There I sat sipping my cocktail at one of my favorite local hangouts when my eyes were once again assaulted with what has got to be the most bothersome faux pas imaginable: the overexposed female partygoer. I’m not sure what the issue is, whether this is a problem exclusive to St. Louis or if sadly it’s an epidemic.
On any given night, everywhere I turn I’m bombarded with an onslaught of scantly clad women in inappropriate get-ups much better suited for Hollywood Boulevard (or, say, a gentlemen’s club) than a posh night out with the girls. What’s amazing to me is that they’re seemingly oblivious to the fact that the attention they’re receiving is usually reserved for circus performers.
Perhaps the bigger issue is not that these women look ridiculous (and downright sleazy, in some cases), but that it sets a bad example – and, let’s face it, a bad tone for the brothers to then follow. After a certain point it seems some men lose the ability to distinguish the ladies from the lacklusters.
Women who actually take a sophisticated approach to their appearance find themselves warding off the advances of men who have grown too accustomed to dealing with their nearly naked cohorts. Before you know it, you’re being aggressively approached by the same guy you just witnessed groping the girl in the see-through mini dress. Despite the fact that you couldn’t be more covered, his approach is exactly the same.
These pitifully underdressed women have the gall to actually be insulted when a man approaches them in an overtly sexual manner, as if their own appearance didn’t get the ball rolling. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not an advocate of women being disrespected by any means. But I mean, really, if you’re wearing what is clearly a SHIRT and not a dress, as you would like everyone to believe, along with a pair of 6 inch heels with absolutely nothing left to the imagination, you should hardly be shocked and appalled.
After all, you can only wear a McDonald’s uniform so long before someone asks you for some fries. The old adage “If it walks like a duck …” comes to mind.
Of course, some men are going to be disrespectful of women, regardless of their appearance, but why give them the added ammunition of being half-naked in a bar?
Ladies, there is no crime against dressing sexy or showing some skin. I say if you’ve got it, flaunt it, but with a healthy sense of discretion. Your body is not to be used as a billboard hawking your sexuality to everyone you lay your eyes on. There is a fine line between a woman walking down the street, and a woman who is a streetwalker, especially at 2 in the morning.
Your brand of sexy’ is something that should enhance who you are, not be a contrived effort. Subtlety is definitely the order of the day. Christian Bale (the Dark Knight himself) captured this best when he said, “I think trying too hard to be sexy is the worst thing in the world a woman can do.” I couldn’t agree with him more.
Keep it sexy, ladies, but keep it simple. Most of all, keep it clean.