the tragedy of american girlhood

Yesterday as Rocky and I were going to Mass we saw three young prostitutes in front of the church. Our parish isn't in that kind of neighborhood and we were so startled that we had to stare. Then it dawned on me that these girls looked too healthy to be hookers. Their heaving bosoms-- each one wore a low cut strapless or spaghetti strap mini dress--- were dusted with glitter powder. Their makeup was precise, their shoes were shiny and new. There were no scrapes or bruises on their arms or thighs. The clothes they wore, while being little more than a few feet of material were made of quality material. They looked a bit like the Diamond Dogs from Moulin Rouge. It took a lot of money to look as cheap as they did.

I gasped because it occured to me that these were actually the teenaged daughters of parishioners and they were coming to Mass. Then they strutted past the church. They were headed to the nightclub down the street. Rocky and I wondered if their parents let them out like that and we were chagrinned to think that the clothes prostitutes wore in the late 70s and 80s are now ordinary fashion for young girls. What the heck went wrong with the adults in this country?

Teenaged girls are a lot like bison. They are amazing but surprisingly fragile under the right set of circumstances. They are high strung, easily spooked and when under stress they don't act at all with what you would consider good sense. They don't nessacarily know what is good for them. They can be easily destroyed with the right weapon and need careful protection by those who care about them.