So I've decided to post about something that has been on my mind a lot as of late:
MODESTY
My dear sweet mother is the Stake Young Womens president, and she just finished putting on a fashion show and question panel for Standards night for all the young women of her stake. The young women were invited to submit anonymous questions to be answered by a panel of the Stake Young Women Presidency and a member of the Stake Presidency. In an effort to give members of the panel as much time as possible to research, pray about, and formulate their answers, my mom divided up the questions on the preceding sunday, and I was her "special consultant". I was quite surprised by how many of the questions submitted were about dress standards. I mean, was this not a topic that had been clearly outlined in the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet published by the church? I attributed many of the questions to the lack of clarity in some aspects, or confusion generated by the outside media. We decided that perhaps my mom would read what had been written in the "For the Strength of Youth" directly to the young women, that way there would be no ambiguity.
Moving on... I was just in BYU territory this evening, and was a little shocked at how many of the young women wear clothing that is so obviously contradictory to the honor code -- which they all signed so they could attend BYU! Maybe their thoughts were "Well, I'm not on campus, so I don't have to dress that way, right?" Ummm... wrong. That may sound a bit harsh of me, but I remember very clearly the day I read through and signed the honor code for the first time all those years ago. Let me show you what I saw:
"By accepting appointment on the faculty, continuing in employment, or continuing class enrollment, individuals evidence their commitment to observe the Honor Code standards approved by the Board of Trustees "at all times and . . . in all places" (Mosiah 18:9)."
That certainly doesn't leave any room for ambiguity in my mind. So, why do these young women feel the honor code only applies to them on campus? Maybe they didn't read through the honor code before signing it? I realize it may be a big adjustment for some, and I don't want to seem overly strict or anything, but I am honestly curious. If you have any ideas, please share! I know my commitment to abide by that standard made it so much easier for me once I went through the temple. I really didn't have to modify my wardrobe. In fact, I don't think I really needed to get rid of any of my clothing, although I am sure I did... I'm not very good at de-cluttering my "clothing collection". (Anybody have any good suggestions at how to be better?)
Also, those of you who have been in public locations with me may have noticed my intrigue with what different people consider appropriate attire in various settings. For example, the other day I was at the mall looking for an outfit for family pictures (which I will post as soon as I get a copy), and I noticed a few different groups of girls that looked as though they had literally just rolled out of bed (e.g. messy hair in sloppy buns that looked as though they hadn't brushed it, and sweats or pjs). The best part? They were shopping for clothing. Perhaps they didn't have any real clothes to wear, or they didn't have access to laundry facilities so they had to buy new clothes to wear but only had sweats to wear to the mall to buy those new clothes. I suppose that's always a possibility. I guess I just feel like people should want to look good when they go out in public. Especially when you know you will be seen by others. That being said, I'm also a major violator myself! I will openly admit to having worn my scrubs to the store or the mall etc. I have also worn my pjs in public on a very rare occasion. Again, why do we do this? I wish I understood the mentality behind it all. Have we really become that relaxed to be so lazy as to not get dressed to go out in public? What on earth would our ancestors think of us? Now that would be a terribly amusing encounter to observe. Having admitted this, I am going to challenge myself and all of you out there to make a little more effort to make ourselves more presentable when going out in public.... well, at least maybe doing my hair or wearing makeup would be a start, right? ;)
Okay, no more rant. I promise fun and pictures next time!
I had a discussion with a group of friends recently about modesty. Specifically, we were talking about women wearing short skirts or dresses, but with leggings to cover their garments. In the middle of participating in this quite judgemental conversation, I was struck with the thought that maybe these women feel they ARE being modest. Maybe they see wearing leggings as the equivalent of wearing a Modbe shirt under a sleeveless or low-cut dress. Here I was judging them, and they were probably proud of themselves for doing the best they could to make the current styles "modest". How were they to know that they would have been turned away for wearing such an outfit to the BYU testing center? Anyway, I ended up feeling really guilty for how self-righteous I had been! Modesty is somewhat a matter of perspective (although I would never point that out to a group of YW, for fear they would take it the wrong way). Would my great great grandmother be shocked at the knee-length dress I wore to church on Sunday? Maybe. But to me, it's modest.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, I liked your rant. It's an interesting topic! I'm glad I found your blog.
Thanks Shayla! I'm glad I'm not the only one who wonders about these things, and I really appreciate you sharing your insight into it. I think it's important to try and think of things from someone else's viewpoint every once in a while to keep ourselves "in check". And, there's nothing more fascinating to me than the human psyche. I'm also glad you found my blog interesting, hopefully I'll be updating it soon with some fun craft projects.... if I actually get any finished! :)
ReplyDelete