It’s always tender when a father cares. But with Boing Boing founder Mark Frauenfelder making a crusade out of what he calls his 15-year-old daughter’s “shaming” by a TSA officer, you have to wonder. Having a sense of sexual shame (AKA modesty) is befitting to men and women everywhere, despite the fact that “slut-shaming” as become a sort of PC knee-jerk term to shame those with a sense of sexual propriety.
When a TSA officer at LAX was checking the IDs of the daughters and her friends, she said he was “glaring” at her and mumbling. She said “excuse me?” and he said, “You’re only 15, cover yourself!” The outfit doesn’t seem especially adult, nevertheless, and the father made a blog about it saying that it was “none of his business to tell girls what they should or should not wear.” He then went on to insinuate that “his creepy thoughts are his own problem.” But anybody who has watched “Toddlers & Tiaras” and seen little kids dressed up like adult entertainment dancers knows that “creepy thoughts” are not just a personal problem.
A friend of their family, Maureen Herman, was quoted in the blog as well:
Absolutely inappropriate, harassing, aggressive, creepy, unprofessional, and Taliban-y thing that he did. “Cover up” is a dangerous cultural attitude that fuels more than rude comments. It’s the foundation of the oppression of women, rape culture (“she was asking for it”), and the drive for reproductive control of women’s bodies.
That is to say, embedded in his quip that she was dressed too provocatively lies all that is wrong in humanity. Amazing! He stands for the oppression of women, rape culture, Islam, and he is against reproductive rights. Talk about overreacting to a minor problem. The daughter might appreciate such a protective father now, but come on! With all this ire about slut shaming, what about modesty shaming?
The TSA, for their part, responded to the incident in a memo to the Huffington Post:
TSA officers are trained and expected to perform screening methods in a dignified and respectful manner at all times. We work to make our screening procedures as minimally invasive as possible while providing the highest level of security for the traveling public.
We regret that this passenger had an unpleasant experience and are in the process of thoroughly reviewing the circumstances.
Of course the TSA exacts a sort of military state in airports – so they can at least hold to disciplined behavior and a respect for civilians.