Policing nudity is easy. Teaching consent is work. That’s why institutions default to dress codes: quick, visible, enforceable. But clothing can’t do what consent does.
Consent says: bodies are not public property. Looking is not owning. Touch requires agreement. Those lessons create safety whether someone is in a hoodie or a swimsuit—or nothing at all.
When we obsess over coverage, we reinforce the lie that exposure invites violation. It doesn’t. People violate boundaries because they were taught they could.
Protect people, not optics. Make consent literacy the baseline—at school, at work, on platforms. Then let clothing be what it is: expression, comfort, culture. Not a security system.