Is modesty overrated?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rozellelily
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
If modesty is such a good thing then why is it all the women with cleavage out that get the likes and comments on Instagram?
I am not referring to the sleazy type men that we all know of but instead from men who seem like family men type.
Not sleazy comments about their figure but rather comments like “pretty girl”.

It doesn’t seem like anyone cares about modesty anymore except the most devout Christians and Muslims.
(My viewpoint is coming both from my Slavic background and living in Australia so I have experience in those cultures but I accept it may be different in USA where religion plays a greater factor in people’s lives.)

What’s the fine line between being and feeling sexy and feminine versus being immodest?
Re: modesty

It’s hard to talk about something that has almost been obliterated.
 
Yes, we are desensitized to near nudity. G string bikinis are not Holy. Mini skirts are very high sometimes. Sometimes mini skirts are not as short. Now, guys that have lived w this, will say, WOW. & go about talking. Responses of the male anatomy could happen. Which would be embarrassing. Any kissing in those outfits, they’ll both be embarrassed. Initially, when those string bikinis appeared, uncomfortable moments were happening. We are precious treasures from God. We are not Sex toys. Can young ladies elevate their self worth and get more modest and pure? Or will they laugh at the kind of bathing suit that would be suggested ???
 
I have a Center or conscience. I see
Something, I’d know it was wrong. You shouldn’t expose your mind to Mediums that show sensual dress or lifestyles and embolden girls. These venues make you think, what they show is normal. I walk to a different drummer. I didn’t date. Why? These teen boys could grow up to go to jail or be rich.
Teen years are, for some, all about sex w hormones raging. HS should be about learning a career you wish to embrace.
We need to go back to boys and girls segregated schools. I should research, who order schools to integrate boys and girls together HMMMM
 
Last edited:
Modesty I think has a lot to do with culture.

Take the bathing suit for example.

Now let a muslim woman wear that in a muslim country. This is trouble.

Now take me and put me on a european beach in it….yep, got asked if I was a nun. 🙂
 
Padre Pio stated that the Holy Spirit refused to let him listen to confessions of women dressed immodestly.
 
Last edited:
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary had a vision of some noble women she had known, burning in Hell, for wearing dresses with low cleavage.

 
'You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. . . When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion?

You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body but the soul.

And it is not to enemies you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride.’

St. John Chrysostom, Father and Doctor of the Church
 
Last edited:
‘. . . Now, observe, my daughter, the contrast between the luxurious dress of many women, and the raiment and adornments of Jesus. . . Tell me: what relation do their fine shoes bear to the spikes in Jesus’ Feet? The rings on their hands to the nails which perforated His? The fashionable coiffure to the Crown of Thorns? The painted face to That covered with bruises? Shoulders exposed by the low-cut gown to His, all striped with Blood? Ah, but there is a marked likeness between these worldly women and the Jews who, incited by the Devil, scourged Our Lord! At the hour of such a woman’s death, I think Jesus will be heard saying: “Cujus est imago haec et circumscripto. . . of whom is she the image?” And the reply will be: “Demonii. . . of the Devil!” Then He will say: “Let her who has followed the Devil’s fashions be handed over to him; and to God, those who have imitated the modesty of Jesus and Mary.”’

St. Anthony Mary Claret
 
“Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity.”

St. Jerome
 
Pope Pius XII – July 17, 1954

“0 Christian mothers, if only you knew the future of distress and peril, of shame ill-restrained, that you prepare for your sons and daughters in imprudently accustoming them to live hardly clothed and in making them lose the sense of modesty, you should be ashamed of yourselves and of the harm done the little ones whom heaven entrusted to your care, to be reared in Christian dignity and culture.”
 
Pope Pius XII – August 15, 1954 delegated Cardinal Ciriaci to issue a letter on modesty.

