Skimpy prom dress lands Houston teen in jail

So, is Marcha Taylor wrong, and who deserves to have their ass beat: her or her parents?

Had any of my nieces decided to wear such a dress to the prom, trust me, I would have slapped them AFTER cracking their parents upside their heads!

Read the story here.

Watch video story here.

Comments

[alicia]

The young lady and her parents are to blame. I do think the school officials took it too far by calling the police, they should have her parents and talked to them. Maybe she could have been allowed to go home, chaange, then return to her prom later.

I say the young lady is to blame because she should have controlled her reaction better. Most of the blame goes to the parents for allowing her to leave the house in that "lady of the night" looking get-up. Obviously, this type of dress didn't happen out of nowhere so how does this girl dress on a daily basis.

I have seen prom dresses I thought were too sexy (I am 25), and even wore some dresses that my mother approved of but made my dad say, "where's the rest of it," but if I had brought THAT dress into my mother's house, I would have missed my prom because I was locked in my bedroom with aump on my head!

[alicia]

The young lady and her parents are to blame. I do think the school officials took it too far by calling the police, they should have her parents and talked to them. Maybe she could have been allowed to go home, chaange, then return to her prom later.

I say the young lady is to blame because she should have controlled her reaction better. Most of the blame goes to the parents for allowing her to leave the house in that "lady of the night" looking get-up. Obviously, this type of dress didn't happen out of nowhere so how does this girl dress on a daily basis.

I have seen prom dresses I thought were too sexy (I am 25), and even wore some dresses that my mother approved of but made my dad say, "where's the rest of it," but if I had brought THAT dress into my mother's house, I would have missed my prom because I was locked in my bedroom with aump on my head!

[Energize]

I must have missed something because I didn't see or hear any mention of parents? She must have snuck out when big momma fell asleep.

Pretty, young and misguided...bad combination.

[Marlin]

If possible, you must question her parent(s). When you encounter situations as such all types of light bulbs go off. She's probably was raised in a single parent household that's headed by a woman, etc. What was her date thinking? Or better yet what was he thinking with? It's very hard for me to believe that she thought she was going to get into the event dressed like that. I agree/w Energize: pretty, young and misguided ....

[Kimberly Coleman]

Not only is the dress skanky but it is downright ugly. I could understand fighting for a fly dress but this is THE UGLIEST dress I have EVER seen. HER and her parents should be beat. When I think about my prom dress... Wow have things changed.

[Songbird, SC]

Nephew Tommy used to have a joke in his stand up routine about this azz whipping factory where certain people needed to go and get their azz whipped for stupidness. This girl and her parents need to have their behind's whipped.

Come on, let's get real people. Enough is enough.

[Nanaqu2]

This girl has no respect about herself, she has the nerve to come and TV and blame the school for her bad behavior. What kind of person would respect her? She thinks she if fly, but she is silly and has no respect for herself. Whatever happen to modesty?

[smccants]

The networks cancelled Hot Ghetto Mess and SOB too early. This girl's dress belongs on these shows. It's unfortunate that NO ONE told her any better. Then, to know that she argued over not being admitted into the prom, shows that she had no idea that she was dressed inappropriately. She had no clue and neither did anyone else.

The prom date even wore a matching vest!!! So, this dress wa planned in advance. It looks homemade so someone took the time to design in and sew it.

I'm sure the school sent out a dress code and a rules & regulation announcement. She just wanted to wear her creation. Too bad it was both inappropriate and not well done.

[bettychilds]

The video momentarily shows the school prom guidelines/contract and the first rule is quite clear:

1. Only one inch of the midsection can be shown.

It later goes on to read in bold, "Proper attire will be checked upon entrance." Plus the contract has to be signed by the attendee.

Perhaps this young lady did not know the definition of the word "midsection". It's shameful that she believes her outfit was acceptable or appropriate, unfortunately girls today get their fashion cues from music videos. I don't agree her arrest, but I wasn't there to view her conduct.

[khia213]

The arrest was for the disorderly conduct for refusing to leave when asked. So, the child compounded the mess of a dress by refusing to go when told. The parents need to be hauled into court as well.

[NKC]

I don't blame the school, I blame her parents for allowing her to wear that dress and the child for not leaving the premises when instructed. If she has the mentality to think that dress is appropriate for prom, I can only imagine the language that she spewed when she was told to go home.

