Every woman knows the struggle of getting ready in the morning. Every woman knows the relief of finding the perfect outfit. Every woman knows the boost of confidence that accompanies the compliments of her friends. What every woman does not know is that the outfit which makes her feel the cutest may not always be the most modestly beautiful.
In today’s society, the standard of what is appropriate for women to wear publicly has evolved into booty shorts, crop tops, and the occasional “free the nip.” This should not be the standard for women of western civilization and, more importantly, of Hillsdale College.
The cultural standard of what is appropriate for a woman to wear in public has been lowered to accommodate apparel that is the “truest expression of one’s self.” Because of our flawed human nature, this “truest expression” often results in obscene horrors of dress that result in immodesty. The lowering of this standard is due to not only immodesty in the female fashion industry, but also a change in cultural values. Today, beauty no longer gives shape to pleasure; instead, pleasure gives shape to beauty. With so few looking to beauty for instruction, modesty has lost its appeal.
A woman’s sense of modesty has an indispensable role in shaping the way the world views human sexuality. In Karol Wojtyla’s, who became Pope John Paul II, book “Love and Responsibility,” he defines modesty as the “constant eagerness to avoid what is shameless,” lest a person is reduced “to the role of an object for enjoyment.” Modesty has a much more potent effect on society than most people realize, the humanizing nature of modesty powerful enough to keep sexual desire free from perversion. By celebrating femininity and preserving masculinity, modesty dignifies man and humanizes sexuality.
The woman whose sexual maturity is made manifest in her modesty has chosen to separate herself from the realm of sexual appetite. A modest woman is a thing of beauty because she does not provoke base sexual desire divorced from virtue and love. She should cover up what is most likely to provoke sexual desire, leaving that which is hidden as a mystery. The modest woman is a paragon of beauty because she introduces order into the world of sexual values by measuring herself against beauty and striving to match its ideals through imitation.
In many cases, a woman’s lack of modesty is not entirely her fault.
Wojtyla connects a woman’s strong orientation toward emotion with her inability to see how immodesty obscures others’ perception of her as a person. “But this very trait in her mentality may in a certain sense make modesty more difficult for her,” Wojtyla says. “For since a woman does not find in herself the sensuality of which a man as a rule cannot but be aware of in himself she does not feel so great a need to conceal ‘the body as an object of enjoyment.’”
The lesson to take from this, ladies, is that even though you might not think that outfit is immodest, next time, instead of having your roommate double check the length of your skirt, return to the time-tested tradition of asking yourself the question, “What Would Jesus Do?”
If you can’t imagine showing up to the gates of heaven in it, don’t show up to class in it either.