Modest Proposals Revisited

Hello all!

As you know, Wendy and I joined Laura Sessions Stepp, Dr. Miriam Grossman, and Dawn Eden recently for a panel discussion on the harms of the hookup culture and some possible solutions. The event, hosted by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, was a big success. Personally, I learned a lot from the other women present, and hopefully I contributed some valuable thoughts as well! The solution I proposed was for students to organize themselves on campus to provide a voice supporting modesty and chastity. Here are my “modest proposals”:

1. Organize: If you do not already have a student group in place at your college to support students committed to modesty and chastity, and to balance campus discussion on these matters through academic research and arguments, start one! Be sure to seek out faculty members to support and advise you on your campus initiatives.

2. Inform: Help your classmates, professors, administrators, and campus community understand how modesty and chastity contribute to the flourishing of individuals, marriages, children, and society. Host scholars and professionals to give campus-wide talks on these matters from their areas of expertise.

3. Discuss: Get your classmates thinking. Start a reading/discussion group to address such questions as: “What is dating and what is it for?” “With the average marrying age now in the late twenties, is marriage even relevant to the lives of today’s college students?” “Can modesty actually empower women (and men)?” “What does chastity and courtship mean anyways?”

4. Collaborate: Work with other student groups and services on campus to foster candid and civil conversation on matters of marriage, family, sex, and sexuality.

5. Respond: Publish opinion editorials and letters to the editor in your campus papers and journals about what’s happening on your campus.

6. Enhance: Are there programs and services on campus (such as the freshman orientation program or sexual health services) that either ignore the benefits of chastity and modesty or do not do it justice? Do some of these programs and services essentially alienate students with a more traditional sexual morality? If so, enhance the programs and services offered on campus by approaching the appropriate university administrators and staff with your concerns and by helping them to make improvements.

7. Enrich: Enrich the social life on campus by providing alternatives to the hookup scene where true friendships and relationships can form and flourish. Organize study breaks, film forums, outings, parties, etc.

Comments

[Firmalar]

thx for article..

[Laura]

I'm grateful that I go to BYU--a church school that emphasizes chastity and modesty. I have known of many LDS young adults who are at public colleges who later fall away into drugs, alcohol, and premarital sex because they do not feel that they have any moral support. I think this is a great idea!