Dad Defends Daughter After TSA Shaming of 15-Year-Old's Outfit

A TSA agent at the Los Angeles Airport reportedly shamed a 15-year-old girl for her outfit Sunday, telling her to cover up, and now her dad is speaking out against the "verbally abusive" official.

Mark Frauenfelder, who is editor-in-chief of Make magazine and founder of the online zine Boing Boing, detailed the incident in a blog post Sunday. His daughter Sarina was reportedly traveling with a group of high school students on a college tour and was dressed comfortably in black leggings, a white tank, and a checkered long-sleeved shirt.

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LAX #TSA officer humiliated my daughter, flying without us. Told her "You're only 15! Cover yourself up!" pic.twitter.com/u0HyhsDt28

— Mark Frauenfelder (@Frauenfelder) June 16, 2013

"She was at the station where the TSA checks IDs. She said the officer was 'glaring' at her and mumbling," Frauenfelder wrote in a blog post on Boing Boing. "She said, 'Excuse me?' and he said, 'You're only 15, COVER YOURSELF!' in a hostile tone. She said she was shaken up by his abusive manner."

The girl sent her parents a flurry of text messages saying she was "furious" and that the agent "made me feel like a slut."

"It doesn't matter what she was wearing ... because it's none of his business to tell girls what they should or should not wear," Frauenfelder wrote. "His creepy thoughts are his own problem, and he shouldn't use his position of authority as an excuse to humiliate a girl and blame her for his sick attitude."

TSA has reportedly opened an investigation into the matter, according to Yahoo! Shine.

"The supervising officer we met with, Officer Murphy, was apologetic, concerned, and professional," Frauenfelder wrote. "He cc'd me on his incident report to his manager and it looks like they are taking this seriously, which is good to know."

The TSA agent's actions were "harassing, aggressive, and Taliban-y," Maureen Herman, bass player for the all-female band Babes in Toyland and a women's rights advocate, wrote in a Facebook post.

"'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," Herman wrote.  

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