Ella Gunderson has become the unofficial spokesgirl for a new trend in adolescent fashion: modesty. Consider her letter to Nordstrom regarding the "shocking" state of current fashion for young girls:

"Dear Nordstrom," wrote Gunderson, of Redmond, Wash. "I am an eleven-year-old girl who has tried shopping at your store for clothes (in particular jeans), but all of them ride way under my hips, and the next size up is too big and falls down."

"I see all of these girls who walk around with pants that show their belly button and underwear," she continued. "Your clearks sugjest that there is only one look. If that is true, then girls are suppost to walk around half naked. I think that you should change that." (sic)

Good for her. She noticed an issue at the store where she likes to shop and did something about it. All children should learn to take action instead of whining. This story is one proof that not all kids buy into the pop culture fashion requirement.

The full blame can't be placed on Nordstrom because they don't dictate trends. They predict by ordering ahead of season, but will not continue with a trend if the clothes don't sell. One walk around the mall proves that these clothes are selling.

While I do believe that current fashion trends are ridiculous, parents have to take responsibility. Kids need to be taught to rely on their inner guidance. Trends and fashion are ok, but when it goes too far (which is subjective, even in this case), they need to be taught to appreciate their own views.

What I don't like is that this will become an example that teenagers are turning away from Satan and towards Christ. Using this trend shift to brainwash children that their bodies are "dirty" will be a missed opportunity to teach them to think for themselves. At some point, as a society, we must embrace the belief that teaching kids to think independently does not automatically mean they will turn away from the beliefs of their parents. They should not be given trite or ridiculous slogans, such as the one used by ModestByDesign.com: "Clothing your father would be proud of". Good plan... teach young girls that they should focus on clothes approved by their fathers... because they can't want them for any other reason than to please an older man. I'm over-simplifying, but not by much.

This is the same culture that prefers McPapers for the morning commute. In Washington, DC, there are two commuter rags that people read every day: The Washington Post Express and The Journal. Both papers are attempting to capitalize on a national trend among newspapers to offer commuter versions. A reasonable idea, but it's been taken to the extreme. These papers offer trimmed down versions of their regular stories, offering the basic point of the story. Unfortunately, they pander to a presumed short attention span and reduced intellect.

As an aside, this is not surprising when journalists can't be bothered to do real research. I've seen this in other news stories, but I'll point it out here because it's relevant. From the Catholic.net article, consider this insightful proof that Ms. Gunderson is a role model:

A Google search of “Ella Gunderson” drew over 70 links to stories from all over the world. Eleven-year-old Ella Gunderson is proof that everyone can make a difference.

I've read The Washington Post Express in the past. This morning, I read The Journal for the first time. The paper is awful, but I searched for an article about Ms. Gunderson because of the report in The Journal. The article, in its entirety, read like this:

Teen proposes decent clothes

During a recent shopping trip to Nordstrom, 11-year-old Ella Gunderson became frustrated with all the low-cut hip-huggers and skintight tops. So she wrote to the Seattle-based chain's executives to complain. The industry has been getting the message: A more modest look is in, fashion experts say.

That's it. How can we teach our kids to think when we so rarely participate in the activity ourselves? I'm scared when I realize that many of the people around me on the Metro, who consider this an acceptable form of news, are going to important government jobs that could help decide the future of our nation and the world.