Whores

One of my friends posted on facebook the other day about Rhianna's pornographic performance on the music awards. It got me thinking....it actually got me boiling. Maybe it's my age now, thirty-something, when I start to look more closely at the way women act. Maybe it's being married almost 17 years, I don't know. I have noticed a pathetic attempt by women to adopt "stripper appeal" in their everyday lives. I see it at the grocery store in the afternoon, at swim team practice, at the elementary school PTA events (I'll be writing later on Bascomb moms) and of course at night, well as Whodini said, "The freaks come out at night" in Towne Lake. We dress as we feel, as we aspire to feel, and to make a statement...and that's what bothers me. The media portrayal of hot, sexy women has so deeply embedded its agenda into the general population that I bet you could go to any town any time of day and see a wanna be hooker taking her kids shopping. I don't think it's even conscious in all cases (You can tell the ones that ARE) (wait patiently for the Bascomb moms blog).

I remember getting sent home from school for dressing inappropriately and causing a distraction in my class. I was trying to be punk in the 80's and I was wearing leggings and an oversized "All the colors of the world" Benneton t-shirt. No booty showing, just tight pants. No boobies showing, just a big shirt. That was '87-'88ish. It was too much for the school. Taken a peek at the way middle and high schoolers dress these days, in school? Mrs. Boyette and Mrs. Longman would DROP DEAD on sight. I wonder if they are still teaching? Anyway, my point is that fashion, or the lack thereof, has moved rapidly into a niche of belief (there's probably a better word for that) that women are not women unless they are sexy. Period.

This challenges my own beliefs and desires to be attractive. I remember a study done on kindergartners about their impression of women with different visual appearances. They were shown images of older women with long dresses, less attractive women without makeup, and scantily clad women with lots of makeup and asked "Do you think she is nice? Do you think she is a good teacher?" The kids all thought the hottie ladies were nicer and better teachers....aka better women. It's deep, y'all. I wonder if we did that study today what they would say.....maybe I'll do a little test. I have no desire to look like Nanny McPhee to a child, and I want to be attractive to the general population, my husband, and the kids in my life. There's a fine line between clever and stupid, hooker and nice lady.

Last night my whole family watched RAW (Monday night wrestling) I know, I know, how can I complain about ANYTHING on that raunchy show. But here's the deal. My husband, GLH, grew up watching wrestling and has shared his love for the "sport" with his sons. That is good. They have a date each week watching together. That is good. They have something to play and talk about together. That is good. You with me? Ok. So my girls have also jumped in the mix, cause they all like a good fight. It is what it is. Last night the Divas came on. They are women wrestlers who fight each other during the match. Yes, basically fancy mud wrestling. I usually don't watch them because they get on my nerves at best, but I watched my boys watch them last night (hubby included). The ladies were peppering their fights with stripper moves. Pole moves, hair tosses, grinding, hip swings, etc....traditional moves that signal every mans groin to stand at attention. My boys were glued (hubby included). I asked that they change the channel. Have you ever tried to take a bone from a dog? Same reaction. You think those images will settle into my boys subconscious belief of what attractive is? You bet'cha. Now we are going to flush this out, 'cause that's what good moms do. Offer an alternative. Give them a mental comparison of equal strength and let nature weigh it out. Can't make it happen, but sure can set it up like a bank shot. That's why we go to Mass, and that's why we talk about it.

So when my friends ask me to come to their "Vertical Fitness" class, I have to decline. Not because I have any problem being a lady in the street and a freak in the bed, but because I have to be an obstacle to the indoctrination of my boys, and the public acceptance of whores.