Got Modesty? Then You Must be a Right-wing Religious Nut!

While this might not be what critics of the modesty movement say outright, they surely imply it by their smirks, jeers, and op-eds that poke fun at the idea of a modest woman. I always wondered why our critics equate a return to modesty as a step backward and, even more horrific, a step toward religious fanaticism and theocracy. Perhaps they assume that modesty is merely a religious form of submission; submerging women in shame by making them cover themselves and denying them an opportunity to “know” themselves. “Know thyself” now being translated into “Explore thy sexuality,” that is.   

And this is the problem. Our critics single-handedly equate modesty to suppressing female sexuality. Of course, we know that modesty involves an entire way of life-- one that strives in all action and thought to preserve the innermost part of a woman’s being. In fact, we also know that a woman is much more than her sexuality (contrary to what many postmodern feminists think--just take a look at the writings of some who support the Vagina Monologues to see what I mean). Nevertheless, for those of us who try to live modestly, we are thought to be extremists or, God forbid, religious extremists--religion being the enemy of women’s liberation and expression, according to modern feminist thought.

I suppose then that, to be a true feminist one cannot be religious or modest. That is, one cannot believe in a loving and just Creator and believe in an innate dignity worth preserving in order to advocate for the betterment of women? Hmm, that doesn't make much sense. We in the modesty movement are criticized for being regressive, fanatic, and anti-woman. But, judging from our  critics’ litmus test, I wonder which movement truly works in the interest of all women. 

Indeed, the modesty movement is a truly feminist movement and it’s about time it be recognized as such.

Comments

[christine]

Well said.

[Jeannine]

Great points Nene!

The disappointment of much of the modern feminist movement is that it promotes further repression of women - many in the movement have moved on from helping women to outright hurting and destroying women. If you wonder what I mean by that just check out the event sponsored by Bucknell's group called the "Feminist Majority" -- the event which they marketed as a "celebration of whore culture" -- titled the "Sex Workers Art Show." It featured a group of hookers, phone sex operators, smut writers, porn stars, and one woman who appeared via her 24-hour porn website. We have the academic community to thank for that total absence of dignity and respect and a complete academic lobotomy of intellect and thoughtfulness.

I could give quite a lot of examples along this line of feminism gone horribly wrong.

Whereas, as Nene states, true feminism is really Modesty -- in its deepest meaning.

Modest women recognize the right of women to be educated, to pursue careers, to vote, to raise families and/or pursue other missions in life, to search Faith, to do all those things and much more -- we recognize and honor the very rights for which some women in the world still struggle. Yet we also recognize the value of woman's innermost dignity, both her self-respect but also a culture respect for a women's intimacy and her rights.

Instead, modern feminism -- at least in much of academia as demonstrated at Bucknell and other places -- is on nothing else but a self-destruct course -- pursuing merely their right to self-destruct. Personally, if they want to self-destruct, I'd let them do so. However, their behaviors and chosen path will, in the end, merely ensure the loss of all the rights we've worked so hard to achieve.

Their effort is a movement that protects nothing worthwhile. As for their hijacking of the word feminism? "Feminism" should be given back to those of us women who really are working to protect the dignity and rights of women.

Thank you Nene for your post - you are a true feminist.

[Elin]

Can you just be a slightly left-of-centre religious nut instead?

Sorry, kidding, but I've been reading WAY too many Christian blogs lately that make me feel I must be a radical pinko or something. For better or worse, there do seem to be a lot of people, with whom I'd certainly agree on modesty, and even most religious issues, who are fairly right-wing politically. Those of us who don't fit that particular demographic can sometimes feel as if we're invisible to the world at large. I hope blogs like this will help to dispel that notion. Anyone else have any ideas on how to show that modesty is much wider than a particular political agenda?

Jeannine, I love your affirmation that modesty is true feminism. Amen!

[Elin]

Sorry Nene - meant to include you in that last sentence too. You are right on!

[pantyhose]

Interesting. Thanks!

[Andrea]

Nene and Jeannine, I echo your thoughts completely. Thank you so much for sharing this view!

Your post is dated 2006, but I just discovered it by typing "modesty movement" into Google. It breaks my heart that my search term brought up only 4,080 results, while "Britney Spears" brought up 80 million hits!

It seems like the internet is riddled with immodest land mines, but this site is a wonderful refuge. Keep it up!

[GCarty]

Apologies for the thread necromancy here, but I think we need to look at some history here.

IMHO what feminists want more than anything else is financial independence. In the 1950s social and technological innovations (such as fast food, laundromats and household gadgets) made the bachelor lifestyle far more appealing than before (and such a lifestyle was heavily promoted by the likes of Playboy magazine). In combination with the fact that by the 1960s, the Baby Boom meant that there were far more twentysomethings than thirtysomethings, meaning that men didn't need to "buy the cow" (get married) but could get the "milk" (sex) for free. In response, women were forced to find a way to make a living by their own efforts -- this has had tragic consequences in the form of the feminization of poverty.

Porn stars and hookers (the high-end ones, not the low-end ones who are usually doing it to feed drug habits) can make serious money, which is perhaps why feminists are reluctant to criticize them.