When Brittany Molina, a student at Brigham Young University, was standing around campus on Valentine’s Day in a not-even-remotely-revealing floral dress, cardigan, opaque tights, and boots, a random male student handed her a note. She thought it would be something innocuous–you know, like a freakin’ Valentine–but she opened it up to find an admonishment of her outfit. Somebody’s peepee must have been tingling too much at her exposed, uh, neck. And…fingers.
The note, which Molina posted on Twitter (along with a picture of her outfit) read:
“You may want to consider that what you’re wearing has a negative effect on men (and women) around you. Many people come to this university because they feel safe, morally as well as physically, here. They expect others to abide by the Honor Code that we all agreed on. Please consider your commitment to the Honor Code (which you agreed to) when dressing each day. Thank you.”
A news clip like this seems more funny than serious, but slut-shaming is, unfortunately, too common and too harmful to women to be brushed off–even if it is coming from a guy who clearly has no semblance of acceptable human behavior–not to mention dress. With things like the asinine and dangerous “Personhood” bills on the precipice of passing in Oklahoma and Virginia, and a college girl being rebuked because a fellow male student got too excited at her oh-so-scandalous ensemble, the feeling that we’re living with the same oppression that women lived with in the 19th century is inching closer and closer to fact.
Image source Twitter
