[mercedesjin]

The other day, I was walking around in the mall with a couple of my friends when we saw a group of teenage girls. Their skirts were obscenely short. To the point where we literally saw a buttcheek. These girls were dressed in school uniform, so they must've been junior high/high school.

One of my friends said something like, "Now, if someone were to touch her, she'd be upset. If someone were to molest her on the train, she would get angry. But honestly, look at the way she's dressed - she has it coming."

I didn't say anything, but I really disagree with this idea. Sure, the girl was dressed pretty inappropriately - but a person's body should be their own. A person should be able to walk down the street naked without having to worry about their body becoming someone elses. Does the amount of clothes a person wears really declare that their body is up for grabs (no pun intended)?

And if that's the case, then for every culture, it's case by case. There are cultures where a woman must cover herself from head to foot, otherwise she is considered too tempting - and if she's attacked, it's her fault, because she was the woman. Because she was the woman, she had it coming. In many cases, it's resulted in the rape and death of said woman.

What do you guys think? If you see a woman walking down the street in a mini-skirt and a halter-top, and she's attacked, do you think, "She had it coming"?


EDIT: I'm sorry, I don't think I explained myself well enough in the first point. I gave the example of Muslim culture to show that there are many different stances on how women are supposed to act in the world. I come from a culture where women are expected to cover up their body - not show cleveage, not show off their curves. I know of other cultures where women are allowed to walk outside topless. I know of other cultures where women are expected to cover their faces.

We say that those teenage girls shouldn't have been dressed that way, but according to who? According to whose culture? If it was according to Muslim culture, then not only was she wrong, but I'm wrong for the way I was dressed as well. According to other cultures, there was nothing wrong with the way she was dressed. To me, this means there isn't one right way for women to dress.

So why do we expect women to dress a certain way? Why do we have such harsh reactions when we think a woman is dressed inappropriately? Why are some women raped and killed, and why do others think, "She had it coming," when it happens?

Because honestly, I've been seeing men topless and in their underwear for all 20 years of my life now, and I have yet to see someone call a man a slut for it.