Young Women, Take Heed

This is a little off-beat from my normal blogging style, but I haven't been able to get this off my mind for the past week. I guess you could say I need to do a sort of mind dump. This is more than just a soap box... it's a plea.

I've always been a fairly conservative person, and, for the most part, I have strived to dress modestly. I've done my best to keep myself in check. Now that I have a son, I find myself wanting to help keep every other woman around me in check too, especially the teens. I find myself inwardly begging them to put on more clothes. I want to write letters and make phone calls to all the companies that design those clothes hanging on the department store racks to reconsider how short those shorts are. I see pictures the teen girls in my life post on Facebook, and for a moment I forget I'm not their mom, and I want to lecture them about being a respectable young woman.

I understand why they dress this way. They want to feel beautiful, trendy, and desired. They want to turn young men's heads. They want to feel wanted. Most women do. But think about this: showing off so much skin and drawing attention to certain body parts is like having foreplay with every man who looks at you. Every man. Please dress in such a way that men will notice what a classy woman you are. Keep a little mystery about you; it's sexier that way. Then, some day, you will find a man worthy of sharing that mystery with.

Some day, my son will be one of those young men turning his head after a young woman like you. It is my goal to make sure that he respects you and sees you for your inner beauty just as much as your outer beauty. Please don't make my job any harder than it already is. It is hard enough for a young man to contain those raging hormones without being teased by all that skin. He needs your help just as much as he needs mine.

The human body is beautiful, but it should only be revealed to a man who truly deserves you. You, young woman, are beautiful, but your beauty is not dependent upon the clothes that you wear. I want you to understand these things just as much as I want my son to understand them, for everyone's sakes.