The latest edition of People Magazine offers readers a slobbering human interest story about Kaitlyn Juvik, an attention-seeking Montana high-school student and Lena Durham wanna-be (both in her penchant for showing off her body parts and her misunderstanding of feminism), who is eager to clear a few things up: Boys don’t matter. What does matter—really the only thing that matters—is Juvik and her feelings and personal comfort.
Juvik claims comfort was the main reason she tossed her bra aside and headed to school. She made several people uncomfortable, including, she claims, a teacher. Called to the principal’s office, Juvik was told she was in violation of the dress code (her school’s dress code actually doesn’t mention underwear…because I suspect school administrators thought parents might take the on the role of explaining how civil society works).
And now, Juvik’s crying foul—taking a page from the feminist handbook on first world problems (that only rich, white teenagers…like…totally get) and claiming she’s a victim of leering boys (and even a pervy teacher). Predictably, Juvik says she wants to start a “national discussion” about “the body shaming and sexualizing of women” because we haven’t been having that conversation for decades already.
Yawn. Wouldn’t it be nice if just once, a high-school student wanted to start a conversation about math, or science, great literature or real issues facing women…like the systematic rape of Yazidi women in Iraq and Syria. But no, let’s talk about bras and other nonsense.
Juvik’s campaign to let high school-aged girls let it all hang out has indeed been an inspiration to the “rebel without a clue” crowd at her high school. Many of her coddled fellow students have taken up the cause of bralessness, and one of Juvik’s friends took the truly courageous step of setting up a Facebook group called “No Bra, No Problem.” It’s almost like those bloggers in the Middle East that criticize Sharia law…except it’s not really anything like that.
Moving on.
Of course, none of Juvik’s “No Bra, No Problem” flunkies want to talk about how her brave braless stance is a big problem for a particular group of students for which no self respecting social justice warrior would ever stick up: boys. It isn’t a stretch to imagine Juvik’s free swaying breasts are distracting to the young boys who also attend school with her. Yet, Juvik considers these boys to be the problem, saying, “…perhaps people should start teaching boys not to sexualize women’s bodies.”
Oh, wait! I have an idea! Instead of pursuing the completely impossible task of telling pubescent boys to ignore the bouncing breasts in front of them, we could teach girls to wear bras so that their sexually arousing parts stop swaying in boys’ faces. Wow, so many solutions to consider.
I don’t mean to suggest that Juvik’s the real predator here—creating a hostile and sexually aggressive learning environment for boys. But perhaps Juvik’s admirers could take a deep breath and consider that the males who attend school with Juvik’s breasts also deserve a learning environment devoid of such sexual distraction? Certainly society recognizes that it would be out-of-bounds for boys to decide to go pants free (wouldn’t we?) so doesn’t equality demand that boys should also be given an environment that minimizes sexual distraction so as to be more conducive to learning? It seems to me that that right is more important than any contrived right to go braless.
Juvik’s mother, who owns a nail salon, is super supportive of her daughter’s right to go commando. At one time, school administrators assumed parents would teach their daughters to dress appropriately. Sadly, that’s a thing of the past—particularly when one’s daughter’s rebellious behavior gets you a photo spread in a popular magazine (interesting how sales for an Acrylic full set just went up at Mama Juvik’s salon). One can almost hear Mama Juvik’s joy as she gazes at the photo spread and exclaims, “Look, honey, we’re famous, just like the Kardashians.”
Yes, just like the Kardashians.
If Mama Juvik really wanted to help her daughter, she would provide her with some simple guidance on how women’s breasts are a beautiful thing—so beautiful, in fact, that they can be distracting to boys. She might counsel when it’s appropriate to go braless—at home. She could explain to her daughter that exposing them for everyone to see is not only impolite, but also unfair to the opposite sex (and not to leave out the lesbians at school, naturally, who might also be distracted). Fairness and equal opportunity is paramount, after all. Or isn’t it?
Julie Gunlock is a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum