Modern Modesty That Is Biblically Based

I seemed to have come down with a sore throat yesterday. It pretty much had me scarfing down cough drops and laying in bed for the night. Unfortunately, this kept me from doing any reading and thus a blog post for today. So this is kind of a quick write up while I have some downtime at work. Hopefully this sore throat will calm down and I'll be able to resume our regularly scheduled blog on Friday. If not, I may just do another write up on a video or news story. :)

So, instead of Jeremiah, I present to you a video about women dressing modesty. I'll give 20 bucks to whomever can watch it without their jaw hitting the floor. Or without throwing your computer across the room. Or without barfing. Seriously, his tone of voice alone makes me want to reach through my screen and smack him in the face.



So, ladies, remember! You aren't allowed to dress the way you want because it totally affects those poor men and their uncontrollable boners! You should constantly think about those poor, poor men and how everything you do completely affects them and how they have no ability to keep themselves in check. Even that small sliver of belly, ladies!

If you can't find clothes that fit because, heaven forbid, you have a body type that most clothes designers do not create for (ie. naturally large breasts, long torsos/legs, etc) so that clothing just doesn't fit you very well it doesn't matter! Think about what you are doing to those poor, helpless men. And us women don't even realize we're doing it! I mean, the man has to sit everyone down and basically hand feed us this patronizing, condescending information like we're fucking children.

Of course the worst part is this is all completely supported by the Bible (if you require more links than that just look through the "tricksters" posts or any of the rest of Proverbs), this view that it is women who tempt men into lust and death, not the men who lead themselves into sin. Again, I reiterate the reasons that I started this blog. While the Bible may not be the end all be all reason for why sexism in our present day is so persistent, this kind of shit does not help. These pastors who are (for the most part) blindly followed by people who view him as inspired and led by God, their words have an impact. And since their words and teachings come from the Bible, the Bible has an impact. The people who listen to this sermon, the people who believe that this is in fact God's word, now have these ideas implanted in their minds as some sort of inherent truth of the world. Women are the downfall of men, women lead men to lust and sin, so it is women who need to change their behaviors in order to keep themselves and men safe and godly. No action is required on the part of the men, oh no, they apparently have their hands full just trying to keep themselves from staring at a woman's cleavage, they couldn't POSSIBLY spend any more energy to actually change the underlying sexism in their actions and thoughts.

The sexism in the Bible is still influencing our world today, even if it is just in the pews. With a majority of the US (and the world) being religious, an influence in the pews is a BIG influence on the world. These men are now more likely to go home and start throwing away their daughters' (or wives') "immodest" clothes, or to start yelling at and punishing (or perhaps beating) them if they do not continue to follow his new strict dress code. They are more likely to view the women around them who don't dress "modestly" as lesser-than, as whores who are walking around trying their best to lead them off the path of righteousness and into hell. Even if it's just a small change in their views, these ideas will effect every woman around them. All women will be shoved into a "whore" or "virgin" box. Those who are "whores" do not deserve the same treatment and respect as "virgins". "Whores" were implicit in their rapes. "Whores" had some fault in their beating or murder. "Whores" are sleeping their way to the top and do not deserve respect for any position of power they hold. "Whores" are not marriage material or a woman to bring home to the parents but instead they can be used and tossed aside without any guilt. After all, if they choose to be a "whore" then they have to live with the consequences, right?

Well I got a better idea, asshole, how about you put down your Bible and take a real good look around. How about, instead of addressing the ladies, you address the men who feel it is perfectly okay to sit there and treat women as pieces of meat. As nothing but boobs and butts and legs and lips and stomachs for them to dissect and ingest as they see fit. Maybe because you and other men seem completely incapable of viewing women as individual people with feelings and ideas and dreams and desires of their own is the reason why you and other men seem so incapable of treating them as human beings. Maybe you should speak with the men who sit around and create those sexy ads, those sexy video game characters, and those sexy tv characters. The men who create the dehumanizing porn that celebrates violence against women and hold up women as objects for men to use, abuse and discard. The men who stand in front of congregations that give sermons in a slow, quiet, warning tone about how women are turning men away from God and down a path of death.

How about instead of blaming women, dehumanizing women or only showing/viewing women as sex objects, these women who have little power in this patriarchy we live in, you look at yourself and all the other men in power and see exactly who is to blame for this male mental shortcoming. Because maybe once you and other men stop viewing women as objects for you to own and fuck and abuse, you'll see that sermons like this become needless. Once these women stop being YOUR sisters, wives, daughters, and instead become their own people, you will stop "instinctively" treating them as property and objects only meant to arouse you. Dog willing, maybe you'll be able to ignore those boobs and instead engage with the person inside the skin.

I'm sure you'll find a person who is far more complex than a pair of heels.

This video is pretty much presented without comment (embedding is disabled on it so you'll have to watch it on Youtube). I am unsure how I feel about this video. I mean, it's nice that a bunch of men are stepping up and owning to the sexism and oppression that woman have faced throughout the ages. And it's nice that they seem to be making a choice to try and change these forces in their life. But I still kind of get a sense of othering from this video, more like they are trying to place us up on a pedestal and less that they are trying to view us as humans and individuals. And othering, even if it's trying to be POSITIVE and reverent, is still never really a good thing. I don't know, I'm gonna have to digest this for a little while. Any thoughts on it are welcome here, I'm interested to hear what others think about it.