As our seven-and eight-year-old children dug in the sand and dragged seaweed out of the ocean, a group of young teenage girls set up next to us. The girls, all about 14 or 15 years old, spread out their towels. Then, carrying with them the cloud of drama that surrounds girls that age, they walked in front of us and into the ocean.
Like me, and many of the moms next to me, the girls all wore bikinis, but theirs were slightly different. They were sporting a bikini bottom style that was just becoming popular—the cheeky, or Brazilian cut, which exposes a few more inches of buttocks than the standard cut. This sent off a wave of whispered conversation among the mothers.
“Now that is just inappropriate,” one woman said.
“They’re too young—
half their butts are showing!” said another.
The conversation escalated until one of the women proposed approaching these girls—all of whom were strangers—to tell them the reasons why their bikini bottoms were unacceptable.
I kept quiet the entire time because I was surprised to find I disagreed with everything they were saying. My daughter was so young I hadn’t really given much thought to what teenage girls should or shouldn’t be wearing. But I didn’t see what the big deal was. They were at the beach, running around, hanging out with friends—not in front of a screen or wandering around a mall or, worse, drinking or doing drugs. If they felt comfortable and if this was the style of the moment, why should I care what some neighbourhood girls wear?
