Who Is To Blame For Indecent Dressing?

Indecent dressing is the deliberate exposure of the
vital areas of the body such as the breast, buttocks etc for women in particular.
It is not only women that are involved in this act. Men are also guilty of dressing indecently. These days, young men and adult men dress in such a manner that bring shame to the men’s folk. They show their buttocks almost displaying their anuses amidst other forms.
The annoying part of this problem is that even married women are guilty of it. Do they do it to prove that what is good for the girls is also good for the women?
I feel saddened by this particular development. The only difference is that the girls are doing it for money while the married women do it for fun or perhaps for their husbands. But some wives do it for the same reasons as the girls. Wives who are married to absentee husbands dress indecently to attract other men for sexual gratification.
Much as I do not justify the class of married women who do it because of the vacuum their husbands have created in their sex lives, I think such women have a case especially against their husbands.
But there is another category of women who dress indecently just for fashion purposes. Such women do it just to feel good. But my advice to them is to ensure that they do not cross the red line. The red line here means going beyond their intention to attract men and eventually fall prey to such men.
But beyond the above issues I have articulated, the question as to who is to blame for this ill in our society still rings a bell. Who indeed is to blame for indecent dressing among men and women in our society? This is a question every man or woman must ponder and answer.
Dressing in our traditional societies reflected our culture or tradition. That is why every tradition has a particular way of dressing and the people are identified by that.
But I can say that the type of dressing addressed by this article does not reflect any custom or tradition. It is simply manufactured by the evil that runs through our minds or better still the dynamics of our society.
I cannot imagine where those wicked and satanic-induced dresses would emanate from except from the pit of hell. Transparent dresses, mini-skirts, short wears that expose the wearer’s thighs are not dresses that people in decent societies have to put on.
Let me return to the question I asked earlier. Who is to blame for indecent dressing in our society?
First, I think society is to blame. Society ought to regulate every activity of the people in it including the type of outfit we put on. I know this particular point is arguable as some might insist it is a breach of the person’s right.
Much as society won’t specify what dress to put on, it can regulate the manner we appear by emphasising and encouraging certain values. No society should allow indecent dressing in unrestrained manner. One way our society or even the government can regulate indecent dressing is to control what young people read, watch or are exposed to.
Parents are also to blame for the rise of indecent dressing. Some parents who are exposed to Western culture make their children dress in such nude ways. Rather than expose their children to positive values derivable from the Western world, they give them the negative ones.
Churches are not left out from the blame as it is common to see men and women who should be models to the young ones, dress indecently to church. This anomaly is left uncorrected even when they are noticed or seen by the pastors. Some pastors encourage the use of indecent dresses by members of their congregation. They motivate young girls to do it to attract young men for marriage.
No church should encourage indecent dressing of any kind. The church being the custodian of morality must not be found encouraging this ill.
It is time we rebased our values as a society and do what is right. We are all witnesses to the rising incident of rape and other forms of sexual harassment. This evil is mainly attributed to indecent dressing. The result of all this is moral and sexual decadence that causes all manner of sexual diseases.
Young people as well as older ones must be wary of what they put on. The rampant display of the vital parts of our bodies should be abhorred to promote decency in our society.
Although government would not legislate on dressing, I believe it can regulate the way we dress through legislation and the building of moral values.
Harrison lives in Port Harcourt.

Diri Harrison