Booty shorts, yoga pants, mini skirts, and belly shirts are the new fad in how girls should dress in today’s culture. Modesty has almost completely disappeared from society. The age of teen girls dressing too revealing and attractive continues to grow younger. No longer does the value of sanctifying a girl’s body mean something. These generally accepted norms of dressing by girls nowadays are creating an erotic impact on the male gender. Through research, the fall of modesty is clearly seen to have began in the 1950’s, and progressed from there due to the iconic celebrities seem in the media and fashion industry.
A new revolution of fashion sparked, which lasted through the 1950’s to the 1960’s thanks to British film and fashion icon, Audrey Hepburn. She introduced to the world the hourglass silhouette by wearing the tight fitted shoulder-cut dress, which accentuated her tiny waist and bust by blooming out at the hips in a fashion magazine. This style was specifically made to flaunt the body of every female and to define her figure. It overly-romanticized the female as a whole, making her seem desirable and youthful (“The 1950’s,” 2013).
Next came the hippie look in the 1970’s, which was branded by a couple of clear fashion trends for girls. The first fashion trend called high waisted bell-bottoms went mainstream in the USA after the famous singing duo Sonny and Cher appeared to be wearing the pants on television (Cobb, 1993). The way the pants tightly hugged the singer’s bum immediately grabbed the attention of young youth. People were infatuated with these unique pants. What made these so different from other pants was the way the pants started out tight then flared out below the knee. The second trend appeared after Jane Birkin landed her sexual role as Brigitte Bardot’s lover in if Don Juan Were a Woman. Jane popularized the insanely craved for “hot pants” – those skintight, barley-there excuses for a bum cover-up”…“She further accentuated the hotness of the hot pants with heeled boots or knee-highs to draw all attention to her exposed skin” (Davis, 2011). These trendy 70’s pants proved excessively tight fitted, especially around the bum. Jane perfected the look due to the fact that she has long beautiful legs. Revealing so much skin during the 70’s sent young girls into frenzy; they wanted to display more. Showing more skin gradually became more acceptable in society.
During the 1980’s a huge change in fashion occurred in 1982 when Time Magazine displayed a model wearing a miniskirt. The miniskirt ended up, as the first of it’s kind. It stopped a couple inches below the girl’s crotch, giving girls a new defined sexy look. Not only did it barely cover a female’s crotch, but also overly tight fitting. Miniskirts helped girls gain all the attention that they lusted for. Suddenly, Madonna stepped out into the spotlight flashing a leather leotard and crop top tied just above the midriff (“Miniskirt,” 2009). Young girls all around the world quickly copied Madonna, dubbing her as the biggest fashion icon throughout the 1980’s and 90’s. Crop tops left little to show when paired with a miniskirt. Society finally showed how little respect remained tords the female body and it only grew worse.
The twenty-first century grew increasingly hypnotized by the immodest imagery that the fashion industry advertised everywhere. A famous clothing store called Hollister appeared in malls all across the nation due to their sexually revealing advertisements featuring an almost naked man and woman together. Girls raced to the nearest Hollister to get a hold of the new stores hot clothes. An explosion of sexual and provocative imagery has bombarded the media and now it is gaining the full attention of younger audiences. Here’s the truth, sex sells everywhere in todays culture.
As of 2013, a recent survey shows that when men were shown pictures of young girls dressed very revealing, they were no longer looked at as people, but as “objects”. Females dressing so inappropriately cause issues for the male gender. A celebrity icon like Miley Cyrus, who greatly influences teens, continues to drag young girls to the lowest of standards and gives them the impression that it is okay to dress sexy and attractively to get the attention that they want. The media might show that more skin is best and the new fab, but it is teaching teens that in order to be accepted by society they need to show off their body to the world. Parents need to protect their children from corrupt influences in the world and strive to raise their children dressing modestly.
