The standard of dress for women has dramatically worsened. Women are showing increasingly more skin than ever before. Shirts are too low, pants are too tight, shorts are too short and skirts are too mini. Cleavage, knees, shoulders and legs are too often exposed for the whole male world to see. (Oh my god ladies, pull up your shirt for god sake and have some decency!) Women are a constant distraction for everyone in society, especially for men. Men: they’re sensitive creatures. Anything can cause them to look hungrily up and down at a women. They’re so much more stronger and can do everything better than what a women can do. Men set their eyes on the prize and try to win the race. If he can’t win, he’ll do whatever it takes to gain his property (Oh sorry, I mean women). This is an example of what a real man should be. Of course, the subject of rape is a dreadful topic in the United States. However, can we truly blame men? In order to fix this problem that women are plaguing in society, I propose mandatory full body covering black cloaks for all women to wear everywhere and everyday. Yup, we’re going back to the Dark Ages, ladies!

Starting from preschool into adulthood, women will be required to wear this cloak. It will allow women to go out for a night on the town, wear their skimpy clothing underneath and not tempt the male community around them. Let’s face it: women always dress to impress and in turn they bring everything that happens to them onto themselves. Of course, a women wants to feel good about themselves, but what about the men? Why must her own self esteem go before the mental well being of the men? If she wants to wear something revealing, she is basically saying to the men, “I want you. I need you.” In the article “‘Sexy’ clothes don't excuse sexual violence” by Carol Costello, Liz Roberts, deputy CEO and chief program officer at Safe Horizon, a rape crisis center in New York City, said, “We, as a culture, like to blame the victim because it makes us feel safe.” There is this subconscious belief that if women did [the right things] then they would never be raped (Costello). Based off Ms. Roberts words, this obviously shows women already have the subconscious desire that they need to be protected from the vicious eyes of men so it wouldn’t be any different for women to wear these cloaks.

Young girls are very malleable in the sense of what they see and hear is what they’ll take in. If a little girl sees her mommy wearing her cloak, they’ll follow right behind her. She’ll tell her daughter, “We wear our cloaks for the our own welfare in order to protect ourselves and the men.” What students are wearing in schools is the biggest influence on girls. It was brought in the article, “Why Dress Code Can’t Stop Sexual Assault,” in a New Zealand high school, Deputy Principal Cherith Telford told the female students their uniform skirts must be knee-length in order to “keep our girls safe, stop boys from getting ideas and create a good work environment for male staff” (Kendall). However, I disagree with the point of “stop giving boys ideas.” Dress code should be enforced so the girls stop getting ideas. Forget about knee-length skirts! We have to cover everything up! It’s the girl's responsibility to cover up because men have uncontrollable urges, they can’t help it. On a college campus, rape is no uncommon topic and many girls fall ‘victim’ to it. A recent study said 1 in 3 college men admit they might rape a woman if they could get away with it (Bekiempis).

We tell our women to protect themselves, cover up everything, but what we don’t hear is: Men, don’t rape! What a woman is wearing is an unacceptable excuse to use for a man's own actions. Oh, excuse me, might I not say even a man, but half a man. How dare we blame the victims! No woman in her right mind would invite rape or even wish rape on someone else. Rape is about forcing power and dominance over a person, clothes in a rapist's mind is a small, insufficient thought. I urge everyone to escape that mentality of blaming the victim and see the truth.

Work Cited

Bekiempis, Victoria. "When Campus Rapists Don't Think They're Rapists." Newsweek. N.p., 9
Jan. 2015. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

Costello, Carol. "'Sexy' Clothes Don't Excuse Sexual Violence." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d.
Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

Kendall, Mikki. "Why Dress Codes Can’t Stop Sexual Assault." The Washington Post. WP
Company, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.