I disagree. Modesty is necessary because with full deliberation and consent, interior thoughts, as well as sins of omission/ complacencies (that is, failing to turn your mind to a neutral object when a bad thought first presents itself), are mortal sins.
Bad thoughts work in three steps: suggestion, delectation, and consent. While men can control exterior acts (what they do and what they say), men cannot control the “suggestion” from being bad or coming into their minds in the first place. The suggestion comes in uninvited and unwanted! For the vast majority of men, especially between the ages of 15-40, nature (testosterone, etc), hardwires men’s brains to respond in a certain way to environmental stimuli. And the bad thought is often already bad from the onset. From the first suggestion, the devil has already done the work. The pleasing appearance of the thought, delectation, tempts men to consent to its suggestions (“the I want to keep looking because I like what I’m looking at” stage). This is why it is so easy to pass from “suggestion” to full consent (mortal sin). This is why, even if men are culpable of a small percentage of those thoughts, given a small percentage of a very large number is still large, men can commit so many mortal sins that they cannot count the number of sins that they committed the next time that they go to confession.
Therefore, to avoid bad “suggestions” in the first place that in turn lead to delectation and consent, we must be vigilant and flee from the near occasions of sin. Flee from what puts these bad thoughts into the mind.
This is why modesty is of utmost importance. Especially given that 75-80 percent of Christian men aged 18-24 viewed pornography in the last month, and given that 90-95 percent of young men have viewed it at some time in their lives. This implies that the vast majority of men have not even been able to overcome exterior acts (let alone develop, to even one thenth the necessary degree, the much more difficult habit of throwing off bad thoughts immediately.)
Even for men who have been off of pornography for awhile, they still have the potential for some environmental trigger to put a bad memory or thought into their mind (from their past sinful life!)
Therefore, since vigilance, fleeing from sin, and custody of one’s eyes (“be careful where I am looking at”) is expected of men at all times, it is not too much to ask to expect women to dress modesty! I am not intending to answer the question of what level of modesty is necessary today, because circumstances have indeed changed, but yes, modestly is indeed crucial. No cleavage and no yoga pants would solve 90 percent of lustful “suggestions.” We can debate from there.
In conclusion: modesty is of utmost importance!
