This was inspired by a comment chain in a removed thread, but it sparked an interesting discussion.

The post in question showed an influencer wearing a cropped tank and some boyfriend jeans. Nothing outside the norm, where I live. She was explaining that she wanted to be able to dress the way she liked. She wanted to be seen as hot and sexy, but not sexualized. Men, and some women, took issue with this.

"How can you expect men not to sexualize you when you dress like that?" Men ask. Easily, fuckface.

Can you ladies appreciate that a woman or man is attractive and desirable without sexualizing them? It's pretty simple, in my experience.

Like do these men just walk into the Louvre and think "Venus de Milo. What a fucking slut." orrr?

Clothing doesn't imply anything about morals or consent. I personally don't find any kind of "empowerment" in showing a lot of skin, but women should be allowed to dress how they like and men should simply learn to control themselves and their idiotic thoughts.

Men will continuously push the bar on what is or isn't considered "revealing" regardless of what women do. If every woman in the world took to wearing nothing but turtlenecks and shapeless trousers tomorrow, men would find a way to sexualize it. If your sleeve ever rolled up slightly above the wrist, they'd say you looked like a whore. Among the Amish, showing your ankles is considered slutty. Can you imagine considering a bare ankle to be indicative of promiscuity? Men sound equally insane to me when they lose their minds over a bare midriff or short skirt. Men will sexualize certain hairstyles for god's sake. Pigtails? They call them "handlebars," FFS. Dye your hair a bright color? Guess that makes you a "freak."

Keep in mind, often what is or isn't considered "slutty"/"revealing" depends largely on your natural body type, race, height, facial structure and other factors that are impossible control. Any woman who has had to survive school uniforms inherently understands this.

Validating men's porn-fueled delusions by putting any stock into what they believe is "sexual" is aiding and abetting the patriarchy.

In short: Dress conservative if you want to. Dress "revealing" if you want to.

As long as you're dressing for your comfort and not for male validation, you're on the right track.