There was an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy got a loving cup stuck on her head and the only person they could find to remove it was on the other side of town. It was late or it was a Saturday, and Ethel was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a work shirt.
“I’m not going to get on the subway wearing dungarees.” Ethel said indignantly, the very idea of not wearing appropriate clothing on the subway shocking to her. We’ve come a long way, Baby.
After Kayla Ebbert made national news and got to be on the Today Show, a second woman, Setara Qassim, has now come forward claiming
that Southwest Airlines told her to cover up or else. A few years back The Love Airline would have been more likely to ask Kayla Ebbert if she wanted a job than to tell her to cover up. Times change and we like to go from extreme to extreme, burning bras to wearing bras that cover the entire upper body. The reason the story of Kayla Ebbert and Setara Qassim is interesting is that it is a question of what is appropriate behavior. Or is there such a thing as appropriate behavior.
I’m just waiting for the story of a man with a hairy chest being told to button his shirt up.
Kayla Ebbert seems like a nice enough young woman. Is her outfit too sexy for air travel? Is that just a totally silly question? There are gay parades where bare chested men kiss other bare chested men and bare chested women kiss other bare chested women. While most beaches are not nude, most bathing suits leave very little to the imagination. It’s a rare movie these days that doesn’t at least have a few seconds of nudity.
I shoot photos for church directories and see outfits like this everyday on girls from 9 to 30 with the occasional really offensive 50 plus woman wearing an outfit that might be sexy on someone twenty years younger. 
Just as no one seems bothered by the fact that flip-flops are standard footwear for all occasions, miniskirts and tube tops aren’t just for whores anymore.
Getting close to being a dirty old man myself, I am always amazed at young women who dress provocatively and then are shocked that people like myself stop and take a look.
I see a lot of tattoos, body piercings, every kind of haircut known to man, and clothing designed to make boobs bigger and butts rounder. Paris Hilton and Britney Spears are not the only ones that walk around without any underwear at all. So far as I have heard Kayla Ebbert was not flashing anyone on the plane, though I could see that the standard old business man might stop and stare for a second or two before moving on. Kayla Ebbert must be used to stares from dirty old men or she would not be wearing the outfit in the first place. Being young and pretty means being leered at by old guys. The other beautiful people are too busy being shocked that unattractive people are staring at them as well. No worries, you’ll be old soon enough, Honey.
The fact of the matter is that no mater what Kayla Ebbert was wearing, someone would think it offensive, someone would think it tame and boring. There was a recent story about voting and Muslim women who wear that scarf draped over their heads to hide their face. What is there to keep one woman from voting a hundred times if she wants to? Is it appropriate to walk around with your face hidden all the damned time?
I think I’ll start a religion that requires everyone to go around naked, then it would not just be a question of good or bad taste, but of religious freedom. On second thought, most of the people I see in churches I really don’t want to see naked.
