Saturday, August 30, 2003
Over the past three years of my life as a female teenager I’ve done a lot of thinking about clothes. Of course the issue of modesty has come up here and there, mostly brought about by conflicts with my parents. I’ve done some thinking on the subject of modesty and how it is treated in society.
Even though my parents currently set the guidelines for how I dress, I’ve often wondered how to see clothing in perspective. For example if it was considered immodest for a woman to wear sleeveless shirts or shorts 100 years ago, should I consider it immodest in this day and age? If we consider that incorect, then the standard we should accept today is what society
considers correct, right? A strapless dress that reaches well above your knees should be fine then. If we can’t adhere to the standards of yesterday, and we think the standards of today are too immodest, where do you draw the line? Although the purpose of my writing this is not to define an exact standard, rather I hope you will consider what I write and draw your own conclusion.
Through out history women have been judged by what they wear (or don’t!). Look at Proverbs 7:10, “Dressed like a prostitute, and with crafty intent”. Obviously a scantily clad woman was indicating her profession. A woman with less clothes than currently accepted in society was always considered ‘loose’, or ‘wild’. She was never held up to be praised in society, rather she was condemned as one to not associate with. However, if you look at the trend in the past 80 years or so, starting around the 1920s, you will notice more and more tollerance towards women with less clothing. Stick an average dressed woman of today in 1903 and you would have generated shock and disbelief from society. Put one on the cover of a magazine in 2003 and society doesn't bat an eyelash. In fact, the women
who don’t dress modestly are the only ones to get on the front of a magazine. Once in a long while I notice one that actually has a modestly dressed woman on the front, but very rarely. On TV you see women barely dressed, in the movies, on CD covers - all held up as characters for this generation to look up to: thus you see the trend is no longer to condemn the woman scantily dressed, but rather to praise her!
So what’s wrong with just accepting the current mode of dress and supporting it by wearing it? It’s portraying an image that God doesn’t like, and neither should you. Even though society may accept prostitutes, or dressing like a prostitute, God doesn’t accept it, and it’s wrong. Of course general standards change but the principles of dressing don't - "dress modestly and with propriety” 1st Timothy 2:9. Of course society’s standards of dressing modestly aren’t changing too much, but the acceptance of dressing immodestly has. No one actually considers bare backed shirts and short skirts modest, society has simply accepted the ‘prostitute’ look. Don’t be caught up by thinking you have to fit in with the rest of the world. Think about the way you dress, and how it effects others. It'll be worth it in the long run :)
Even though my parents currently set the guidelines for how I dress, I’ve often wondered how to see clothing in perspective. For example if it was considered immodest for a woman to wear sleeveless shirts or shorts 100 years ago, should I consider it immodest in this day and age? If we consider that incorect, then the standard we should accept today is what society
considers correct, right? A strapless dress that reaches well above your knees should be fine then. If we can’t adhere to the standards of yesterday, and we think the standards of today are too immodest, where do you draw the line? Although the purpose of my writing this is not to define an exact standard, rather I hope you will consider what I write and draw your own conclusion.
Through out history women have been judged by what they wear (or don’t!). Look at Proverbs 7:10, “Dressed like a prostitute, and with crafty intent”. Obviously a scantily clad woman was indicating her profession. A woman with less clothes than currently accepted in society was always considered ‘loose’, or ‘wild’. She was never held up to be praised in society, rather she was condemned as one to not associate with. However, if you look at the trend in the past 80 years or so, starting around the 1920s, you will notice more and more tollerance towards women with less clothing. Stick an average dressed woman of today in 1903 and you would have generated shock and disbelief from society. Put one on the cover of a magazine in 2003 and society doesn't bat an eyelash. In fact, the women
who don’t dress modestly are the only ones to get on the front of a magazine. Once in a long while I notice one that actually has a modestly dressed woman on the front, but very rarely. On TV you see women barely dressed, in the movies, on CD covers - all held up as characters for this generation to look up to: thus you see the trend is no longer to condemn the woman scantily dressed, but rather to praise her!
So what’s wrong with just accepting the current mode of dress and supporting it by wearing it? It’s portraying an image that God doesn’t like, and neither should you. Even though society may accept prostitutes, or dressing like a prostitute, God doesn’t accept it, and it’s wrong. Of course general standards change but the principles of dressing don't - "dress modestly and with propriety” 1st Timothy 2:9. Of course society’s standards of dressing modestly aren’t changing too much, but the acceptance of dressing immodestly has. No one actually considers bare backed shirts and short skirts modest, society has simply accepted the ‘prostitute’ look. Don’t be caught up by thinking you have to fit in with the rest of the world. Think about the way you dress, and how it effects others. It'll be worth it in the long run :)
