In this day and age, we find ourselves part of a culture where people still think it’s their right to decide what women can and cannot wear. We’re still somehow stuck in a state where judging people based on what they choose to wear is considered okay.
It’s not! It actually isn’t. No matter what people choose to wear, we have no right to judge them or call them names.
There has been a recent slight outrage on Facebook about this summer’s new fashion trend, pants with rips at the back close to the butt region. From people calling them unladylike to others insinuating that anyone who wears them would be a slut, the internet has gone crazy! Slut shaming is not okay.
There were some people though with the insight to realize that even if you personally don’t agree with the taste of the fashion trend or would not wear it, it does not give you the right to make fun of the people who do. More importantly, it does not give you the right to jump to conclusions about their morals or beliefs as a person.
This type of thinking is the reason that sexual harassment is so often justified in our country by saying “Did you see what she’s wearing?” Something about a woman’s attire seems to give men the impression that she’s giving consent to being harassed and assaulted in her every day life. Clothes are not consent; consent is the only consent that is valid.
This is a part of a bigger problem that we face in terms of rape culture and victim blaming. It’s not okay to police people’s clothing. It’s not your right nor it is your job. People should have the right to wear what they wish without feeling ostracized by society.
We need to learn the art of accepting the other, whether it’s in agreement with our own views or not. We need to live and let live.
