THE NEW SEXY: The women of Jersey Shore are role models - and style icons - for millions of adolescents.
OPINION: It was an ordinary Saturday night. Not late, about 8.30pm. I was walking through the city, and ahead of me was a pack of women.
They looked about 30 from behind. Maybe on a hen's night? When they turned around I was shocked to see that the packs median age was around 17, 19 tops. Nothing adult about them.
They were dressed (and I use that term loosely) identically in outfits that went something like this:
(From the top) Overly curled, overly sprayed, overly long hair with extensions that fell below the bra line, push-up bras, false eyelashes, black smudgy eyeliner, fake nails painted white, bandage dresses so tight that they walked like their feet had been bound since birth and so short that you could see the brand of their underwear; orange fake tan, glitter body spray, clumpy, chunky high heels (the kind you see wrapped around poles) and lots of jangly, shiny things on their ears, fingers, wrists and ankles.
They'd thrown everything at it. Literally. It looked like their wardrobes and make-up bags had exploded. On top of them. There was way, way too much of everything.
The look was a major fashion fail, but that wasn't the part that disturbed me - we've all got it wrong before, particularly at that age.
These outfits were aggressively suggestive and sexual. There was no nuance, mystery or prettiness. From a distance they looked like a low-budget video shoot and up close it looked like they were open for business - business of the wrong kind.
I remember this age. It's a really strange time. You're fresh out of school with new-found freedom and you push boundaries with your wardrobe to explore your sexuality and femininity.
You also feel invincible - all young people do - and pay little attention to the kind of messages your clothes might be sending because your focus is on yourself and your bright, shiny future. Also, you just don't care. What would the world know anyway?
This is also the moment when suddenly you don't have to wear a uniform every day, so fashion becomes a novelty. This is when young girls dress older than their age - and inappropriately.
It's an important part of growing up, an absolute rite of passage, and a stepping stone on the journey of personal style.
When I was 18, the icons to follow were Madonna and Wendy James. They were boundary pushers in their bustiers, tutus, dog collars and studs.
I copied it all, but there was something more rebellious and anti-establishment about their message, and it had nothing to do with sex.
I know that dressing like them made me feel empowered but not necessarily sexy.
I can't help thinking that some of the more multi-dimensional heroines have been replaced by one giant Kardashian/Jersey Shore/video chick/Hilton/Victoria's Secret mush.
There doesn't seem to be any celebration of diversity, just a whole lot of glorification of waxed/tanned/augmented homogenisation.
This is the part where I begin to sound like a prude, isn't it?
Self-expression through fashion is essential. Young women should look shocking, be shocking, get it wrong, get it right, have fun and experiment with genre, time period - all of it.
I fear that's getting lost in a ridiculous rush to be sexy, and an even more contrived idea of what sexy looks like.
When did it stop being a pair of high heels and red lipstick and become Soft Porn Barbie? It's not just boring - it's dangerous.
Later in the week, at a makeup counter in a big department store, I started chatting to a young guy waiting patiently for his girlfriend, who was getting her makeup done. They'd both just turned 18.
I said: "You must love her very much to sit here while all this goes on". He replied: "Yeah, I love her, but I love her heaps more without all that on stuff her face".
Me too, Buddy. Me too.
-Sydney Morning Herald
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