Who Are You to Tell Me How to Dress?
I couldn’t agree more. The Puerto Rican in me with a strong willed personality hates the idea of being told what to do, even if it’s right. I prefer to make my own decisions, and not be held captive to someone else’s standards of what they think I should do.
When it comes to modesty it isn’t as simple as a list of clothing items that can’t be worn; it’s much more multifaceted than that. In order to better understand why dressing modestly is so vital not just for men but for women as well, let’s take a look into the history of what has stemmed from the modesty movement.
When it comes to the modesty movement many women see it as an attempt to control women, and take away freedom to dress however she desires. When it comes to all the ways we as women have unfortunately had our freedom taken away from us, a natural response is an attempt to take that power back. What we’ve seen is woman’s rejection of the modesty movement and instead taking on the anthem of “If I’m proud of my body, I should be able to show it off as I please”. Being proud of your body is a beautiful thing that unfortunately many women in the world don’t experience. I’m sure we know the narrative of many women who look in the mirror and reject their body out of disgust. They are incapable of seeing the beauty of their body just because it may not meet the standards of pop culture. When it comes to being proud of your body and rejecting the modesty movement, we often think this is seen as empowerment. We believe that in dressing in a way that shows off the best parts of our bodies we are empowering ourselves in body positivity. While there is a beauty in knowing our bodies are good because DANG IT they were created good, we are actually setting ourselves back as women in terms of empowerment.
What do I mean by setting ourselves back in terms of empowerment? Let’s break it down. If I were to personally be fed up with this idea of the modesty movements and feel entitled to dress how I please since I know my body is good, I might feel inclined to dress in a way that compliments my body. Knowing how well my body looks in certain clothes I decide to wear a tight pair of pants that accentuate my butt and a form fitting crop top that shows how toned my torso is due to my rigorous workout. I wear this because I recognize how nice my body looks and I’m not ashamed to show it and feel I have a right to show off what is MY body. As I decide to go downtown I’ve noticed I am being catcalled by a car of men driving by and as I am passing by two men walking past me I notice their eye gaze go down then up. I’m noticing all the attention I’m getting due to what I’m wearing, yet why do I feel so uncomfortable?
The reason why I feel uncomfortable is because in the eyes of those men (not all men) I am seen as parts of my body, and not for my whole personhood. I’m not being given the decency of being looking in the eyes, because the first thing drawing them in is my body. I’m robbing those who encounter me of the gift of seeing ALL of me. One might say, “Genesis it’s not my fault men lust after women” and to which I say, “yeah you’re right”. It ultimately is up to the man to live out of virtue and see women as a gift regardless of what they wear. However, we as women play a pivotal role in encouraging men to view us in our personhood and that begins with our dress. When we leave a conversation, how we are remembered shouldn’t be for our amazing butt, or how amazing of a figure we have, but our smile, our laughter, the ways we light up the room. When we choose to dress immodestly we rob ourselves of the gift of our whole personhood being seen and received. Instead we dwindle ourselves to parts. Ladies, we are more than our body. We have an amazing heart, amazing mind, and we have something unique to offer the world.
By dressing immodestly in an attempt to gain back power, we actually rob ourselves of our own power. We let ourselves be seen as an object, as something to lust after. The ways we dress should say, “Look at ME. Not for what I have to offer physically, but for who I am. See me beyond my body, see me for my personhood”. We can do this, women! And doing so doesn’t mean our rights have been taken away. This empowers us even more, and calls men on.
