Two days ago, I visited my family in Mississippi. We went to New Orleans for the day. I, like I always do, wore incredibly short shorts because that's how I am. While in my incredibly short shorts, I bent down to tie my shoes. While doing so, a car drove by, rolled down his window, and shouted, "Girl, you shouldn't be doing that," and continued to stare at me until he couldn't see me anymore. I stared back. The tone in his voice was serious. It said, "No, really, you shouldn't be wearing those shorts and bending over. Who do you think you are? Go put some clothes on."
I'm angry.
I'm so sick of society constantly telling women how to dress. We tell our daughters to cover up. To not expose because you will look like a whore. People will think you are a slut. They will think you are sexualizing your body. To be good, to be right, to be looked at wholesome, you should dress wholesome. And this is bullshit.
For once, I want you to take your preconceived notions, what you have been taught, and toss them out the window. You can pick them up after you listen to this.
This is bullshit because what we are also saying is, "Hey, men, look at this woman in these clothes. She is a sex object. She is a slut. She is a whore. She is not wholesome."
Everyone gets angry about the objectification of women, and yet they don't even understand where it stems from. It doesn't stem from nudity. It stems from making nudity objectifying. Are we seeing the difference? No? Let me give you an example.
Growing up, cherries were all the rage. Every clothing article had it. Cherries are a fruit. They grow. You can eat them. They are food. They are just fucking cherries. But do you remember why they were on everything? Because of the saying, "She popped her cherry." Cherries went through a fad because they symbolized innocence and the idea of removing that innocence. The popping of that cherry. Shorts said sexy with cherries beside them. Pursues had cherries on them. Pin up girls were now sporting the cherries. Cherries came on necklaces and hats. I remember walking around and seeing nothing but cherries on every female article of clothing. But alone it's just a fucking cherry, right? I mean without the meaning we've placed on it, it's a cherry.
That's the female body for you. Alone, I am a female. I have boobs. I have nipples. I have thighs. I have an ass. And it's simply a body.
Then society goes and says, "We are going to take the female body, like we did with those cherries, and put a meaning on it. We are going to give it names. We are going to objectify it. To show these parts, just like to wear those clothes with cherries on them, means you are a certain way."
Are you understanding now?
So now that we've objectified the female body, we are going to continue the objectification of it by reminding you of how sexual it is. All the time. Through ads, through cat calls, through the shakes of the heads we give when we see you wear revealing clothing, by telling our sons not to date women who dress this way, by being part of the fucking problem.
I mean, when did you sit your son down and tell him that image doesn't say who a person is. That no matter what she is wearing, she actually has a fucking brain and a personality. No. You told him, "Don't date that girl because she dresses like that." And then you told your daughters, "Don't wear that because people will think things about you," instead of teaching her how to have a fucking brain.
You are a part of the problem.
So next time you want to roll your eyes at the girl dressed like a "whore" because she's "objectifying" herself, remember that you are, in reality, the one objectifying her. Idiot.
