Saturday, June 19, 2010

modesty

say you are wearing a sexy white bikini top. really sexy, lots and lots of dd clevage, but you are wearing knee length board shorts, but those board shorts have such a low rise that you can judge for an almost certainty when the last bikini wax was done.
its not my intention to get all judge-y judge-y here, but i just saw a ton of pix from a sa activity at the lake. one girl was wearing a 1 piece swimsuit, but every other girl was wearing a bikini. there were some shots taken that seem to duplicate some beer advertising posters i have seen.
sigh.
tell me what you think. do we play fast and loose with modesty? does throwing a pair of board shorts on or a sheer cover up make a completely immodest bathing suit modest? does it matter? am i being a prude?

13 comments:

  1. Ah, Modesty...

    I know a lot of girls who think modesty means no less than Knee shorts, Necklines at the neck, and sleeves to the mid-upper-arm. My opinion? Shorter shorts and a tank-top never killed anyone.

    True, there's a point where a lack of modesty makes you look skank-a-licious but at the same time, showing a bit of thigh, or shoulder, or even a bit of collar bone is safe these days.

    I hear a lot of girls say that you want to dress modestly because otherwise you're putting bad thoughts in our heads. Because of this they've created all the lines your clothes need to reach to.

    To be completely honest, the sight that gets me distracted is pretty common, it's that centimeter think line of midriff you see when girls reach or lean, where the t-shirt separates from the shorts. It's not like that's exactly an immodest thing, but I think it catches my eye because it's like I'm catching a peek of something I'm not supposed to see! haha

    I think it's desensitization, like you said, we see bikini clad women in advertisements and TV every single day. I think modesty is just one of those things that are in the eye of the beholder.

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  2. I don't have an opinion on the "prude" thing, but I think you've got a great point. But I'm hesitant to go much further along those lines -- I've had some serious slap-downs on fMh in modesty threads -- but I don't see anything judge-y here in an inappropriate way.

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  3. No, not a prude. Modesty is important and is one of those standards that seem to slide every year. We have a little beach near our house on a lake. Last summer I was there with my children and counted 56 girls between the ages of 10 and 20. Every single one was in a bikini.

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  4. Not a prude... just unhappy with the lack of obedience, and understanding that some people manifest. Be grateful your understanding of this gospel principle is on a higher level.

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  5. Ummm, no! Board shorts don't make a bikini modest. From the start it is an immodest bathing suit. I have a tankini... But, I have worn it in front of my bishop and felt modest doing it. If those women associate beach play as an excuse for flashing their goodies, they need to speak with their priesthood leaders... and seek out psychiatric help, as they must have some sort of Pavlovian response. Beach-bikini...

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  6. thanks for the support! i am glad i am not the only one who thinks this way. i really dont like to judge women on modesty. we all have our own points of view and our free agency, but sometimes...its just so painfully obvious that something just aint right!
    by comparison i find women who take modesty to almost amish standards very silly. then again, to each their own.

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  7. I too have wondered where modesty has gone in the church. I remember it being drilled into us when I was in YW and now, its the exception to see girls and even women in a one piece suit. I don't understand it myself.

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  8. woasm: my mother definitely thought that short shorts and tank tops would kill me. probably because SHE would kill me if i wore them. tank tops came in style my senior year and i was only allowed to wear them if i had another shirt over it. no bikinis. she complained about tight jeans, but didnt set any rules about those. i started rebelling on the tank top issue after i graduated from high school, but not too much. i also went shopping for a bikini, but between the modesty cops screaming in my ear and my own issues trying to find one that looked good-i never got one.

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  9. I wear bikinis when I go to the beach. I know I'm not supposed to, but I do it anyway. I'm pretty sure it's not modest, but I don't really care.
    Would I wear a bikini to a ysa activity? Nope. Guess I'm a hypocrite but that just seems totally inapprops to me. Aside from the fact that I know everyone would be silently (and not so silently in my ward)judging.. I wouldn't want to be making priesthood holders have trouble controlling their thoughts. I figure when I'm in the big bad world, most of the dudes have seen worse.
    Am I modest the other 99% of the time? Yes.
    Hell for me??

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  10. Girl 101.... We're friends. :) I'm exactly the same way. I agree that bikinis aren't necessarily good. It does, however, bother me a bit that people get super into this issue - I'm in no way unwilling to believe that there has been First Presidency coverage on this one, but if there has, I've never heard it. I've never heard one single quote from a general authority denouncing bikinis as of the devil. You could dismiss that under the heading of "so obvious we didn't feel it needed to be said," but we talk up the law of Chastity all the time and that one's old hat these days. See what I mean? You're welcome to your opinion, but I think that there are plenty of ways that get you to hell a whole lot faster than wearing a bikini.

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  11. i think we can all be assured that NO ONE is going to hell for wearing a bikini. ms. cant shut up made some interesting points on her blog: http://overflowingopinions.blogspot.com/
    i think this issue falls under the "treat them correct principals and let them govern themselves." we can all choose for ourselves, but we all seem to know who is wearing what swimsuit for what purpose. to be cute and comfortable at the beach or to get as many double takes from the guys? the girl i was referring to in my post- i would be willing to bet a million bucks it was the latter. tankinis and even some more traditional bikinis can be modest, you dont have to be covered head to toe at the beach to be modest.
    jennvan makes a good point-are they teaching modesty as much in young womens? i know the leaders in my ward set a really good example being super cute and modest all at the same time. the girls seem to be following their example.

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  12. Hi! Speaking of modesty... I thought you might be interested in sharing a fun music video my family and I made about modesty. Here is the link to the video: http://youtu.be/UXzWNQT1cJk . My husband and some friends wrote the song as a means to communicating the sensitive subject of modesty to a show choir at the University of Utah's Institute of Religion some years ago. It was a big hit and we feel like it might help young women to get the message. Thanks, enjoy!

    Brittany

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  13. that was great! thanks for sharing it. :)

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