Women Shouldn’t ‘Advertise’ Things That Aren’t For Sale
And other false narratives of the patriarchy
Too often, I run across men complaining about women “showing too much cleavage” or otherwise being “dressed too sexy” in public. One guy even said, “Before now, the only time I could see boobs and perhaps more was by first buying her a drink and hoping for a lucky date that may progress into something more personal. Now I take a random walk down the street, and I see it all for free.”
American men are constantly messaged that women’s bodies exist for their pleasure and enjoyment and the sentiment above confirms this idea. He’s assuming that women are dressing for him and other men, and since he’s not in the market for boobs right now (since he hasn’t bought the obligatory drink 🙄) why then are these women offering themselves to him?
But they aren’t necessarily offering themselves to anyone and the belief that every time a woman steps out in public, she’s a commodity that is being made available is a big part of the problem. It drives catcalling, groping, and other types of public sexual harassment — something that 85% of American women have experienced before the age of 17 — often as young as 9 or 10 years old.
But wouldn’t women dressing more modestly protect them from that? Aren’t they inviting…
