Why Modesty Guidelines Are Wrong

[the171]

http://www.believe.com/articles/The-Idolatry-of-Modesty/

[Lil Red]

awesome :) 

[PhuturePriest]

This reminded me of when I went to Prayer & Action, and they started giving modesty guidelines for both men and women. They were pretty lax, but the men got the same exact guidelines as the girls, and it was awesome that they gave guidelines for men, too. These consisted of not wearing those non-sleeved shirts with the really big dips down to your sides, and always wearing a shirt, even when you're swimming. The girls didn't have skirt/shorts guidelines they had to follow, either. Lots of girls wore these sports shorts that were pretty high up the legs, and nobody cared. That's a much healthier approach than shaming girls and making them take "skirt tests", in my opinion.

[CrossCuT]

The skirt test? People do that? rofl

[PhuturePriest]

The skirt test? People do that? rofl

 

Honestly, I don't find it all that funny. But that's probably because I'm emotional and if I was a girl and was told to do it I would get emotional and cry. :P

[SilentJoy]

Honestly, I don't find it all that funny. But that's probably because I'm emotional and if I was a girl and was told to do it I would get emotional and cry. :P

Then I sincerely hope that no one questions the length of your kilt.  :smile3:

Edited March 26, 2014 by SilentJoy

[Anastasia13]

The skirt test? People do that? rofl

 

Used to, I believe, like making you kneel and seeting if your skirt reached the floor.

 

(Oh, this is in the article. Yes, this is the skirt test. It's real.)

Edited March 26, 2014 by Light and Truth

[cartermia]

At my school the teachers check the skirt to see if it is too short by checking to see if it was a dollar bill above the knee (the school's policy is 2 inches above the knee.) We are pretty used to the check by now (been having it since at least 5th grade.)

[SilentJoy]

At my school the teachers check the skirt to see if it is too short by checking to see if it was a dollar bill above the knee (the school's policy is 2 inches above the knee.) We are pretty used to the check by now (been having it since at least 5th grade.)

Okay...thaaaat's slightly creepy.

[cartermia]

The male teacher do not do it and there is at least three teachers in the room when they are doing the checks.

[CrossCuT]

Honestly, I don't find it all that funny. But that's probably because I'm emotional and if I was a girl and was told to do it I would get emotional and cry. :P

 

Its not funny at all! Im laughing because this article used it as its main example and Ive never even seen it happen.

 

I cant even fathom someone honestly asking a woman to do that these days...that is insane!

 

If someone asked me to do that Id tell them to go fuck themselves.  :saint2:

[Basilisa Marie]

And of course all of these kneeling or dollar bill rules just serve to punish the girls who accidentally violate the letter of the rule, but not the spirit. 

[SilentJoy]

Can I gripe a little tiny bit about the article without technically disagreeing with the content?

 

Everybody hates generalizations. (...see what I did there? :hehe2: ) The author says "we in the Church have reacted by elevating modesty to unhealthy proportions." Some churches and some church-y people, yes. But I get mildly peeved when someone suggests that the religion is united and unanimously responsible for stuff like this and promotes it.

 

"It is sad how much of the Christian theology centers on the man being helped and defended." One of us doesn't know what "theology" means (I'm not saying it isn't me). Did he mean to say "Christian practice"?

[AugustineA]

Eh.. skirt test, text message test.. The article has some valid points, but I'm still all for modesty. Saying that us guys just don't want to deal with our "unrepentant lust, sexual sin, and heart issues". Get outa here lol.

 

When someone sits beside you and you glance over and it's a skin tight sparkly pink cocktail dress with the back and sides cut out, c'mon. Maybe she's new to church, so obviously we extend that grace, but it shouldn't be normal. Is that unrepentant sexual sin on our part? No way, even the women notice. Obviously the Vatican also feels there should be some rules of modesty because they encourage and enforce it on some church property.

 

In day to day life, most of us people talking about modesty don't run around like modesty nazis. It means when we see a girl in a pretty cardigan and I something besides leotard clothing, we're like aw shux she's got some class.  :cool:

[PhuturePriest]

Eh.. skirt test, text message test.. The article has some valid points, but I'm still all for modesty. Saying that us guys just don't want to deal with our "unrepentant lust, sexual sin, and heart issues". Get outa here lol.

 

When someone sits beside you and you glance over and it's a skin tight sparkly pink cocktail dress with the back and sides cut out, c'mon. Maybe she's new to church, so obviously we extend that grace, but it shouldn't be normal. Is that unrepentant sexual sin on our part? No way, even the women notice. Obviously the Vatican also feels there should be some rules of modesty because they encourage and enforce it on some church property.

 

In day to day life, most of us people talking about modesty don't run around like modesty nazis. It means when we see a girl in a pretty cardigan and I something besides leotard clothing, we're like aw shux she's got some class.  :cool:

 

I can see where you're coming from, but I don't think he was talking about modesty in church, but modesty everywhere else specifically. I don't think many people would say cocktail dresses are appropriate for church. :P