Monday, April 21, 2008

Modesty Defined

An older cousin was laughing about my kids' having not seen the movie, Little Mermaid. I explained that they would be saying, "Mom, she's so immodest!" every 30 seconds if I allowed them to watch it. They wouldn't enjoy it and I'm not interested in subtly teaching my sweet girls that showing off your body is something desirable.
Low cut tops and short shorts scream: "This is all I have to offer. Please like me for my breasts and cute buns." We women insult ourselves by dressing in revealing ways.

A fellow adoptive mom, Dianna, wrote this terrific article defining what is and is not modest. I hope it helps you as it has me.

And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.
1 Tim. 2:9-10

9 comments:

The Mama Behind the Story said...

It's amazing how my view on modesty has changed over the years. I took the kids to see Riverdance last summer and of course they loved all the action and music. The soloist had an amazing voice. But one group of ladies came out wearing mid-drifts and low-riders. It struck me and I immediately wanted to get my 5 year old out of there. I was actually quite taken aback and yet very proud of myself for having that radar--I didn't want her to think that showing off her body was glamorous.

Lovingmyamazinglife said...

I agree with modesty as well,and our 15 yr old daughter allthough by somes standards even jeans are not modest,she dresses well covered up,even at the beach yet still manages to look "cool" with surf board shorts and a tank type top,very hip yet totally covered,I wear the same.I am shocked to see teens and even younger wearing barely their suits.

The Herd said...

I am glad that the have started making the bathing suit skirts more visible! They are soooo nice to have over the suit and swim!
I haven't found too much of a problem finding modest ones for the girls yet, but I'm sure that will come more as they get older and the modest ones are fewer...like they were when we were teenagers--that was always a drama to find a modest one then!

Ginger said...

We buy from Fishskins.net, Gruvywear.com, and now from CWD Kids. I just got 2 suits for $12 apiece. Woo-Hoo!

mommy4 said...

I am so tired of seeing bellies hanging out! I looked for a swim suit for a trip my 12 yo was going on and boy was it hard! It drives me nuts! Thanks for the info on where you buy your suits. Plus think of all the non-sunburned backs and shoulders you'll have! ha ha ha.

Roehrman said...

I was looking at your blog and Rhyyan (my 4 yr old DD) covered the swim suit picture with her hand.

I am so glad we are showing our girls (and someday boys) what modesty looks like.

Our girls feel sorry for the immodest girls.And know a beautiful modest one when they see her.

debhmom3 said...

It's interesting, with my almost 9 year old I have never addressed the issue of modesty, yet she has always been uncomfortable in a two piece bathing suit or even a midriff baring shirt. And she hates pants on her hips. I think God made us with an internal sensor that that would not be appropriate as His creation.

MInTheGap said...

I think a lot of it has to do with what you're exposed to and when. That's why it's important to guard their innocence. Otherwise they aren't going to think that some things are wrong.

It's tough, given our culture. Like debhmom3 said, even the image that you chose to display (specifically the girl on the left) could be considered immodestly dressed and offensive.

And our kids will see it-- it's tougher than it looks being a parent. :)

Ginger said...

The image I chose was intended to show the difference between immodest (girl on left) and modest (girl on right).
I don't consider bikinis modest, regardless of age.