[sherid]

This was a custom made dress, that required many fittings in order to make it fit on this young ladies' body. Where was the mother for all of these fittings? I'm certain that the mother took pictures of her, before she left for the the prom, as any mother would have. Why wasn't she wearing any underwear ? This young lady (and I do use the term loosely)is only partly at fault for her response to the people in authority from the school. The mother is solely at fault for this one. I'm also certain that there was no father there with a voice of reason. Young women, with fathers in their lives, would never allow their daughter to go out of the house looking this way

[Vicky]

The nerve of this girl!! She should be entirely embarrassed to even defend her lack of self-respect on national TV.... Where are her parents?

[Vicky]

The school by the way is totally justified in its position, it is about time they take a stand against this type of nonsense!!

[simplycharming47]

I would really like to believe that her parents found out about the dress AFTER her arrest, but if by some chance they WERE aware and not only allowed her to leave the HOUSE in this monstrosity, but sent her off with their FULL blessing, then that would be a crying shame because they would have done their daughter a disservice by encouraging her to dress so Provocatively.

Not only was the dress inappropriate for PROM, but AGE inappropriate as well.. I havent read anything from the parents regarding this very unfortunate situation, so I'll reserve further comments interms of whether or not it was condoned!

Although I grew up in a two parent home, It was MY MOTHER who stayed on top of any game us girls tried to pull interms of clothes that were deemed inappropriate in our household. No daddy didnt have to deal with that issue, "cause mama already had that"!!

I was a divorced single parent of two daughters and one son, RAISING STRICTLY ALONE. Imagine the conversations had about clothes, ranging from what's not appropriate to sagging. But I held my feet to the fire.

My children are all grown now, but they never fail to mention to me how thankful and grateful they are that someone could love and care for them so much that they were willing to say NO, staying CONSISTED and basing decisons on wisdom imparted to me and not some popularity contest with my children.

Parenthood is one of the hardest if not THE hardest job in the WORLD and by NO means is this about perfect parenthood (cause believe me, I'm sure my children, as I did on occasion, played the "sneak clothes out of the house card"), But This is more about parents instilling those things necessary (whether popular or not) in our DAUGHTERS AS WELL AS OUR SONS, in order that they might make responsible choices that will undoubtedly follow them the rest of their life.

Believe me, Our Children will thank US for them in the long run...

[Veronica]

First of all I would not describe what she has on as a "prom dress",she looked like that commercial where the women are floating in the water with nothing but pieces of material wrapped around their top and bottom. I mean this is absolutely sad, there is "No way" I would allow a daughter of mine to go out of my house dressed like that for a prom. What in the world was her Mother thinking? Answer....she wasn't!!

[BrendaF]

"So, is Marcha Taylor wrong, and who deserves to have their ass beat: her or her parents?"

Yes, she (Marcha) is wrong and both her and her parent(s) need to have their asses beat. After viewing the video, the teen still doesn't seem to get why her dress was a problem. Her sense of what is appropriate and not appropriate appears to be way off base. This same lack may have something to do with the behavior that led to her leaving in handcuffs. Momma has some explaining to do.

[rikyrah]

That's not a prom dress.That's dental floss, and her mother needs to be slapped for letting her teenaged daughter walk out of the house looking like a glorified streetwalker. If she was walking down the street, why wouldn't a cop believe that she was soliticing? That's what's wrong with us, as a people, we let children dress anyway they see fit, and then tell them there's no consequences to the presentation to the world that your appearance screams.

Nobody can look at that dress and tell me that that girl doesn't belong:
a) on a streetcorner
b) on a stipper pole

[Myron D. Graham]

I agree that we should not refer to our young women using negative terms. We were not happy when others referred to our women has “nappy headed hoes.” Thus, we must endeavor to hold ourselves to the same standards that we ask of Whites. We can’t write our words off by saying, “I AM JUST CALLING IT LIKE IT IS.” Because in truth, Michael Richards called it like he saw it when some Black people arrived late to his show. Nevertheless, the issue about the inappropriate nature of the dress speaks for itself.

