newsflash..

Carleigh, Lana and I went to the mall on Saturday.

This was the first time I'd been to the mall in ages. We all forgot our troubles for the afternoon and floated in and out of the stores. Carleigh pretended she didn't have three children at home, I pretended I had money, and Lana...well Lana bought the best army leggings I've ever seen....for those times when she's hiding in the bush.

But the shocking part of our trip was the realization that American Eagle is now selling these for the "nevernudes" in your family...

(Carleigh actually made that joke in the store, and the guy that was greeting us stared at us blankly...if you are staring at this post blankly, then you have also missed out on the greatest show ever: Arrested Development)

While we were commenting on the shortness, I made a naive statement that obviously young girls must be wearing these with leggings underneath, cause there's no way their mothers are letting them out of the house with just these.

And then I turned around, and met mother-daughter who proved me wrong.

Evidently the new style is the shortest shorts you can ever wear, paired with boots. I think we need to stop this fashion trend. As I realized what was going on, I started seeing it everywhere I went...and I started feeling sad.

Young girls all over North America are trying to look older than they are. Trying to look like the girls in the magazines. Like "the girls that boys want". Except it's really all a lie. And the boys that want girls like that don't want them for more than a one-time-use.

I know that these types of new "fads" have always sort of irked me...but I haven't been able to put my finger on it...until I read an amazing book this year.



"Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, tells the stories of women in Cambodia, India, and Thailand who represent women all over the world facing oppression. These women are sold into modern day slavery = the sex trade. They are young girls when it starts, and often find it hard to escape...because it is the only life they've known (and often their lives are threatened when they DO try to escape).

I highly recommend this book.

I want mothers and fathers all over the world to read it.

I want them to tell their daughters that there is a reason we shouldn't be wanting to wear short shorts and it goes deeper than our looks. It's about our value and worth. It's about our intellect and our ability to provide for our families in ways that men can't. It's about showing off our brains more than our butts.

I want them to tell their sons about the type of girls that they should go after and care for, and that women are to be honoured...not used.

Here's to one less pair of nevernude shortie shorts.