If guys ogle 14-year-old Melanie Parola, she thinks that’s their problem.
“These are the type of clothes I wear,” Parola said Friday, dressed in a low-cut orange tank top and skin-tight jeans. “Women have the right to wear what they want.”
Preteens are increasingly wearing eye-catching, body-baring tube tops and Daisy Duke shorts. Some do it to attract older boys. Others, such as Parola, say they want to be stylish and like the attention. But some teens and parents say the trend could sexualize children at too young an age and make girls focus too much on their body image.
“If you want to look older, you are going to attract older men,” said 16-year-old Salwa Rabbad. Rabbad was shopping for clothes with 13-year-old Dominique Vera at Westfield Shoppingtown Valley Fair mall in San Jose. Vera, who was wearing an orange skirt and halter top, said she feels uncomfortable when she wears clothes that are too revealing. “I feel like guys are looking at me. I just want to cover up,” she said after browsing the racks at Charlotte Russe.
Corinna Frausto, a counter supervisor at the store, said provocative clothing, especially corsets and see-through tops, are popular with preteen girls. “I think it’s inappropriate, but a lot to do with parenting,” she said.
Melanie Kirk said her parents didn’t put up with her wearing an ultra-thin tank top Wednesday afternoon. The 14-year-old was headed to the mall when they stopped her and made her put another tank top on underneath.
“My parents wouldn’t let me walk out of the house skanky,” Kirk said.
“They are too young to be wearing that,” said Adel Iskander, whose 14-year-old daughter, Christine, has difficulty striking a balance between stylish and tasteful. Christine Iskander recalled going out with her friends recently. She wore a tight, translucent top. At one point, her friends pointed out how see-through it was. She said she was embarrassed. “It’s disrespectful to be wearing something like that,” she said.
Vera said provocative clothing could be dangerous because it can attract sexual predators. “It’s scary,” she said.
As Parola and her friend, Regin Victor, 15, walked through Westfield Shoppingtown Oakridge mall in San Jose, they said they generally ignore boys who gawk. “Like that,” Parola said, giggling, as a tall teenage boy approached her.