A Cry for Modesty

I'm in the process of researching for a class which demands I give an eight to ten minute persuasive speech; because I like to take advantage of these opportunities to express what I believe in to others, I chose a topic which I know will cause a bit of consternation, however I feel it is one worth sacrificing my neck for. Although I have a reputation for saying things I shouldn't, I think this time I'm justified because by speaking up I'm 1.) potentially helping influence the future of a person's life and 2.) showing my audience that I and care for their spiritual and physical well-being. But what is my topic? Well, now that I've stoked your interest I will tell you. The topic I've chosen to discuss is the restoration of female modesty. Yes, I'm battling a beast greater than Goliath. Please God I survive.
Incredibly, within the last forty eight hours I've printed about 75 pages of material which I intend to use for this speech. I have been happily dumb-founded by the amount of material available for those who want to defend this sorely touchy subject. It's amazing how many women are fighting for this return of modesty in our society. And this is true not only among Christians. There is a beautiful twenty eight year old Jewish woman named Wendy Shalit who wrote a book called "Return to Modesty" who has become a cultural paradigm for girls who are looking for role models who possess this lost virtue. She's hysterical and her book is highly worth reading. It is full of contemporary vignettes which most girls today can associate with. She relates that from Vogue to Teen magazines, girls fight to gain the attention of boys by selling their bodies though losing their self-respect. Shalit argues that because we have lost modesty, woman are falling into one of the many cultural ills like anorexia and depression. She also explains that the increased numbers of date rape and sexual assault are not surprising when one stops to look at what women are wearing. Women think that men should keep their hands off of their bodies when they parade themselves about like pieces of meat to be devoured. What do they expect men (who are predominantly visually oriented) to do when they see her walk by with cleavage bursting from here to kingdom come? The reasoning is absurd. However, women still wonder why they are not respected. Need I explain this?
In another article by Regina Schmiedicke, she states that historically, women of nobility and class wore robes and covered their bodies from the public eye. It was the slaves who were "forced to go naked". Notice, they were forced. The concumbines were the ones who dressed in short skirts in order to advertise that they were "sexually available." Sound familiar? Is this not what woman say by their conduct and dress? If women want respect, they must dress appropriately. Cover your body and you are more likely attract those men who will look you in the eye and love you for who you are rather than those who will look at your chest or legs and love you like an animal who alone wants to satisfy his carnal nature.
I was once very immodest so I understand the reasoning behind why a lot of the girls today dress this way, but I do not excuse it. I wish someone had told me earlier in life that I dressed to attract boys who would use me for my body. Too late have many girls discovered that they lost their sacred gift of virginity because of their ignorance of the importance, beauty and holiness of female modesty.
Another beautiful point I came across regards the aspect of the sacredness of women as a species. It said that anything sacred is veiled; the tabernacle, the chalice, the physical union of a man and a woman. These veilings are meant to tell us that there is something here that is mysterious and special and therefore should not be exposed to any and everyone. Woman are sacred because they possess a secret treasure, the treasure of creating life within them. Yet women do not recognize this gift, it is not prized by society and so they waste their gift on men who will dispose of it once they're through with her. The marital union is gravely mocked by those who do not understand its value; they do not know this again because we do not speak of it enough and hence women around the globe desecrate their blessed sanctuaries which end in producing barren fruit.
I'd like to relate an occurance which happened to me that opened my eyes to the gravity of this situation. This past summer I went to Ocean City, Maryland and took a dive in the salty Atlantic which I had not done in about eight years. Swimming in the ocean (or anywhere for that matter) was something I had long forgotten because I couldn't get myself to swim around men if I was dressed immodestly. Beaches are full of immodest people and I didn't want to feel pressured into wearing a rather modest one piece bathingsuit in public (cute though it was) simply because everyone around me was dressed improperly. However, this vacation I said to heck with everyone, I'm going to swim in shorts and a tee-shirt regardless as to who laughs at me. I did just that and loved every minute of it. When I went back to my place on the sand something crossed my mind that made me realize how far removed our world is from modesty and it hit me so profoundly that I made a mental note to never forget it. What befell me was innocent but nevertheless impressionable. I got out of the water and walked up to my umbrella and sat down on my chair. I was soaking wet. I sat in the sun to dry off but the clothing was so wet that I wasn't drying as fast as I hoped I would. I brought a second shirt to wear for when I was ready to leave and thought to put it on to feel more comfortable. Then a thought crossed my mind "Do I change my shirt here or should I go to the ladies room?" Looking around me I saw girls and women dressed so close to naked they could have been and realized that even if I did change my shirt in public, the men would have so much to feast their eyes upon I would probably go unnoticed. This little event made me recognize the depth of this moral problem in our culture. But more significantly, I realized that there exists a dangerous slippery slope for modest women who find themselves in these situations. It is so easy for women to rationalize subtle immodest behavior simply because other women dress more immodest than themselves. How dangerous it is; how careful we must be not to fall into this trap.
If I ever told this story to any secular person they would probably think me puritanical, but that would merely reinforce the point I want to make. We have lost our sense of the sacredness of the body and look at where we are because of it. Modest women need to rally for the restoration of modesty among other woman for to do so is to truly love womanhood. Sorry femi-nazi's, but only through true chaste modest female conduct will men treat us with the honor and respect we deserve. We must educate people by explaining to them the dire consequences of this grave social evil. The healthy future of marriages, families and thus of our nation are threatened by the immorality of immodesty. Are we really willing to take that chance? I'm not. Let's pray more young women hear our cry for modesty and come to love her for the beautiful gift she is, and lets pray that the little stone I throw at this monster will effect a happy ending by helping rescue these girls from this wicked foe.