Recently, a law was proposed to the government. That is to ban Short skirts/pants in Indonesia.

Have you noticed when you go to a mall, 13year old kids struts around in groups, wearing make up and their pants are almost an equivalent as their undies? in front of them are16 years old girls wearing clothes like they are dressed for the clubs. I see 6 year old girls dragging the weight on their feet because she was wearing platform shoes.
Even though there are probably 15 girls out of 100 people that dress this way in a packed shopping mall in Jakarta on a Saturday night.
I think it’s innapropriate.

 My reasons are being:
1.) showing off your legs in public is not sexy. If you wear a short as skirt or pants that is just 5cms below your butt. what happens when you go on the elevator? The person behind you gets a full view of your ass hanging out.

2.) The people you see on the telly, dont dress that way in real life.
Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj.
Their outfits onstage are costumes.
The fact is, they are not Indonesians.
So who cares what Hollywood celebrities wear, or what kind of  clothes Runway models show off during fashion week.
They are costumes. I bet when they’re at home, doing their daily errands like buying bread or picking furnitures. They dont dress up.
I’m sure even their feelings would get hurt if someone they passby at a mall glance at them like a piece of meat.

3.) No mistery no modesty.
Young girls these days are led to believe that being sexy, showing off you assets are the best way to a man’s heart.
Men raps and sings about sex more and more in the past 20 years.
Love songs turns to lovemaking.
Romance are fading.
Women in bikinis are the standard for video clips.

Do you ever wonder what life was like in the 1940s?
There was no social media, internet, cellphones.
There was only Postmails that takes two weeks or more to receive.
how does Men in those days capture our hearts. Why did long distance relationships lasts forever then, than they are now?
Loyalty and distractions are at war.
For some and or most long distance relationships now are overwhelmed by distractions.
Boys are checking out girls with short skirts at a cafe. Girls are drooling over Taylor Lautner’s body.
These expectation dont belong in the real world.
Most men dont have mouth watering sixpacks, most women dont have Double D cups and a slim waist.
Dont get me started on how shallow our beloved people can be when it comes to weights.
No wonder our society is screwed up.

The way women dress in the olden days are elegant, beautiful and nice. They did it without showing off their legs or cleavage when they are buying breads or shopping.
Think of the women in Jane Austen’s books or the girls in Little Women.
Think of what our great grandmother’s wore on a daily basis. A Batik Sarong wrapped around their waists with a Kebaya, keeping themselves warm on a cold night out or a hot day at the market.

I’m not saying we should dress in a Victorian dress everyday.
I’m not ordering people to stop wearing short shorts and short skirts.
I would like to let you know where i stand in all this drama about fashion.

I remember, i once bought a Jeans Jacket that is torn and ripped.
I walked into the living room where my Grandfather spotted me.
“What the hell is that you’re wearing?”
“a jacket.” i said, “its kind of a trend.”
“take it off.” he told me, “I want my grandchildren to dress properly.”
When we were having coffee at our fave mall.
My cousin and i spotted a young women wearing a dress that is barely below her butt, her shocking pink heels matched her dress.
We giggled and laughed as she walked by with her head held high and a waddle to her strut, as if there was cameras following her every step.
“what are you two laughing at?” Our Grandfather asked.
“that woman there,” i told him, “look at her clothes.”
My Grandfather turned his wheelchair around and spotted her.
“Yuck!” he said and turned to us with his fist raised.
“if you two ever wear that.”
His fist clenched that trembled. he pretends to knock out my chin like in a fist fight.
We smiled at him.
“Of course we wont.”

My Grandfather’s younger brother once told me.
“during the war, we only get to eat once a day if we’re lucky. Our clothes are torn and dirty. There were no toys or such things as luxury.” he said as we sat in a cafe at Pondok Indah Mall.
“The war was terrible. We did all we could so the next generations didnt have to experience what we went through. We dont have the things that you do now.”

I guess, what I am saying is.
As an Indonesian, we all have grandparents or great grandparents who fought in the war. For our country in the hopes of a better future.

whether it’s politics, economy, ethics and culture.
One person cant change the way others think.
but Why dont we start small.
Change the way we dress. Respect ourselves to help influence others to respect each other.
Legs or cleavage are not meant to be shown off like a piece of meat at a butcher’s shop.

If you want to dress sexy. You can still do so with a tshirt and old blue jeans. Because elegance, kindness and beauty comes from within, a trait that every women in this world has.
So why not show it to the world with some modesty and respect for our own culture?

COPYRIGHTS Nicky Subono ©2012

here’s the link: http://imo.thejakartapost.com/nickysubono/2012/03/29/short-skirts-aint-my-thing/#comment-1134

thanks for sharing your good thoughts girl!