This I believe I believe
This I believe
I believe, girls should be able to wear what they want without being penalized for it. Too often women and young girls are lectured about what they should wear and how they should carry themselves. Woman are often told to keep their skirts at a certain length in high school, that we must hide our feminine qualities from the men that look at us, and way too often is a woman scolded for wearing revealing clothes while claiming to be religious.
As early as elementary school, young girls are told not to wear tank tops, skirts above the knee, or anything low cut. When I was in the fourth grade, I wore an old tank top and some shorts to school for the occasion of our class having a field day. I was super excited to slide down the water slide in my favorite Bubble Gum Monkey tank top. That was until the teacher pulled me aside and said, what I was wearing was too revealing and young lady should never be able to wear such clothes out in public, especially at my age. Needless to say, I didn’t get to slide down the water slide but spent my field day in some sweatpants and a short sleeve shirt that I found in the Lost and Found. At that time, I didn’t think anything of it, I didn’t question the foundation society was built on. Though, if I would have known what I know now, i might have gotten sent to the principles office. I was only 9 years old, just starting to learn about the world of make up and nail polish, I haven’t even ‘developed’ yet and I was still getting told to cover up. Not only did I have to cover up for my own self-righteousness, but for also the men who didn’t know how to respect a woman.
Women do not dress for men. For some strange reason men don’t understand this concept. Do men think of how to attract a lady if they wore their basketball shorts or their baseball caps? neither do women. We do not think “oh, this bikini is more comfortable and doesn’t reveal my chest or the rest of my body. How will I attract any man?” My thought process is more along the lines of; do I look good? Am I comfortable? I am not trying to get your sexual attention. I can’t go out shopping wearing a crop top without being called a whore. Mainly because I look good and I am wearing something that I find appealing. I should be able to wear what I want without any man coming up to me and assuming that’s an open invitation to grope my breast or slide up my skirt. Just because I am comfortable with wearing a skirt doesn’t mean I am comfortable with you grabbing my bottom. Let me walk down the street with my gray skirt and a pink crop top without you jumping out of your way to get a look at what’s behind the fabric. Furthermore, When I slap your hand for trying to grab me don’t you dare say that I am going to hell because no godly woman would dress that way, because we both know Adam and eve were both brought into this world naked.
Not being able to wear pants to church is what killed my passion for going to service. The upsetting thing is in the world we can’t wear short skirts but in church we can’t wear pants. My mother always made sure our hair was longer than our butt, had on a long skirt down to our ankles and had a collard shirt on. For this reason, I was never comfortable while I was at church, I felt stiff, fake even. This wasn’t who I truly am, and if God loves me for me why should I have to play wanna-be dress with other church goers who don’t practice what they preach. Let me wear pants to church. Regardless of what I wear I know for a fact my faith is not based upon if I show up to church in a skirt or pants.
I believe one day, this world will let woman wear what they want. That they will let me wear what I want to school, out in public without being groped by strange men, and to church. Its like lifestyle said, “A woman rarely gets the opportunity to just live in herself, as herself, a fully autonomous, self-determining human being”.
