Too Much Sex in the City

So as I sit in Penn waiting for my train ride home on this Friday evening with my majorly overpriced sandwich, I’m noticing the lasted fashion trend for the late teen/early 20s ladies.  Yes I fit that bill, but I never seem to get into the real trends of fashion (is that sad to say?).  There is this urge in me to go up to these ladies and ask them “What the hell are you thinking?”  They are decked out in their hug every curve and barely cover my butt black dresses, either strapless or spaghetti straps, and 4” heels.  Keep in mind, it’s the beginning of fall and it’s about 50 something degrees outside tonight.  I’m donning one of my pashmina scarves and ¾ length sweaters and feel like a total mom.  Working with my students has completely turned me into a 40 year old mom who has anxiety about what her daughter wears when she goes out of the house.  Except for me, my teenage daughter is every girl I see.  

I curse society for making sex appeal so outrageous.  Where did the days go when it was shocking to have a skirt just above the knee, or to have just a little bit of cleavage or your shoulders showing.  I wish all girls would learn the lesson that no guy is going to respect you at some bar or club when you’re dressed in what looks like one of those bathing suits from the 50s.

Was that the inspiration for these new dresses?  One girl in particular stood out to me and I decided to analyze her.  She was not very slender and her curves were just not in the best places.  She was wearing one of these dresses and it made me think either she’s completely full of herself and thinks she’s hot, or she’s insecure and is trying to hide it by being overly “sexy.”  I’m leaning towards the latter.  It’s these types of girls that worry me.  They are the ones that need a reality check and a make over with someone who can find clothes that fit them properly and that accentuate one area of the body that will make her and others feel she is attractive.  It’s possible that I watch too many Oprah and Stacy and Clinton makeovers. 

This whole thing about sex appeal reminds me of a billboard I saw one day with a friend of mine that really disturbed her.  I believe it was for Calvin Klein.  It had one girl topless sprawled over a guy on a couch with another guy slumped against the couch sitting on the floor, and two other guys laying around as well.  They all looked disheveled and it’s possible that they were about to kiss or at least you would assume that something was about to or just did happen.  It was hard to realize that it was advertising jeans. 

I guess in a world where “sex sells,” we’re never going to win the battle over our youth being too sexy.  All I can do is work with the girls I teach and hope that I can influence them to love themselves and their bodies enough not to desire this look of over exposure.