{"id":3337,"date":"2013-07-12T19:11:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T02:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/?p=3337"},"modified":"2020-01-09T04:26:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T11:26:56","slug":"revealing-themes-in-feminine-modesty-a-new-approach-to-modesty-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/revealing-themes-in-feminine-modesty-a-new-approach-to-modesty-series\/3337\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealing Themes in Feminine Modesty \u2013 A New Approach to Modesty Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the third post in the Modesty and Chastity Series. \u00a0Follow these links to post one<\/a> and two<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Speaking at a Women’s Conference event, Sister Claudia J. Dansie said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Part of our responsibility as parents is to guide, direct, and warn if necessary\u2026. Some topics must be covered as directly as their consequences are lethal<\/i>\u2014subjects such as modesty<\/i>, drugs, pornography, and immorality.<\/p>\n

Lethal? \u00a0Assumedly, Dansie meant spiritually lethal.\u00a0 A woman\u2019s bare shoulders expose herself to consequences with eternal implications.\u00a0 Does modesty really merit this language?<\/p>\n

Elaine S. Dalton expressed<\/a> a similarly solemn message calling modesty “the foundation stone of chastity,” explaining “it is essential to our very safety to be modest.”\u00a0 Adding to Dansie\u2019s and Dalton\u2019s severe warnings, BYU president Cecil Samuelson explained<\/a> that dressing immodesty may be as perilous as breaking the Word of Wisdom:<\/p>\n

Most of you have no problems concerning the Word of Wisdom….What we may not realize is…that what we put\u00a0on<\/i>\u00a0our bodies may be as equally corrosive and dangerous as what we might ingest\u00a0into<\/i>\u00a0our bodies. (emphasis in original)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to imagine that a woman\u2019s uncovered knees could be as dangerous as her drinking alcohol, especially since the latter has temple-worthiness implications.\u00a0 But because feminine modesty so closely connects to chastity, modesty rhetoric has adopted grave themes.
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\nDespite these\u2019 themes modern frequency, such severe language on feminine modesty can\u2019t be found in the scriptures.\u00a0 In fact, the scriptures don\u2019t connect modesty to sexual purity at all.\u00a0 When the scriptures refer to women\u2019s dress, they condemn women wearing ostentatious apparel (see 1 Timothy 2:9<\/a>), much like Brigham Young did when he discussed<\/a> modesty.\u00a0 Modern speakers often connect modesty to chastity using Genesis 3:7-11, 21<\/a> when, after Adam and Eve saw they were naked, God made them skin coats.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 While a surface reading may suggest that God\u2019s first act for the fallen Adam and Eve was to dress them in something modest, this interpretation has problems.\u00a0 Was God worried that Adam would get impure thoughts seeing a naked Eve?\u00a0 Was modesty God\u2019s first concern after Adam and Eve sinned?\u00a0 The Genesis 3 story has multiple other interpretations, none of which have to twist in some awkward directions to give feasible answers to these questions.\u00a0 For example, one commentator suggested<\/a> that nakedness symbolized Adam and Eve\u2019s sin, and God rejected their attempts to fix their sins on their own.\u00a0 Only God can cover our sins.\u00a0 Not only does this interpretation comfortably include all the components to the story (i.e. why would God make Adam and Eve skin coats when the fig leaf covering, while flimsy, already made them modest?), but also it fits with the thematic symbolism of the Fall.\u00a0 Other interpretations, of varying quality, also avoid the awkward questions raised by the modesty reading.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Although feminine modesty lacks a scriptural basis, studies link immodest, provocative dress to negative mental and social benefits.\u00a0 An APA report showed <\/a>that girls who dress immodestly could be victims of self-sexualizing, a result of internalizing sexualizing media.\u00a0 Studies connect self-sexualization to an increased likelihood of eating disorders, low-self esteem, depression, smoking, and accepting teen date violence among girls.\u00a0 Self-sexualizing women have higher incidents of plastic surgery (a sign of a low body-image), and a harder time advancing in careers.\u00a0 In terms of sexuality, teen girls who self-sexualize have less sexual assertiveness, meaning they are less likely to say no to sexual encounters, including ones they don\u2019t want.<\/p>\n

