In the modern era modesty began its decline in the mid-nineteenth century. The rise of the burlesque show in the 1840's began as the entertainment genre for the lower classes, for the purpose of making fun of (“burlesquing”) the habits of the upper class, such as wearing modest, long dresses. What began as class warfare on the upper class' modest dresses; over the next couple of decades became an expression of bawdiness for all classes. Today in Akron
The immense success of “The Black Crook” in 1866 proved that American audiences were ready to pay to be stimulated by the absence of modest clothing for women. The plot of this colossal hit was completely mindless, but the producers made sure that audiences were distracted by women parading on stage in flesh colored tights, taunting modest standards of dress.
The
march from the modest dress of
the Victorian era overtook society through the “gay nineties” and into the
“roaring twenties”. The race away from modest clothing slowed somewhat from
1930 up to the 1960's. But the 1960's elevated new thought processes. In the
19th century, and through the 1920's people were titillated by participating in
what they knew to be bad behavior. In the 1960's our youth actually believed
that systems of morality governing modest dress were formulated by the elite to
oppress the lower classes. They genuinely believed that individuals had the
right and ability to determine for himself whether to wear modest clothing or
no clothing at all.
It
is piteous how quickly the upper class was willing to give up standards of
modest dress when the lower classes declared war on modesty. Today the only
standard of the elite is the individual's right and ability to develop his own
criterion concerning modest dress. I believe it's time to declare war on this
“nonstandard” that denies the freeing beauty of women, and especially teen
girls wearing modest dresses clothing.
Writing
about early America
To reclaim modesty as a fixed
standard today's modest woman must throw off the thinking of the 1960's which
has oppressed women for nearly fifty years. Live Christian dogmas because you
believe that they free women to dress in modest clothing. If you have any
doubts about the freeing power of God's law consider this fact: theologians
count a little over 600 laws in scripture, but congress passes thousands of
bills every year. Women, teens, girls, adorn yourselves in modest clothing;
avoid giving “universal consent” to oppressive “dogmas”.
3 comments:
This is an area in which the professing church has truly lost its way. It is a perfect picture, although a picture it would have been best to not have been painted, of what happens when man takes the idea of liberty to nullify God’s word, maybe not in word but obviously in deed.
Talk about modesty in today’s professing church and you will be labeled a legalist. But then again those that decry the notion of modestly and cry legalism to those that do are the true legalists since they are seeking to impose “their” law instead of God’s.
I fully agree with this article and the first comment. I a young Christian men living in the begenning of the 21st century, I got used to undecently clothed women. Or to be more precise, I developped a rejection reflex to it.
So it becomes strange when I interact with Christian ladies my age : what I would normally consider as ungodly Gospel-ignoring girls are, well, my "systers" going around with their Bibles. It gives me a strange and baffling sentiment every time.
Christian girls in our time think that if they dress somewhat more decently than the masses of pagans girl do, then they're okay. But no. Postmodern society is not the standard from wich we ought to judge ourselves.
I'm sure not all "Christian" girls that dress unmodestly don't actually do it to be sexually attractive to men. They either just fallow the trend and don't realise their sin, or even feel a pressure within the Church and Christan circles to be sexy. And that is certainly something to worry about.
Preach!
Post a Comment