So here is one conviction I have that I don't walk out. I think the skirt people are right. The Duggars and others like them that have girls wear skirts and boys wear pants, I think they are on to something.
Think about it. When a woman has on a skirt, you can easily tell she is a woman. You don't have to glance at the anatomical differences to make that assessment. But when we women have on jeans, t-shirts and especially when we have short hair, we sort of give permission to people to look further at our backsides or fronts to decide what equipment we have. Certainly hairstyle and the presence of makeup are also clues, but you see what I'm saying.
I, however, mostly wear jeans and t-shirts, and have been known to have boy-short hair. I do not require skirts of my girls. I let them wear them (and if they're too little to keep their legs together consistantly, I usually have them wear shorts under) but I don't really push either way.
What I do insist on with clothing (or try to) is that what we wear doesn't draw attention away from our faces and toward our bosoms. Things that have a stripe or words or sequins strategically placed with the goal of drawing the eyes to that zone don't make the cut here.
And yes, it is a goal. The people who design clothing, for the most part, are not concerned with modesty. In fact, they know, and make a living off of it, that sex sells. Their goal is to draw attention to the very parts I want clothing to protect and cover up. It is deliberate. Don't believe for a minute it isn't.
And don't believe for a minute that their efforts are in vain. I heard a small group of late teen/twenties guys talking in a hair salon one day. I was, apparently, invisible, either because of the large baby bump I was sporting, or my less than sexy persona, gray hair, no makeup. Or maybe they didn't even care. But they were talking about how happy they were that it was summer and that girls were wearing less, and how glad they were that the pants were being worn with low waists these days. Lust run amuck. They do notice.
And not just creepy guys. Godly men. Fathers and brothers and friends husbands have eyes and hormones. God made them to be attracted to their spouse, at the right time. God did not make them to withstand constant visual temptation, a cultural bombardment against a pure heart.
So we don't keep pants with words or other stuff on the butts. We don't keep things that look like you have underwear showing (lacy camisoles that do cover cleavage but also draw the eye to the lacy neckline), or garments causing you to have underwear actually showing (tank tops). We don't keep low necklines on hand. Anything we have to fight with to keep straps or unders covered up finds it's way to goodwill.
No short shorts, no short skirts, no skorts (which often make it look like a girl has on a much shorter skirt than she would normally wear; yes, there are shorts built in, but do you really want anyone close enough to figure that out? the fact that the shorts are there only really makes her seem less modest because she will act like she has shorts on but looks like she is wearing a skirt), no low rise pants that let people figure out where your butt dimples are if they are sitting behind you in church, God forbid.
All of this makes us, well, unfashionable. That and the fact that most of our clothing comes in big black trash bags. We are hand-me-down central. I have people giving me clothes that don't even know me. Friends of friends. And we go through, throw out the leopard skin and the figure enhancing clothing, and hang on to the plain clothes that cover our bodies and don't draw attention away from our faces.
It is an on-going process. We weed things out constantly. And not just the kids stuff. I regularly have to pitch a favorite shirt because I realize I'm losing an argument with my bra strap every time I wear it or because it is the kind of shirt a small child is going to cause to migrate every time I hold a small human.
So, we're not skirt people, but we're trying to be weird like them without actually wearing the skirts.
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