With that said, the style of dress in question appears to be more the norm than and an exception to the norm. Lots of women dressed in similar ways at my prom 6 years ago. This incident speaks to a larger problem within American culture, especially African American culture. Roland asked, "Where are the parents?" Within the AA community it seems that we are asking this question time and time again. As it relates to Blacks around the world, the question appears to be pandemic.

[Carolyn]

I saw the dress last night. She is asking for her money back for the prom. I think she should get her money back from who she bought the dress? If not sell it on ebay and donate the money to an organization such as dress for success, or for kids who cannot afford prom dresses.

[Carolyn]

I saw the dress last night. She is asking for her money back for the prom. I think she should get her money back from who she bought the dress? If not sell it on ebay and donate the money to an organization such as dress for success, or for kids who cannot afford prom dresses.

[Tim Thomas]

Heard Roland on the radio this morning, using the very words that got Don Imus fired. Imus was wrong, and so was Roland, for using that terminology. Surely a man with a degree from Texas A&M has a better vocabulary that what he used this morning.

BTW, the girl and her parents were wrong about the dress. But no need for our own people to villify them with words - the white man does a good enough job of that.

[Energize]

"Somebody, anybody, pay attention to me"! That is what I see from these young ladies dressing seductively. Maybe she thought she was going to an audition to a rap video instead of the prom.

You would think black children are just falling from the sky with the lack of active parents and guidance. Maybe if she could run a touchdown or dunk a ball, we would know who her parents are.

That 15 year old Hannah Montana girl was naked and on a cover of world famous magazine! Why wasn't that child porn? Her parents should have been arrested.

[Not Surprise]

This prom dress fiasco is nothing new with this present day generation. Let's quit being hyprocritical when we all know darn well our young sistas are wearing low-rider jeans where the obvious thong underwear is displayed whether they are sitting down or standing up. The young sistas reveal enough mammary gland showing a tatto to make any man sit up and take noticed, be it positive or negative. Look around at the grown women over forty doing the same thing.

After reviewing the video, considering what I have seen lately, I am not surprised at what she had on. If it was possible to wrap the additional material around her mid-section and across her shoulders to cover her breasts they should have let her in. I refuse to believe the school administrators did not have an inkling that this might occur, therefore bring some sissors, pins or some tape and fix it for her to go ahead and enjoy the one night that is supposed to be a special rememberance later in life. (If she couldn't deal with that then deny her access)

Calling her parents would have been MORE appropiate than summoning the police.

Please don't think I condone what she was wearing! But Roland you live in Chicago, and don't act like you don't see young women walking down the street daily in attire which would make you wonder are they working the streets for a living.

I talked to a young man under the age of 30 and asked what do the young women wear to the clubs? He stated something extremely similar to what Marcha Taylor was wearing that night. He stated these young women think this is a normal fashion attire for going out.

I don't agree with it, but I can't put my foot on her neck when her peers are dressing the same, and none of us are outrage enough to admonish these young ladies.

Simply think of a 17 year old girl who has seen nothing but this behavior via T.V., videos, movies, magazine covers, and the latest female pop-stars wearing clothes such as this. Have any of you thought she had this idea from the RED CARPET hoocies movie stars who dress in a similar manner to those female.

Who was the hoocie that Diana Ross even was amaze at when she walked onto the stage and basically fondle the woman's breast? Also, wasn't that J-Lo with just a hint of clothes on at the Oscars or whatever the hell the show was?

I DO NOT CONDONE WHAT SHE WAS WEARING, BUT I COMPREHEND WHY SHE THOUGHT WEARING SUCH AN OUTFIT IS NOT A BIG DEAL!!!...

Roland don't call Black women whores if you don't want the white talk show hosts such as Don Imus to do it? Your vocabulary is large enough to find other words. Next time Ms McGee, hit him when he says stuff like that...*lol*

[Tee]

Most of us that keep it real as it relates to us, know already that the girl's parents need their asses kicked period! The girl is only doing what she has been allowed to do. To many of our kids are just growing up with no real guidence at all. The school did the right thing, at some point we have to start looking at ourselves. People did not like what Cosby had to say, but ladies and gentlemen he was right. We continue to make excuses for what we know is not right. And while I hate to say it I wonder where this girl is going to be in the coming years? Anyone want to take a guess? I'm sure no one will say with a college education!