Clothes
were invented for a reason
Tim
Siregar
On
a campus where fashion is not just a statement,
and temperatures are hitting all-time highs,
skin is definitely in.
If
you think this sounds like another trite,
cliched complaint regarding women’s
clothing at this school, you are not too
far from the truth.
Stereotypically,
one would assume that every heterosexual
male is totally enamored with the fact that
girls feel they have the right, or rather
the duty, to wear as little clothing as
possible as soon as the sun peeks just enough
over the clouds to send temperatures skyrocketing
above 60 degrees. However, it has not yet
dawned on society that there just might
be some sane people out there who may be
slightly offended by the utter lack of flesh
that is being left to the imagination.
Now
don’t get me wrong, I am just as big
a fan of the female figure as the next guy,
but there should be limits to the amount
of exposure certain body parts are receiving,
or at least a slight method to the madness.
When
was the last time you walked to class and
saw a very revealing miniskirt? Now, think
back at how many heads turned, male and
female, for a second look at said miniskirt?
I am not exactly against the classic adage,
“if you got it, flaunt it,”
but just how appropriate is it?
As
crazy as it sounds, there are plenty of
men out there who are immensely content,
if not blessed, to wait until their honeymoon
night to see the portions of the female
bodies that are uncovered dozens of times
a day here on campus. From miniskirts, to
bikini tops and bottoms, to strategically
fitted tank tops, it doesn’t look
like a line will be drawn anytime soon.
And
this does not exclude the gentlemen. Whether
I am speaking in terms of decency, fairness
or outright jealousy, I suggest the guys
cover up a little more as well.
In
the meat market that defines college life,
the muscular male figure is an all too common,
and in my opinion cowardly, selling tool.
I also suggest the ladies of Long Beach
State look beyond pectorals and biceps in
selecting their choice cuts of male meat,
because author Mark Twain may have put it
best when he said, “Clothes make the
man. Naked people have little or no influence
on society.”
A
couple more inches of clothing would not
only make a huge difference in leveling
the dating playing field, but it would also
leave less room for judgments to be made
on individuals based on the amount of fabric
covering their bodies, or lack thereof.
In
a society where people profess the desire
to be judged by the content of their character,
this should make perfect sense, not even
considering how deleterious the sun’s
UV exposure is on the skin, causing sunburn,
melanoma or even solar keratosis.
Alas,
the odds are that few will take the initiative
to cover up in the summer heat, because
it is extremely clear that many of us exercise
and diet to near extinction to look good
in that three-sizes-too-small tank top.
Sir
Cecil Beaton anticipated it perfectly in
1969 when he said that, “Never in
the history of fashion has so little material
been raised so high to reveal so much that
needs to be covered so badly.”
Tim
Siregar is a child development and public
relations double major at Cal State Long
Beach.
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