This Wall Street Journal article by Jennifer Moses is an article worth reading.
As well as Justin Taylor’s perspective on her op-ed.
We’ve already started to hit this dilemma.
Our oldest daughter is 10.
She doesn’t want to wear clothes with Dora on them any more.
But honestly–it really is a struggle to find decent clothes that are cute, comfortable, affordable…that she likes…
And that are modest.
We don’t want our daughter looking like she’s auditioning for America’s Next Top Model.
There is no reason for 10-year-old-string-bikinis.
It honestly scares me.
Thankfully she still lives in the
“American Girl Doll World”…
Where she wants to do crafts and dress babies and living on the edge is painting her nails and be-jeweling her hair.
So–why do so many of the styles made for 10-year-olds look like they are prepping the girls to send them out onto the street corner?
Jennifer Moses makes the point that they way we dress our girls sends a message.
To others.
But most importantly to them.
In the words of Moses:
“All of which brings me to a question: Why do so many of us not only permit our teenage daughters to dress like this—like prostitutes, if we’re being honest with ourselves—but pay for them to do it with our AmEx cards?”
“As for the girls themselves, if you ask them why they dress the way they do, they’ll say (roughly) the same things I said to my mother: “What’s the big deal?” “But it’s the style.” “Could you be any more out of it?” What teenage girl doesn’t want to be attractive, sought-after and popular?
And what mom doesn’t want to help that cause? In my own case, when I see my daughter in drop-dead gorgeous mode, I experience something akin to a thrill—especially since I myself am somewhat past the age to turn heads.”
“But it’s easy for parents to slip into denial. We wouldn’t dream of dropping our daughters off at college and saying: “Study hard and floss every night, honey—and for heaven’s sake, get laid!” But that’s essentially what we’re saying by allowing them to dress the way they do while they’re still living under our own roofs.”
“…likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.”
~ 1 Timothy 2:9
Any thoughts?
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