Dear Editor,
Women should be able to wear whatever they want, key word: should. Let me explain what I mean.
When I graduated high school I chose to spend a year in mission work. Being the naturally caring person she is, my mother did some research into the area I was moving to. She found out that Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles where I would be serving was, according to her friend that lived in California, an area that even black people avoided- I’m paraphrasing here. The area was plagued by gang violence, and for all I know still is. My mother found out that an easy way to get yourself killed in this area was to wear color. Apparently the colors red and blue were the most offensive to gang eyes. So, when picking out clothing for me, she chose muted colors like dark grey, light grey, and even flirted with my safety by picking very slightly off blue grey. Now, was my mother being sexist? Should I have told her “I wear whatever I want” and strutted out in my designer red pumps that I had purchased from a second hand store? No. And that’s because the color of my clothing could have gotten me killed. We live in a world where people will kill you based on your fashion sense and rape you based on how much skin you show. Should you be able to wear whatever you want? Absolutely. But when you live in a freak show like reality, maybe you should listen to your mom and not wear red.
Alec Manley
Lyons