Modesty by definition doesn’t call attention to itself.
Published by Kyso Kisaen April 27th, 2008 in For the ladies, Godbaggery, What Patriarchy?Let’s all pause for a second to ponder this graf from Sabbotabby’s MSNBC Mormon-catwalk story
And while no one would accuse the women of making a fashion statement, the pioneer-style outfits are a rare example of how in an age of overexposure, modesty, too, can give pause.
It’s not the modesty that gives pause - if merely being covered from neck to ankle made people stop and reflect on the differences between messages sent and messages received by a woman’s outfit, I’d be a featured Rebolutionary modesty blogger. A hit-generating controversial one, since I wear fun, graphic-filled t-shirts a bit too tight. My roommate says it’s because I want people to stare at my boobs, but no one can deny that since I started flaunting it, I haven’t been called “sir.”
Anyway, the point is, plenty of women run around all day and all night dressed fairly modestly. Some of us because it’s easier, some of us because it allows us to cast judgment on all those other whores, and some because we can’t all afford the time, money and effort it takes to pull off a skanky Paris-Hilton like look; tanning and waxing and personal trainers adds up. But no one is ever given any sort of pause by this because to stand around goggling over all the sensibly-dressed women you encounter who aren’t shoving their boobs in your face is sort of like standing in the rain marveling at its wetness.
So it’s not the modesty that causes people to gawk; it’s the freakshow. It’s the use of women’s bodies as a billboard for advertising how pious your community is.
Has anyone seen a picture of an FLDS guy in all this? What do they wear?
No, the guys (who have done something wrong) are chilling at home while the women and children (who have done nothing wrong, but oh, they need PROTECTION) are taken into custody, right?
Most men cover themselves from neck to toes every day, and think nothing of it; ‘modesty’ isn’t about male bodies, is it? *le sigh*
The picture shows the women dressed very similarly to Mennonites, so I would wager that the men dress like Mennonites as well. Picture Farmer John: jeans, plaid cotton shirt, maybe suspenders and an old-fashioned hat. However, I’ll wager that this is modesty for guys. It’s just, when guys dress up we aren’t looking to show off our bodies, more of our sense of fashion. Because I am not fashionable, I don’t know what exactly this means, I wear jeans and t-shirt because it’s easy. Picture the sort of suit George Clooney would wear I guess.
Anyways, that’s what this particular month’s Crazy Texan (men) are probably wearing.
Around here, we have a strain of Mennonite where the women dress sort of similar to this, although not so Little House in the Prairie. The men, however, dress perfectly normal, although a bit crisp, like ironed jeans and whatnot. The upshot is that if you see a group of these guys, you might think they’re dressed a little off, but you wouldn’t be able to place it. However, as soon as the women join them, you’re like, “oh, Mennonites.”
When I worked at an amusement park, this drove me insane. I much preferred the Amish, who had an equally identifiable dress code for both genders.