to go any farther than her local mall to collect her examples. A floor-to-ceiling photo graphic of a young man with his pants unzipped has greeted many visitors to Abercrombie & Fitch stores. The home page for the chain's lingerie line, Gilly Hicks, has seven men with bare behinds posing with a young model in a bra and underwear. American Apparel's website home page recently featured a topless model wearing see-through leggings.

Both for my girls' and my boy's sakes, I have a vested interest in girls dressing modestly. I want my girls to set a good example and send the message that they are modest and moral in the way they dress. I don't want to worry about my son disrespecting women or being tempted by lust because of the way women dress.

Jenny Carpenter of Washington has applauded moves by apparel makers such as Shade and Layers to offer more modest choices, but she remains appalled by the marketing many retailers use to pitch their products.

"Why are retailers using sex to sell to young women?" asks Carpenter, who has four sons. "My boys will one day be men, and I want them to respect women for who they are — mind, body and soul — instead of drooling after them because of the amount of skin they're showing."

So I'm glad there are people who are willing to do something about it, to protest and try to make a change. And right now I'm going to add my voice to the protest.