By: Kristen Topp

I am a pretty open person, someone that usually has a live and let live attitude, unless my civil liberties are being threatened. So I’m not really understanding all the hate on women and their personal use of their bodies. The most recent example of slut-shaming being Rihanna’s choice of a sheer dress for the CDFA awards. I didn’t even know what the CDFA was until I googled it, and I watched years of Project Runway, so I imagine most people don’t. It’s a fashion awards show, making her dress very fitting, pun intended.

I’m not gonna front, I think Rihanna is beautiful, and her body is amazing. But more importantly, I think that she is a grown woman and can wear whatever she see’s fit. I’m always puzzled by the cry of “protecting children” from the nipples and ass of the world. If your child is old enough to surf the internet (without the parental locks on the computer), then they probably should know what the nude human form is. While Rihanna is physically appealing to a lot of people, the attachment of sex and sex appeal is subjective and usually applied by adults.

These are the same people that I imagine freak out over sex education encouraging kids to have sex. Or that seeing two men kiss is going to release a whole new generation of gay athletes. Maybe these parents concerned about Rihanna’s body should stop trying to police adult women and sit down and have a frank conversation with their children about anatomy, sex and the difference between the two.

This projection of people’s own creepy sexualized issues is illustrated in Virginia where a 17 year old girl was kicked out of prom because her dress was too short and the DAD’s at the prom were uncomfortable. I have so many questions, but mostly I’m just gonna say that this is rape culture at its finest. A culture where grown men need to be protected from girls. Where the bodies of women, particularly those of color, are a constant subject of others to be controlled. Where the men there to theoretically protect her felt threatened by their inability to keep it in their pants. And I bet I know who is to blame for that short dress…Rihanna.