MOTHER LODE: 'See no evil' is nearly unavoidable in public places

Cathy Runyon | Advance Newspapers By Cathy Runyon | Advance Newspapers
on July 29, 2013 at 10:48 AM, updated July 30, 2013 at 2:23 PM

It's summer, the season of undress. A couple of weeks of 90-degree temperatures has only fueled the penchant for wearing as little clothing as possible, and I'm here to protest.

Before you stop reading, let me say I believe there is a place to wear as little clothing as you want. It's your own home, backyard pool, or any other location where I'm unlikely to run into you. If bare skin makes you happy, indulge, but please, not at the grocery store.

And don't get the idea that I think the human body is somehow bad, or that only those with Hollywood looks should be allowed to uncover. Every body is beautiful, but none of them, including the fashionably buff, alluringly curvaceous, or athletically slim, should be publicly paraded. It turns something noble into a circus sideshow.

The problem of summer undress crosses age and cultural boundaries. I passed a 70-something woman the other day wearing an orange tank top draped over her ample upper body and I wondered, "Do your kids know you go out looking like that? Doesn't anyone care enough to tell you wobbly upper arms and leathery skin would be better left under cover?"

Younger people tend to be the slaves of fashion, not stopping to think that plunging necklines, gaping armholes and skirts which, as one of my college teachers used to say, are not big enough to flag down a hand car, are not flattering; they're distracting, and not in a good way.

Add to the problem of undress things like see-through fabrics and fabrics with spandex that clearly define every fat roll. Sometimes, you just don't know where to put your eyes.

Men tend to wear the same thing – long pants and T-shirt or sport shirt -- summer and winter, but occasionally I have to look the other way when a man comes along with shirt hanging open, or in cut-off shorts that barely cover the behind. Men mostly err on the side of sloppiness, but that's another subject.

I'm not immune to the temptation to run to the store in clothes not fit for the human eye, because it's so easy. I don't want to take time to change. I'm old, and I like my comfort, and even more, my convenience. But I'm well aware that, while my value as a human does not come from my physical attributes, the physical is all other people see, and I wouldn't subject you to my spider veins and age spots in any quantity more than absolutely necessary. I want your respect, not your pity.

Clothing came immediately after Adam and Eve made their decision to rebel against God. The fig leaf coverings were the beginning of recognizing that naked and nude were somehow different, on a philosophical basis. But at the grocery store, they are the same. Bodies should be covered. It shows respect for yourself and others.

Many will say this would be a good time for me to shut up and mind my own business and I will wear whatever I want. Don't worry. I'm not about to tap you on the shoulder in the check-out line and say, "Put some clothes on." But remember, I'm probably behind you thinking it.