Granny was way ahead of her time!
You leave the country for a couple of months and all hell breaks loose. Maybe it is being away for a while that puts new perspectives on things, but it seems some dramatic changes are happening, in social standards, styles, mores, and laws (or lack thereof).
I leave an America where women are wearing thongs or "Daisy Duke" cutoffs, and return to a puritan country where women are wearing "granny dresses." Even in sin city New Orleans, I see flocks of tourists, with the wives all covered from head-to-toe in ugly, ill-fitting dresses, with puffy sleeves and some sort of embroidered panel covering their boobs. We visit WalMart - the real "heartbeat of America" and racks and racks of granny dresses are on proud display, right up front - your choice of primary colors! When it makes it to the aisles of WalMart, it is become mainstream.
I mean, I get it - the far-right has ascended into power, but such changes so soon? So fast?
I suppose it was inevitable. Over time, women have shorn themselves of more and more clothing and exposed more and more flesh. In the late 1800's even showing your ankles was considered scandalous. By mid-century, dresses were knee-high, off the shoulder, and showing some cleavage was considered the norm. By the swinging 60s, it was bikinis and cutoffs. Eventually, there was nothing left to do, but go naked. And today's "swimsuits" amount to little more than a patch of cloth and a string. Some women argue that they should be allowed to go topless - as the men are already allowed to do.
So it makes sense, in a weird way, that there was nowhere to go but to do a re-set back to ground zero. The granny dress is "in" and it may be another 100 years before the thong rears its ugly head. Again.
Of course, maybe it is time men tried a little modesty. Man-boobs are not appealing, even if it is a "norm" for men to go topless. And shorts don't have to be the default dress code. Combined with "manspreading" it leaves little to the imagination. Ugh.
But maybe that is the point - misogyny. Women must cover up their shame, while men flaunt it for all to see, whether invited or not.
Maybe time for the Muu Muu to make a comeback!
Health Update: It seems you can't go on a Carnival cruise without getting the Norovirus. On the mend, I hope! Instead of on the toilet!