Comments on: Creativity equals skin?

By: Rona

Rona — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:14:07 +0000

Is John serious? Has he not heard this before? Is he really arguing that it’s fine for girls to dress and act like sluts for attention?
I don’t know why he calls you a model, but even if you are, why does that contradict anything you said? I’m also not sure what “Your not even debating semantics, your spin on what is and what isint acceptable (or, slutty, as you call it) Is invalid” and a lot of his other points mean, because this is about costumes, not semantics. I think you said everything quite well, but either way, it doesn’t matter how you phrased it- it’s true.
Maybe John enjoys the fact that girls are wearing increasingly less to go out, but what it comes down to is the idea that is ingrained in girls’ minds every day: slutty/sexual/provocative/hot equals attention. We crave attention, and flashing as much skin as will turn heads does the trick. By day, we may study, participate in class, get good grades, and have our career path down, but by night, and not just halloween night, we want to feel sexy and wanted. And to our generation, the meaning of “sexy” has become “sexual,” and on halloween, it becomes “naked.”
I certainly agree with the article, but I think it even doesn’t go far enough. It’s not just the amount of skin that girls show- it’s the “naughty” implications of the costumes, and that the little fabric that IS barely there mimics that of porn stars and strippers. Look out for the thigh-highs, booty shorts, micro skirts, body jewelry, chin-high cleavage, glitter, 6-inch heels, etc. this weekend. The costumes are all the exact same design, save for colors and cute props. It’s not just that we’ve lost our individuality or creativity; we’ve lost our self-respect, and we aspire to look like prostitutes. I could even argue that this is prostitution- we use our bodies to get something–attention, sex, drinks, a name–in return. Good thing we scored high on SATs, did volunteer work, went to church, and got that BC education, right?
I agree with you and wish girls would find their class and dignity and finally put it before their hunger for attention. But I think the sad truth is that as long as they are rewarded with what they were aiming for by dressing and acting like sluts, girls will continue to do so because they see that it works. I think all we can do is hold onto our own class, and hope that those girls wise up someday to realize that they can get attention for what’s inside instead, and much more rewarding attention at that.

By: Natalie Isaksson

Natalie Isaksson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:42:22 +0000

Thank you for writing this article. Every Halloween I feel like the skirts just get shorter and shorter, the fabric skimpier and skimpier. And every year when I see one of these scantily-clad women I think to myself: How are you not aware that you look like a cheap prostitute right now…and for that matter, how are you not cold wearing barely more than lingerie in late October?
And then women wonder why the media is so focused on sexualizing the female body for the benefit of male viewers. Well, it obviously works if you’re buying into it too even if its only briefly for Halloween. The theme of Halloween is “scary stuff” not “slutty stuff”. And while it is an excuse to show an unseen side, I can safely say I have never felt tempted to show off that much of my skin unless I’m on the beach in summer. Perhaps that’s just me, but why should showing a slutty side ever be a desirable thing for a woman? And it’s not even creative, just cheap (in every sense).
Thanks again for writing a much-needed article.

By: John

John — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:25:30 +0000

Hmmm…interesting article to say the least, let me see if I have your points in order before I begin addressing them
1. Women today are perverting themselves by dressing up as sluts
2. More traditional costumes would better benefit the female gender.

OK, so after summarizing your wordiness in two sentences lets take a look at some of the issues that arise from your beautifully worded discourse.

1. Your a model. The end. Your subject position (look it up) on the ideology of femininity is, at it’s heart, contradictory to your entire argument. Call it “modeling” call it “halloween”. Its’ all slutty, Your not even debating semantics, your spin on what is and what isint acceptable (or, slutty, as you call it) Is invalid.
2. You probably take free drinks when guys offer them to you. Right? Let’s be honest journalists here, most women do. Why? cus you “will be the girl wearing the high heels, make up, and cute dress” wont you? Wy do you wear that dress? some girls can’t, you can. You look better, you get the boy, the drink, and the ya know.
3. Don;t make public statements and expect not to get slammed. Illogical fallacy’s stand in your way, and people should and will point them out.

By: Janet Gilbert

Janet Gilbert — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:00:14 +0000

Bravo, Ms. Padeanu.

You are not alone. My daughter and her friend (students at the Tisch School of the Arts/NYU) came home last weekend and enlisted the help of my husband in making their exceptionally creative costumes, neither of which involves the slutty prefix. I will send you a photo.

You know, I wore a lot of mannish, bland suits in the 1980s in my first job out of college so that I would be judged by my work, not my cute factor. Sure seems to me that some of my generation’s work has been undone–in today’s workplaces, the attire of some women causes me to think they inadvertently forgot their poles.

Continuing my stream-of-consciousness rant, I would like to point out that no woman in high levels of administration at Johns Hopkins Hospital would ever dress like “Dr. Lisa Cuddy” on “House.”

Thank you for writing this, you sensible smart person.