With summer, comes record breaking scorching hot temperatures, cute summer dresses and outfits, beachy days, and layers upon layers of sunscreen. To deal with the summer heat, some people choose to cover up no matter how hot it gets, some people choose to take off as many layers as possible to make it more bearable. And so, unfortunately, with summer also comes entitled men who think that a certain outfit is an invitation to make women uncomfortable. There also comes judgemental aunties whose glare pierces through you while you’re out and about.
It has become obvious that in our society, what a girl wears is anyone’s business but her own. If she’s covering “too much” she’s lower class, she’s not trendy or cool enough, and if she’s covering “too little” she’s not worthy of respect and should expect and deal with men’s disrespect because well, what did she expect?
The most common argument is the religion argument. Some people say that from a religious standpoint, modesty is what’s right. This is wrong for many reasons. First off, your religion is something between you and god. You cannot judge someone’s faith based on what they wear. Also, we need to accept that not everyone believes in the same things or on the same level. Still, people harass women for their clothes under the guise of religion and call it advice.
Besides, if we’re talking about religion, why is it that girls that choose to embrace their religion are also shamed? Bikini or burkini: it shouldn’t matter, and yet it does. Either way, using the religion argument is hypocritical because if we’re talking about religion, then why aren’t we as focused on men’s clothing and what they can and cannot wear as much as we focus on women? Why do people not rage when a man wears shorts above his knees or when he wears chains and rings as they do when a girl wears something revealing, even though it’s also considered haram? Why can’t a woman be left to freely make her own decisions when it comes to what to wear just like men do?
A piece of clothing does not determine a girl’s self worth, or neediness, or self respect, only her actions do. Point is, if you have concerns about what she is wearing, keep it to yourself. I can assure you, she doesn’t want to hear it anymore. She knows it’s none of your business and so should you.