unfair?
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:19 am
Another thread got me thinking......
As we so often say here, our clothing choices are part of what we are, and trying to repress them is difficult. Having that imposed by us on others is even more difficult.
It's the first winter storm of the northeast here today. A couple of inches of snow, followed by hard rain and strong winds. A miserably beautiful day.
My daughter loves her clothes. She devotes a lot of thought to them, pays for most of them out of her own money. Today she tried to dress for the weather, which was snow when she got up. Nice boots, warm leggings, and a short skirt over the leggings. By time it was time to catch the school bus the snow was 2 inches of slush and the falling snow was cold windy hard rain. She made the comment that her boots would be ruined and I said she should wear her rain boots. She said they didn't go with the ensemble and that changing would make her late for the bus. I wound up driving her to the bus stop, where all the other kids had walked in their jeans and had rain coats or umbrellas. I felt very embarrassed for her.
So here's the thing. We can start with people need to know how to dress for the weather. It will just get more important when she starts to drive-car's break down and get stuck. But that's not the real issue.
I get upset with how preoccupied she gets with her clothes. How so much of her hard earned money and her allowance goes to clothes. How concerned she is about her appearance. There are some real issues here, like a lot of teenage girls she flirts with anorexia and experiments with bulemia. But leaving that aside.......
I buy my guy clothes at Walmart and my femme clothes at Goodwill except for a bit of lingerie. I try pretty hard not to get caught up in the materialism of expensive clothing. I'd like her to see through the whole facade of the fashion industry that preys upon women, and teenage girls in particular. But at what point am I becoming unfair? My clothing is part of my identity, even if my dresses and lingerie are part of a secret identity. Why is it difficult for me to accept that my daughter's clothes are part of her identity. After all a teenage girl wasting her money on clothing and not always dressing appropriately for the weather is no more dysfunctional than me wearing clothes that I would not want my daughter to see me wearing at all.
Thoughts anyone, GGs especially?
Zari
As we so often say here, our clothing choices are part of what we are, and trying to repress them is difficult. Having that imposed by us on others is even more difficult.
It's the first winter storm of the northeast here today. A couple of inches of snow, followed by hard rain and strong winds. A miserably beautiful day.
My daughter loves her clothes. She devotes a lot of thought to them, pays for most of them out of her own money. Today she tried to dress for the weather, which was snow when she got up. Nice boots, warm leggings, and a short skirt over the leggings. By time it was time to catch the school bus the snow was 2 inches of slush and the falling snow was cold windy hard rain. She made the comment that her boots would be ruined and I said she should wear her rain boots. She said they didn't go with the ensemble and that changing would make her late for the bus. I wound up driving her to the bus stop, where all the other kids had walked in their jeans and had rain coats or umbrellas. I felt very embarrassed for her.
So here's the thing. We can start with people need to know how to dress for the weather. It will just get more important when she starts to drive-car's break down and get stuck. But that's not the real issue.
I get upset with how preoccupied she gets with her clothes. How so much of her hard earned money and her allowance goes to clothes. How concerned she is about her appearance. There are some real issues here, like a lot of teenage girls she flirts with anorexia and experiments with bulemia. But leaving that aside.......
I buy my guy clothes at Walmart and my femme clothes at Goodwill except for a bit of lingerie. I try pretty hard not to get caught up in the materialism of expensive clothing. I'd like her to see through the whole facade of the fashion industry that preys upon women, and teenage girls in particular. But at what point am I becoming unfair? My clothing is part of my identity, even if my dresses and lingerie are part of a secret identity. Why is it difficult for me to accept that my daughter's clothes are part of her identity. After all a teenage girl wasting her money on clothing and not always dressing appropriately for the weather is no more dysfunctional than me wearing clothes that I would not want my daughter to see me wearing at all.
Thoughts anyone, GGs especially?
Zari