Sometimes I get so frustrated with human beings that I decide to give up on people for a while and only associate with fictional characters (kidding. ...mostly).
Modesty.
I actually really like modesty as a principle. I don't understand why people have to make it all misogynistic and awful. Look, modesty is not about clothes or lack of clothes. Modesty is saying "my body is not the most important thing about me." Modesty is saying "I'm worthy of attention for who I am not what I look like." So "modest is the hottest" actually completely undermines the value of the principle. As is "help our Christian brothers."
Modesty isn't a favor a woman does for a man. Modesty is sticking it to the messed up patriarchy we live in where a woman is first assessed aesthetically. Modesty should train you to rely on the inherent value of being a divine creation. I care if I'm compassionate. I care if I'm intelligent. I care if I'm creative. Sexy is irrelevant because I'm a fantastically interesting human being and that's all that should matter. That is the point of modesty. Getting into the specifics of inseam and shoulder coverage is a distraction.
And blaming a woman's dress for a man's lust, especially when those clothes easily fall within the realm of normal apparel... well, I think this video pretty much covers my opinion on that front.
Keep it classy,
Stephanie
P.S.
ravishing- adj. a very threatening compliment. Just putting that out there.
Did you like the article about the new Pope being a great example of modesty in how he lives his life? I agree. But what do you mean by messed up patriarchy?
ReplyDeleteI mean that we live in a male-gaze oriented world. We get stupid messages like "strong is beautiful" because apparently strong isn't a virtue on its own. It's socially acceptable to have "hot or not" discussions about women regardless of their expertise or profession. That sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when people say "ravishing." I'm like, "Do you even know what you're saying?!" *shudder*
ReplyDelete