to think the girls were inappropriately dressed?

Barbaramary, of course we wear swimsuits without being accused of indecency, but we don't go shopping in them and even the most daring of teenagers don't walk down the street in their skimpy bikinis.

bags I totally agree that society should not control what women wear but it does! The fashion /body image industry is very powerful! The fact that all three girls were wearing very similar outfits (as we have all done in our youth!) of short denim shorts and cropped tops means they have been persuaded that that is the way they should look!
Throughout history fashion has always controlled what people with a bit of money wear.
I consider myself a feminist but that does not mean I want women to all be dressed in baggy dungarees and sweatshirts all the time. However I do want young people to be able to have informed choices about image and to know that dressing in particular ways can emphasise one aspect of themselves (e.g sexual, professional etc) and to learn when one style of dress is more appropriate and another is not! That helps to give more control to them. It's not fool proof but it can help. This is not a girls only issue and goes hand in hand with good sex and relationship education..which again is not just the responsibility of schools but families too.

point taken as I am a mum and know that there are bad people about who think that even a smile is a invite for more. If only the world was perfect. (smile)

My long-dead grandmother once told me (I was then 15) that she only wore her bloomers when intending to travel by tram - in case she had to go up the stairs!
Plus ca change................

Skirts were longer then, sussexpoet !

Excellent post nanaej - and this is why some of my Muslim 6th Formers who chose to wear a scarf and cover up with discreet clothing said. They felt truly 'liberated' by it - escaping the pressures of the fashion industry and the expectations of other young women and especially young men.

I suppose the point is that you can get away with all sorts of outfits if you have youth on your side. But sometimes you just see examples that make you think "No! There's something unpleasantly suggestive there." There was a talent competition years ago - I think it was on Swop Shop - and they had a girl of about 11 dancing with a snake. There was nothing overtly sexy about the dance, but my husband took one look and said "She shouldn't be doing that, it's just not appropriate". Presumably neither her parents nor the producers had seen anything wrong

Granjura. You must have seen young muslim women sporting very nattily tied head coverings and wearing lashings of makeup. That is the fashion choice they make, limited yes, but still a fashion choice. I think perhaps many of your muslim 6th formers would not be allowed to express their identity by wearing local fashions due to family pressure. This is not necessarily a good thing.

Yes you see some gorgeous girls in the East End don't you with their colourful headscarves etc. They have presumably reached an understanding with their parents on what is ok and not ok
People living in villages in the tropics wear few clothes bags but that is within a small community where everyone knows each other and there are clearly defined and agreed rules of behaviour. There is obviously no absolute good or bad practice. But in our cities girls are looked at by thousands of strangers and there are relatively few universal norms of how to behave. I wonder whether, in such an environment, norms about modesty might not be a bad idea?