bikini porno?

[lmelina@moscow.com (Lois Melina)]

I would like to clarify that from my perspective the bikini contest issue is
not one of pornography but one of exploitation. These are the same bikinis
that will be worn at the pool, and, of course, one can be fully clothed and
still dressed provocatively.

The issue is one of exploitation. The owner of this club wants to attract
high school students on a night when his usual clientele will be out of
town. I have no problem with that. However, he's worried that nobody will
show up. So he attracts the boys by having a bikini contest and the
knowledge that the boys will be going to watch the bikini contest will
attract the girls. What is exploitive about this is that he is using the
promise of teenage girls flashing their bodies to attract people to the
club. What makes this exploitive in a way that a wet T-shirt contest or
Chippendales is not is that this target age group (teens) is at a stage in
their development when they are trying to figure out how their emerging
sexuality fits in with the rest of their identity. I have no problem with a
girl choosing to wear a bikini at the pool. But I don't want girls thinking
they should be using their nice bodies to lure young men into clubs for the
sake of a nice profit for a local business.

Now I don't know if there is any research that says girls who appear in
bikini contests are less likely to have teen pregnancies. But I do know
there is research that indicates girls who participate in sports have a
lower rate of teen pregnancy. So, I suggest that if we want to reinforce
positive images of girls' bodies in our communities, that we adults make a
pledge to attend at least one girls' athletic event this spring in which we
do not have a daughter participating. Go to a track meet. Go to a tennis
match. Go to a softball game. Let these girls know that people want to come
and see what their bodies can DO!

Lois Melina
************************
Lois Melina
Editor, "Adopted Child" newsletter
P.O. Box 9362
Moscow ID 83843

phone: (208)882-1794
fax: (208)883-8035
Lmelina@moscow.com
www.raisingadoptedchildren.com