A Moment on Modestyby Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger 06 Apr 2006 07:24 PM This blog might end up sounding a little bit like a rant, so I apologize in advance. I have a four-year-old daughter, and I am appalled at the clothes that are available for her to wear. It is becoming more and more difficult to find clothes that are modest. I was excited that my daughter was going to be able to move out of the baby section, and up into children's clothing. Well I was, until I walked over there. Everything I saw was either way too tight, or sleeveless or baring a midriff. It honestly makes me ill to think of teaching a little girl to objectify her body in such a manner. I know that many people don't see the harm in allowing their little girls to dress in short shorts, and sleeveless tops, or miniskirts, because it really isn't an issue right now. But that is exactly why I feel it is so important to begin teaching my daughter about modest and appropriate clothing now. This is the time in her life when my opinion will matter the most to her. If I take the time to teach her those standards now, it will be easier to enforce them later. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the modesty standards I am talking about, I don't mean dresses all the time, or not showing any skin. This is a quote from the For Strength of Youth manual which pretty much sums up the standards for the church. "Immodest clothing includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and other revealing attire. Young women should wear clothing that covers the shoulder and avoid clothing that is low-cut in the front or the back or revealing in any other manner. Young men should also maintain modesty in their appearance. All should avoid extremes in clothing, appearance, and hairstyle. Always be neat and clean and avoid being sloppy or inappropriately casual in dress, grooming, and manners. Ask yourself, "Would I feel comfortable with my appearance if I were in the Lord's presence?" I am grateful that my mother taught me about modesty, so that as I grew up I was able to make good choices about the way to dress. Today immodesty is so rampant and it really isn't very attractive. A clean and neat appearance will go a long way in building someone's confidence, but it is important to teach them what is truly important is the person we are on the inside. We shouldn't allow our manner of dress distract from that. Learn more about Miriam Caldwell  Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children. Relevantlds tags User Comments  WordsAplenty (4029) 07 Apr 2006 07:02 PMYes, I have the same problem. Kids really should be taught to respect themselves, but today's clothing designers don't make it easy. I cringe everytime I see a young girl in hot pants with "Flirt" written across her bottom. What are people thinking?  Miriam Caldwell (8030) 07 Apr 2006 10:36 PMI totally agree! I can't imagine dressing my child that way. My husband insists that my daughter's dresses come to her knees, so we either buy a size or two bigger or have my mother-in-law sew her some. It is very frustrating. Opa (129) 10 Apr 2006 07:52 PMWe did alright with our first 3 daughters, but number 4 has been more of a problem. She thinks we are just old fuddy duddies. Do you have any suggestions about how we can get through to her? Miriam Caldwell (8030) 10 Apr 2006 11:38 PMI am sure you have talked to her about why she needs to be modest. You could inist that if you are buying the clothes that you won't pay for anything that is immodest. I don't think you can do anything if she is buying them with her own money. My mother told me that if I brought home anything that was immodest that she would take it back to the store and return it, and she would keep the money. I never really thought about buying anything too extreme, but I can't say that I was perfect. eliza3 (5) 06 Apr 2007 10:22 PMI was curious about what you think on baby girls wearing sleevless sun dresses. There are so many cute dresses, but many are sleevless. I have some for my baby daughter, but just wanted more views on this... I can't decide if I'll be looked down if I bring her w/ a dress like this or not. Nola Redd (7081) 07 Apr 2007 01:53 PMWith our daughter (now 5), I 'outlawed' sleeveless clothing. My (LDS) MIL bought her a number of these, and my initial thought was to just 'let it go'. However, I started wondering at what point we would draw the line. For instance, how would I tell my 8 yo daughter that she couldn't wear sleeveless stuff while her 4 or 5 yo could? That said, I don't think anyone would look down on you at church. I've seen lots of sleeveless baby clothes, and most people recognize it as a personal choice. For me, I just decided that I would save myself the later hassle. Miriam Caldwell (8030) 12 Apr 2007 08:29 PMI would never look down at someone for bringing a baby to church in sleeveless dresses. Sundresses are cute and I think most are not inappropriate for young girls. That being said, I personally wouldn't. I agree with Nola, that you have to decide when to draw the line, and I think it is just easier to draw it at the beginning, rather than later on. A side note: My dd did wear sleeveless shirts (not tank tops) and dresses one summer when she was one. She broke her arm and that was all I could get on over her cast. I was very grateful that was summer. No one said anything about her clothes. What really brothers me are the clothes that make an object out of someone. Especially on little girls. I think that they should be taught to respect themselves. Jackieacv2 (40) 09 Jul 2007 05:18 AMI agree, you cannot wait until the child is thirteen to tell her to dress modestly. Besides, like it has been said here, where do you draw the line? These clothes are, indeed, more comfortable, especially when the weather is really hot, however, as I was taught in Young Women's a looong time ago, (well, not so loong), we should have in our closets clothing that would allow us to enter the temple today, without having to buy a new wardrobe. Community Tags lds, modesty, mormon Discuss this article
|
LDS categories |
