Dear Editor,
Re: “Cops hunt sex assault suspect,” News, Sept. 30.
Recently, a secondary student in Richmond was assaulted on her walk to school.
Even though this incident was definitely very traumatizing to the student, some may argue that she was “asking for it.”
There is definitely huge controversy about how teenage girls are dressing these days.
Personally, I dislike these new and revealing fashion trends amongst my peers, as I am a Grade 9 student attending McMath. (Many girls expose their bras through large arm holes in the shirts, some don’t even wear a shirt. Some of them wear “bra-lettes,” a new fashion trend created by pop sensation Ariana Grande. There are also many female students who wear crop tops and short bottoms, whether they be short-shorts or a miniskirt.)
Even though many young girls choose to wear those revealing clothes, they’re certainly not asking to be assaulted. “Asking for it” is an expression used a lot for challenging something (like a set of rules) or someone. When young, under aged girls wear those clothes, they’re not challenging anything. They’re not challenging anyone.
I believe those girls are just wanting compliments of how “fit” their bodies are.
Maybe they’ve worked for something, like abs, and want to show it off. They want to show off all their hard work that had been put into their bodies. Or maybe they just want to fit in with the trends. Nobody likes to be excluded. Nobody likes to be an outsider.
Just because a girl wants to show off her long legs with some shorts does NOT mean that she’s asking to have her butt groped. Just because a girl wants to show off her thin waist with a figure-hugging top does NOT mean she’s asking to have her breasts groped. Just because a teenage girl wants to feel confident with some revealing clothes does NOT mean she’s asking to be sexually assaulted.
Just because an insecure, teenage girl wants to feel even a shred of confidence about her body definitely does NOT mean she wants/asks for someone to give her a traumatizing experience.
Jeyan Chung
Richmond
