>> I dunno. To me, that line sounded very much like a well-intentioned teacher telling a girl to dress less attractively so as not to be subjected to sexual harassment. <<

It is not unrelated. However, there is a difference between something whose intended effect is psychological (making a girl less attractive) vs. practical (making a tail less easy to grab).

>> Whether the thought behind it is "you're a slut" or "society will never accept this, so you need to minimize yourself," it's still Not Helpful and sends the message that there's something wrong with the victim instead of the perpetrators. <<

It's not ideal. It is helpful, in that it reduces the frequency of assault by making the tail less accessible. It is problematic, by recommending that the victim take responsibility for changing the situation.

Bullying victims and sexual harassment victims often have a choice between two categories of response:

* actions which are socially acceptable, and add little if any disadvantage, but are ineffective

* actions which are not socially acceptable, or have other drawbacks, but which measurably reduce the number/severity of incidents

This is a problem. It's one of the things I want to explore in this series.