I’m probably being a prude but…

[Username73638]

…what is the deal with teenage girls running around basically naked these days?

Last week, I was driving down the road near a secondary school at letting out time and I must have seen about 5 girls’ actual bum cheeks as they were leaving school. Like, we all rolled our skirts up fairly short at school, but this was actually full knickers and bums on display… one girl was wearing a thong so it was just her whole bum on show.

Then, I was on the beach today (we live near the sea) with my two primary school aged sons and there were a group of maybe 13-14 year old girls, they were very young, more than half of whom were in thong bikinis. They spent most of the time on the beach doing a photoshoot, predominantly photos of them from behind looking out to sea, presumably for social media?!

I know teenagers have always been teenagers, but I’m pretty sure underage girls weren’t wearing thong bikinis on the beach when I was that age 😳

I could see other families on the beach felt uncomfortable with it too.

Do their parents know? Is this just how teenagers dress these days?

Role models like Olivia Rodriguez on BBC now at Glastonbury don't help. Very short dress!!!!! But in our day we had Madge!!!!

Awful aren’t they.

It's tricky. I had a very very short school skirt I admit! And maybe people felt the same about me? However, I find it really hard with a 16 year old daughter. School skirt she always rolled, so nothing I could do about it once she's at school! But she had on black tights at least. But when she goes out, wow it drives me crazy. Even short shorts she goes out in with them 'normal' and then I see her walking around the village and they've been rolled up. Or they've got this weird thing that they all do where they turn the waistband down of any trousers/shorts?! Obviously to show more stomach off but it drives me nuts. But you can't stop them! Any really trashy clothes I put my foot down before they get to the house but they have a way of making normal clothes inappropriate which is hard to battle. But in other ways I find them a lot more mature and level headed than we were at their age. It's strange.

There’s a secondary school on my route to work with 2 sets of traffic lights that always seem to be red & the girls crossing are walking to school in skorts, I guess ready for games lesson, but oh my, the girls bums are often on show!

I grew up in the 90s/00s and I remember my mum being horrified that her sister (my aunt) who was very fashion forward, had bought me a triangle bikini top for my birthday. Took me ages to persuade her to let me wear it! How things have changed 🤣

Bums are the new boobs. It's all about the arse these days, so them having bums out is the equivalent to people in the 90s in push up bras and low cut tops.

I don't like to see it but then I think back and I was very much guilty of it as an early teen! Then later on some of the outfits I went (underage) clubbing in were just awful, barely anything to them. So I can't blame them!

One thing I have noticed with this generation of under 18s is that I do find them far kinder and far more accepting of each other. And also for more willing to be an individual, speak up for others and find their own way. I think this generation is going to grow up to be better adults than mine!

My DD’s are only in mid 20’s and they wore shorts under short skirts. Their choice not my insistence. Apparently in Korea they call them safety shorts

My daughter would never allow her bum to be on display. She wears skorts to avoid this happening

Agreed!

But(t!) in OPs day there also wasn’t thong swimwear.

That’s what UK teenagers also call them

There is a reason why those underage girls have it on display. When I was at school girls used to roll up their skirts but not to the point their bums were showing. It's another level these days and it's probably how the mother dresses who they are following. It's all about looking for attention and looking for suckers.

I’ve noticed it!
At the beach on a not particularly fine day, decided to get fish and chips from a nearby van for the kids. Brought some of the older boys (12/13) with me to help carry the food back. Rounded a sand dune to be greeted by the sight of a row of about 5 or 6 bums all bent over in a row 😅 😱
The girls (16ish?) were all in thong bikinis and were examining the menus pasted to the food van’s counter as they chose their snacks…
The worst of it was the boys accompanying them were all wearing longish shorts and t-shirts. It just didn’t seem fair!

So teach your children modesty. But sadly society is such these days that there are no standards and suggesting there should be brings howls of dissent. Personally I’m raising my family to dress modestly yet femininely and to mix with similar people who share our values. The riff-raff can do as they please.

I'm not in the UK and while I've seen a few young girls in thong bikinis I've never seen schoolgirls flashing their bums at the general public - thank goodness!

She isn’t a role model though, is she. She’s a singer. Parents are role models, the very first ones. Women in the public eye dress the way they do because sex sells. If parents allow their children to emulate it, that’s parents failing to role model correctly.

When I was a teenager, I thought Kate Moss was the most stylish woman ever. In her day to day she was pretty covered up. I didn’t think that because Kate Moss did coke, I should do coke though. Parents can in fact, teach their children critical thinking skills.

💯

Porn is what happened.

It's insane and I feel so sad for girls.

Insane, actually, for any young woman to do this. To walk around with a string up your crack and your bum cheeks in the face of anyone who's sitting down is, if we stepped back a bit and looked at cultural shifts, a really extreme change in what is considered socially acceptable.

You can absolutely track it all back to misogynist trends - lap-dancing/sex work/porn, all of which have been framed as 'liberatory' for young women but which by some astonishing coincidence tracks with what misogynist men who like to buy women like women to do.

Don't agree and justify foolishness you don't know how that poster dresses. What's wrong with keeping children innocent.

Madonna released a book of naked photos. I’m not sure that much has changed.

I was talking to dd17 about it, she thinks it’s about pushing boundaries, as all teens do I guess. I’m a secondary school teacher and I wish they wouldn’t have their bums out in school, but i could spend my day doing nothing other than asking girls to sort their skirts out.

Underage for what? Being outside?

Ah the thong troll is BACK!

@thestudio Your comment about lap dancing being liberating has actually reminded me of a conversation I had with a female teacher, when I was in upper 6th. She was probably early 40’s. I was very much of the mindset that it was “liberating and feminist”. After a bit of back and forth, she ended the conversation with “you won’t think this when you’re actually an adult”.

She was right. I really don’t and haven’t for a long time now.

People have been complaining about what young girls wear 'these days ' for as long as I can remember (and I'm pretty old). I wonder what the current crop of thong wearers will be complaining about when they reach middle aged?

Anyone here remember the Thing for teenage girls in the 2000s wearing crop top t shirts with "Porn Star" on it?

Yesterday I spotted a girl I assume with her mum wondering round a museum with "Porn star In Training" on it.