{hootchy clothes and mean girls}

Many thanks to guest poster Tracee Sioux for providing this thought-provoking essay:

If you are using words like hootchy, skank, slut, whore or any other sexually derogatory word to describe the clothing (whether inappropriate or not) of any girl you are an active participant in further sexualizing girls.
If you are teaching your daughter (or sons) to use sexually derogatory words to describe other girls’ clothing you are actively coaching her in mean girl behavior.
If you call a young girl’s outfit “skanky,” you’ve just taught your daughter that it’s okay to call another girl a “skank” if she doesn’t like her clothes. If you describe an outfit as “hootchy mama,” you’ve just taught your daughter that if she makes the slightest clothing error, it’s okay for others to call her a “hootchy mama.”
You’re basically making a judgment about whether a girl is sexually active or promiscuous by her clothing.
I’m hearing people say such things about 3-5 year olds. Think about it: are those words you really want to apply to children?
Children should be immune to our sexuality. When you apply sexually derogatory words to children, you sexualize them. You open them up to a sexual context that others can use against them.
If there is any group of people on the planet earth who should be entitled to wear less clothing it is children. Children should be immune to the sexual implications of all skin exposure.
There are some inappropriate clothing choices available to girls. We can tell our daughters why they shouldn’t wear such things without being sexually derogatory about their friends, classmates, neighbors, family or their own secret selves that also wish to wear that clothing.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate,” is generally sufficient explanation for why your daughter isn’t allowed to wear something.
Regardless of what a girl is wearing she is deserving of respect.
It is impossible to demand more respect for girls by being disrespectful to girls.