Parents Urged to Make Effort to Combat Trend in Girls' Sexualized Clothing
by Ed Thomas
November 1, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An analyst with Concerned Women for America says the culture is putting the squeeze on the dress styles of young American females. Dr. Janice Crouse, senior fellow with CWA's Beverly LaHaye Institute, says from this week's Halloween costumes to everyday dress, young women -- including those as young as seven or eight -- are being forced to buy skimpier clothes because of agendas from the liberal segments of society.Crouse believes the reasoning behind the move toward more revealing apparel is simple: the ongoing sexualization of society. "There is an agenda, even in the fashion world, to pass along to our teenage girls the skimpy kind of clothing that the world considers appropriate and fashionable," she says.
Acknowledging that it is extremely difficult for moms to find clothes for their pre-teen and teenage daughters that do not reflect the world's sexualized approach in style, Crouse says it is still vital that the effort be made.
"I think it's very important for us as parents to say, 'We draw the line; we are not going to follow these kinds of trends,'" says the family advocate. She believes parents should start teaching children when they are toddlers that Christians do not indulge in the permissiveness of the culture around them.
"We need to instill in our little girls -- and our little boys, as well -- the necessity for modesty and the fact that we are separate from the world," she says. "We are not of this world; instead, as Christians, we do have the necessity to reflect Christ in everything we do and say."
The media, Hollywood, and alternative lifestyles all influence the fashion industry, Crouse says -- and that is why it is difficult to find modest and attractive clothing for young girls. But avoiding indulgence in the sexualized culture demands that parents persevere in the quest, she says.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