Importantly, self-sexualization goes beyond fabric dimensions.\u00a0 Even a few church speakers have noted<\/a> this, pointing out, for example, that a girl can dress modestly but still be sexually provocative.\u00a0 Utah-based modest clothing stores, such as American Fork\u2019s Sexy Modest Boutique<\/i><\/a> may be symptomatic of a culture that has sexualized modesty. \u00a0The same goes for phrases like \u201cmodest is hottest\u201d.\u00a0 As I discussed last time, feminine modesty incorporates an acceptance of judging women\u2019s sexual attitudes by their clothing.\u00a0 If modesty rhetoric doesn\u2019t sexualize women, it still objectifies them by equating appearance to sexual attitude.\u00a0 Utah\u2019s high rate of female depression<\/a> and plastic surgery<\/a> may suggest that the heavy emphasis on modest dress doesn\u2019t block the side effects of self-sexualization.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Even if feminine modesty corrects for some of the negative aspects of self-sexualization, we should consider the negative costs that we can more easily verify.<\/p>\n

Church resources, especially the New Era, praise instances where young men shun immodestly dressed young women.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to see how these stories get treated so positively.\u00a0 Youth learn from modesty rhetoric that immodest dress leads to immoral sex.\u00a0 They learn from other sources to choose friends who uphold their standards.\u00a0 We then get stories idealizing<\/a> comments such as this:<\/p>\n

One comment from a priest spelled out what most of the young men seemed to feel. He said, \u201cThere\u2019s a line between suggestive and attractive. A lot of young women try to play the line, not just in their clothes, but in their makeup and attitude, too. It\u2019s unattractive when they look suggestive and act stuck up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tragically, what this young man misses is that these girls immodest dress, makeup, and stuck up attitude are probably linked, bridged by low self-esteem issues that positive peer influences could change.\u00a0 But young men get highlighted<\/a> for taking a different attitude:<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t respect girls who dress immodestly.\u201d Another said, \u201cI don\u2019t care about girls who dress like that [in revealing clothes].\u201d
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These attitudes don\u2019t end with the teenage years.\u00a0 In a Mormon Channel podcast featuring a youth panel on modesty, one young woman described<\/a> her older brother as a college freshman who went on a four couples date (go to about minute seven).\u00a0 The young women dressed immodestly for the date.\u00a0 After a while, the four young men decided to leave the date.\u00a0 Because the girls were confused by their decision, the young men explained that they weren\u2019t comfortable being around them dressed as they were.\u00a0 By passively allowing, and in some ways encouraging, young men to shun young women for their clothing choices, we ought to consider if we aren\u2019t reinforcing un-Christlike patterns in priesthood holders\u2019 behaviors?\u00a0 Applying feminine modesty might not only cause women harm; it could be stunting the spiritual development of men.<\/p>\n

Of course, the problems associated with judging a girl by her dress and praising men who shun immodest girls go away if all women would just dress modestly.\u00a0 But how could we ever justify the message, \u201cdress modestly so that Mormon men won\u2019t assume you\u2019re sexually active and shun you as a bad influence\u201d?\u00a0 Modesty speakers may not intend to send this message, but the repeated themes that guide modesty rhetoric make this message perfectly feasible.<\/p>\n

In these last two posts I’ve summarized some of the aspects of feminine modesty that are at best undesirable and at worst contribute to objectifying women. \u00a0As I pointed out, feminine modesty doesn\u2019t come from the scriptures, which begs the question, where does it come from?\u00a0 In the next post, I\u2019ll give a very brief history describing the origins of feminine modesty in western civilization. \u00a0This will provide the proper context to rethink what we mean by the word modesty. \u00a0There should be a few surprises for everyone.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a>\u00a0For example, see here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0Another commentator suggests<\/a> that Adam and Eve were originally coated with light, and seeing their nakedness indicated to them that they had fallen.\u00a0 So God gave them a material covering to match their new state. \u00a0Other commentators believed that the animal coats symbolized flesh, which came with being mortal.\u00a0 Finally, medievalists, following the Greek philosophers, saw clothing as a symbol indicating that mankind is different from savage beasts.\u00a0 God clothed Adam and Eve to set them apart from the other animals (with shame I admit I don\u2019t have the reference I got this idea from).<\/p>\n

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[3]<\/a> There are other explanations for both of these statistics.\u00a0 For example, the high plastic surgery<\/a> ratio may be partially because Utah offers cheaper services than other states, and is therefore an ideal travel location for cosmetic surgery. \u00a0Depression<\/a> could be an effect of a culture that expects perfection among Latter-day Saint women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n