Althouse: "To us, it was like being told that showing skin makes us bad girls and that was an extremely misogynistic idea to place in the minds of impressionable teenagers."

March 31, 2017

"To us, it was like being told that showing skin makes us bad girls and that was an extremely misogynistic idea to place in the minds of impressionable teenagers."

Said one teenager, reacting to the school's fliers about what they could wear to the prom.

The fliers all had the heading "Going to the Stanton Prom?" followed by a picture of a woman in a dress. Under the picture, 3 of the fliers had the caption "NO YOU'RE NOT" and one had "YES YOU ARE. GOOD GIRL."

That "good girl" was, in particular, a bone of contention. Sounds like something you'd say to your bitch.*
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* OED: "bitch, n.1... a. The female of the dog. c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 120 Canicula, bicge. c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 362 Biccean meolc. c1300 K. Alis. 5394 Comen tigres many hundre; Graye bicchen als it waren...."

33 comments:

MadisonMan said...: If you don't like the rules of the Prom, organize an anti-Prom or something. Allow very revealing clothes. Problem solved.

I would probably agree with the child quoted if I bothered to click through to a NYTimes article -- it's silly for non-Parental Grown-ups to try to control what a kid wears. But the way around that is not by being a whining teenager. It's by taking action that doesn't involve petulance.; 3/31/17, 8:29 AM
Gahrie said...: Women want the right to dressand act like sluts, but be treated as ladies....once again rights with no responsibilities.....; 3/31/17, 8:37 AM
Chris N said...: The responsibilities come later, under the new authoritarianism you've helped creat while rehearsing your victimhood.; 3/31/17, 8:42 AM
Chris N said...: Autocorrect I will [smit] [smite] [smile] thee!; 3/31/17, 8:44 AM
damikesc said...: These same girls will become campus rape activists in college.; 3/31/17, 8:46 AM
damikesc said...: Women want the right to dressand act like sluts, but be treated as ladies....once again rights with no responsibilities.....

They can look at the bright side.

Boys will treat them "like ladies", until they get in their pussies. Then they will treat them like sluts.; 3/31/17, 8:48 AM
CJinPA said...: Dress Code Debates are soul-sucking experiences. And I don't say that just because I serve on a school board. I think.; 3/31/17, 8:49 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: The language is ham-handed and condescending, but that describes 95% of what goes down when high schools try to control teenagers.; 3/31/17, 8:56 AM
JPS said...: Prof. Although, there's a tag you forgot to apply to this post: Laslo Bait.; 3/31/17, 8:56 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I don't in any way shape or form envy high schools admins for having to try to police this. Proms are disgusting these days, and yes some of the girls dress like absolute whores.

This is part of a larger kind of weirdness with teenagers in that no one can decide if they are little kids or quasi-adults. I've posted before about how in my home state of Washington a child can receive any kind of medical care related to sexuality without any parental involvement or notification starting at age 14--but at school they can't carry lip balm, sunscreen, or aspirin. They can have the keys to a two-ton death machine with minimal training at 16, but can't leave their high school campus at lunchtime to pick up takeout. They are told to make life-altering decisions such as a college or joining the military, but can't decide for themselves how to dress for a dance that they pay hundreds of dollars to attend.

Weird.; 3/31/17, 9:03 AM
rhhardin said...: Avoid any flick that involves a prom, I have learned.; 3/31/17, 9:14 AM
Expat(ish) said...: @Pants: what you said.

Oddly, NONE of that was true when I was in high school in the period 76-81.

Prom was also a $12 ticket to a thing in the gym.

These must be the kids that keep getting on my lawn, no matter how much I yell.

-XC; 3/31/17, 9:15 AM
Ken B said...: We agree then that demanding women wear a burka or veil is misogynist?; 3/31/17, 9:16 AM
CJ said...: OK, maybe hearing "good girl" from an authority figure makes you think about dogs, but consider that calling yourself or your friends a "bad bitch" is popular slang now among youngish women.; 3/31/17, 9:21 AM
Gahrie said...: We agree then that demanding women wear a burka or veil is misogynist?