"Everyone knows that during the summer months particularly, things are seen here and there which are certain to prove offensive to anyone who has retained some respect and regard for Christian virtue and human modesty … in country resorts, almost everywhere, on the streets of cities and towns, in private and public places, and, indeed, often in buildings dedicated to God, an unworthy and indecent mode of dress has prevailed. Because of this, the young particularly, whose minds are easily bent towards vice, are exposed to the extreme danger of losing their innocence, which is, by far, the most beautiful adornment of mind and body. Feminine adornment, if it can be called adornment, feminine clothing, ‘if that can be called clothing which contains nothing to protect either the body or modesty.’ (Seneca) are at times of such a nature that they seem to serve lewdness rather than modesty . What we are discussing here is obviously most serious, since it vitally concerns not only Christian virtue but also the health and vigor of human society . Well did not the ancient poet say of this matter: ‘Vice necessarily follows upon public nudity’…
 
Last edited:
You’re absolutely correct about culture influence. But, the Bible, may state old cultural standards (veils or Burkas) but as fashion improved, knowing our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit, our choices should be dignified. A one piece swim suit. Or a two piece, get one in the 1940 style. The bottoms came up to the waist and the top was like a full bra. They were cute. My grand daughter gets them. I don’t know where. Not for Holy reasons but b/c she is shy & likes Retro. SIGH.
I never had a pull for risqué clothes. The Holy Spirit kept me modest. Thank You God.
 
Last edited:
" A mortal sin of scandal is committed by women who go about with their bosom immodestly exposed, or who expose their limbs improperly. Also by actors in immodest comedies, and still more by the persons who compose such comedies; also by painters who paint obscene pictures, and by the heads of families who keep such pictures in their houses. The father who speaks obscenely, or blasphemes the saints, in presence of his children, and the mother who brings into her house to live among her daughters young men who are in love with them, or betrothed to them, or other suspected persons, are guilty of a still more grievous sin of scandal. Some mothers say: do not suspect any evil. I answer, that it is their duty to suspect; otherwise they will have to render to God an account of all the sins which may follow.
There was a woman who, even after marriage, did not cease giving scandal. This woman one day fell into a fit, and while she was in a state of unconsciousness, she saw the Lord condemning her to eternal fire. When she recovered the use of her senses, she did nothing but cry out, “Alas! I am damned, I am damned!” A confessor came to comfort her, but she answered, “What have I to do with confession? I am damned.” Then her daughter approached the bed, in order to encourage her, but she cried out: “Ah, accursed child! on your account, too, I am damned: for through you I have given scandal to others.” After these words the devils, in presence of all who were in the apartment, raised her up to the ceiling, and then dashed her so violently against the floor that she instantly expired.’

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church
 
Last edited:
Priests, saints, mystics, doctors of the church, fathers of the church, bishops, and the Popes have spoken unanimously about the importance of modesty in fashion.
 
Last edited:
In my opinion there is no fine line. This is a grey subject.

It’s interesting you choose the word “sexy” as how you would like to feel about yourself. Trying to be sexually attractive and trying to be beautiful are two different things. The first can entice men to lust and yousry, whereas the latter can lead men to respect and desire to get to know you as a person. Which would you prefer?

P.S. you don’t need to show cleavage to look beautiful.
 
PrisonerofChrist That is your ‘opinion’.

Saints, mystics, doctors of the church, fathers of the church, and the Popes have spoken unanimously about the importance of modesty in fashion.

If you want to post the Church Magisterium’s view on this, back up your ‘opinion’ with quotes of the saints/ mystics/ doctors of the church/ fathers of the church/ Popes.
 
Last edited:
What I mean by grey area is the do’s and don’t’s of what to wear. They don’t give a guideline of what to wear. How short can shorts be? They leave it to the individual to excerise moderate judgement.
 
Last edited:
Because modern people equate being sexually desirable to being loveable.
 
Padre Pio from the book “Prophet of the People” by Dorothy Gaudiose

"Padre Pio wouldn’t tolerate low-necked dresses or short, tight skirts, and he forbade his spiritual daughters to wear transparent stockings. (nylons) Each year his severity increased. He stubbornly dismissed them from his confessional, even before they set foot inside, if he judged them to be improperly dressed…His brothers observed these drastic purges with uneasiness and…fasten(ed) a sign on the church door: ‘By Padre Pio’s explicit wish, women must enter his confessional wearing skirts at least eight inches below the knees. It is forbidden to borrow longer dresses in church and to wear them for the confessional.

Saint Padre Pio, priest, capuchin friar, canonised mystic,
 
By sexy I don’t necessarily mean overtly sexy but not sexless either.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top