Since "slut-shaming" is a no-no these days, here is a gender-neutral message to everyone, male or female, who exposes their underwear in public on purpose:
Dear Clueless Individual,
I bet someone told you that whale-tail or sagging look you sport is cool. Perhaps your friends, celebrities and other people you admire dress like that. However, perhaps you didn't know that dressing to expose the undergarments, back in the day when most people had a sense of modesty, used to signal those around you that you were available for sex. It told unscrupulous people that you were available and scrupulous people that you were unclean, undisciplined and otherwise untrustworthy.
Now, I'm sure at this point you're thinking to yourself, "But I'm not asking for sex; I just dress like this because it's what I want to do and it's my body, damnit." That's fine. You can walk around town looking like something out of Rocky Horror Picture Show for all I care. However, your motivation for dressing the way you do does not mitigate the reality that unscrupulous people will still see you as an easy target and scrupulous people will lose respect for you. If that's a risk you want to take, be my guest.
By now you've probably got steam coming out of your ears and are about to accuse me of victim-blaming. None of this is to say that anyone of whom sexual advantage is taken can be blamed, at least not any more than someone who leaves food out while camping can be blamed for a bear attack, someone who leaves his garage door open can be blamed for a robbery or someone who walks down a dark alley with cash falling out of his pockets can be blamed for a mugging. However, all of these unfortunate circumstances can be prevented at least in part by doing the responsible adult thing and covering your own ass, literally and figuratively. If you should find yourself in a pickle because you made the mistake of trusting the world a little too much and making yourself an easy target for a predator, I'm not going to have much sympathy for you.
Sincerely,
A concerned citizen -- not your mother, not a misogynist and not a square.
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