There is a very large happy middle between slut and burka.; 3/31/17, 9:33 AM
fivewheels said...: Chapelle had it about right.

"Fine. Fine, You are not a whore. But you are wearing a whore's uniform."; 3/31/17, 10:00 AM
bagoh20 said...: Don't you dare call me and my bitches "bitches". AmIright bitches?; 3/31/17, 10:04 AM
Robert Cook said...: Ha! That's in the town where I grew up! (Not born there, though; I'm a Hoosier by birth.)

I remember it as just "Stanton High School." I wonder if it was always Stanton College Preparatory School and I didn't know it or if they have changed it's name and focus over the years?; 3/31/17, 10:17 AM
Roughcoat said...: When someone uses the word "misogynistic" I reach for my pistol.; 3/31/17, 10:34 AM
Chuck said...: This is a man's world. A man's man's man's world.
But it wouldn't be nothing, without a woman or a girl.; 3/31/17, 10:45 AM
Sharc said...: It's the "very large happy middle" that most people don't want to see.; 3/31/17, 10:59 AM
Krumhorn said...: We're long past the point where school authorities should be concerned with what bitches and thots wear to the prom.

- Krumhorn; 3/31/17, 11:44 AM
Etienne said...: 1950's:

Mom: Jane, all the boys want to have sex with you, so dress nice to not drive them crazy and put their hand up your dress.
Jane: Oh Dear, yes Mom.

2010's:

Mom: Jane, all the boys want to have sex with you, so dress nice and you might just get laid.
Jane: Bitchen!; 3/31/17, 11:45 AM
Krumhorn said...: Besides, Laslo will tell you that most of them are going to be doing some anal and bukkake in a room upstairs shortly afterwards. It just makes the logistics of clothing adjustments a little easier to manage.

- Krumhorn; 3/31/17, 11:49 AM
Etienne said...: Jane went to the prom, and when she got home she told her dad that some guy stole the money from her purse.

He asked where she was when it happened.

Well, she was sitting right next to him.

Her father then asked where she keep her purse?

Under her dress, she said.

Well, he asked, didn't you feel the guy reaching around.

...ba..da..bump...

Well yes, she said, but I didn't think he was going after my purse.; 3/31/17, 11:52 AM
hombre said...: NYT should limit itself to this type of story. It's minions are ill-equipped intellectually and emotionally to cover more important matters.; 3/31/17, 1:59 PM
Infinite Monkeys said...: Women have shoulders, thighs and backs just like men do.

Are they guys showing their shoulders, thighs and backs at the prom?

Still, dress codes are usually pretty silly.; 3/31/17, 2:14 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Gahrie,

"There is a very large happy middle between slut and burka."

There is definitely quite a large middle area there, but from what I can see it's not remotely happy. Heartiste, TRM, Dalrock, and other places have some theories as to why... YMMV.; 3/31/17, 2:29 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: "Impressionable" is the perfect word to apply to this girl.; 3/31/17, 2:40 PM
Mr. Groovington said...: Paying close attention to this and similar stories. Initial studies of Generation Z have been promising, praise kek. My understanding is they hate millenials, so I'm cautiously optimistic.; 3/31/17, 3:00 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: Something tells me lots of 'feminists' wouldn't be too happy about a bunch of men running around in banana-hammocks. Believing that both genders should be treated equally doesn't mean that a person is given free reign to wear whatever they want whenever they want.; 3/31/17, 4:07 PM
Big Mike said...: People are overlooking what the one girl wrote -- the flier came out the week before the prom and "it's not like we already had our dresses or anything."; 3/31/17, 4:23 PM
The Godfather said...: If it's a senior prom, then most of the participants are old enough to vote, or they will be very soon. And those who know them best don't believe they have the judgment to dress decently. Something is very wrong here.

I'd love to blame Trump's election on the bad judgment of young voters, but the polls say that most of those youngsters who voted did not vote for him.; 3/31/17, 5:12 PM