By Deborah
Take a look at this newspaper lead from the Deseret News. It’s an innocuous article about one of the (increasingly commen?) modesty fashion shows in LDS circles.
But this sentence is truly a gem. Examine it logically, culturally, rhetorically, symbolically . . . can you improve upon it?
“When Kelsey Hiskey walked down the runway last week dressed in her white, ruffled wedding dress with her fiance, Jared Glenn, the point of the faith-based fashion show was clear: when young women wear modest attire through their teen years, they are creating a pathway to their church’s temple marriage.”
Okay, I’m done being irreverent. Back to correcting papers.
P.S. Send some prayers Tracy’s way tonight.
P.P.S. For a discussion about modesty fashion shows gone astray, check out this post at MMW.
My take:
It’s just way too much to put into one sentence. Similarly, it’s way too much to put onto one choice (the choice of clothing).
I’d rewrite it this way:
“Kelsey Hiskey walked down the runway in a white, ruffled gown, her fiance Jared Glenn by her side. The message of this modesty-fashion-show finale was clear: Modest dress is one important standard for young women who want to marry in their church’s temples.”
I’m always sad to see modesty talk ridiculed. It’s not an unimportant topic at all. But it’s also not the sole key to preparing for the temple.
I love modesty. I am obsessed with these BYU Student Honor Code posters promoting it: http://sha.byu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5230&Itemid=5609
Always good for a laugh. In the meantime, I too, am avoiding grading research papers. *Sigh*
You have no idea how very much I need them tonight. Thank you, more than I can express.
Ana: “It’s just way too much to put into one sentence. Similarly, it’s way too much to put onto one choice (the choice of clothing).”
!Bingo! Modesty, humility, prudence, wisdom = all good things. Straight line from one-piece bathing suit to happily ever after = dangerous. And worth an ounce of ribbing to keep things in perspective. Any of you read that Carl Broderick Women’s Conference talk about the “yellow brick road to the temple” YW standard’s night he attended when he was stake president? . . . I’ll see if I can find and quote from that later this evening.
Alisa: Wow! Honor code Mormonads? I had never seen those!
Tracy: (Hugs)
I picture women wearing modest clothing, beating back the jungle to create a pathway to the elusive temple hidden in the trees.
I picture a bunch of women sitting around ripping apart other women because they happen to have opinions that are a bit on the conservative side.
What I find ironic in this quote is that so many of the single LDS guys I know/knew aren’t interested in marrying the girls in the modest clothes. They are interested in the girls who have some sex appeal and/or who challenge the norms of LDS modesty. Certainly that’s a gross generalization, but it’s been my experience nonetheless.
Personally I think there are many, many important qualities that I hope my kids look for in a future spouse that have nothing to do with the cut of their clothes. The clothes seem superficial and irrelevant, IMO.
“Modesty, humility, prudence, wisdom = all good things. Straight line from one-piece bathing suit to happily ever after = dangerous.”
Deborah, amen.
My experience has been similar to Jana’s. While I was in college, the girls who dressed modestly didn’t get the dates. The girls who pushed the envelope sure did though. My still single sister still stews about this. She tries so hard to be what she thinks righteous men want her to be, only to find out that she’s mistaken (or that we’re out of righteous men). Anyway, I worry about modesty talks. I think they raise way too much fear of our bodies. Of course, I also worry about objectification talks, ’cause I think they have the same result. Either way, these girls end up completely confused about who gets to make their decisions and which authorities they should listen to.