Is Wearing Immodest Clothing a Sin?

[Paddy1989]

So I brought up this topic to my husband. He just laughed, because he said it is not the clothing itself for a lot of men. In fact, he said that sometimes it can be the opposite;** the more modest the clothing, the more “mystery”. When it’s all ‘hanging out’ (for lack of better term), there is nothing left to the imagination**.

In reality that’s nonsense though

 

[SGTTOM]

Yes a man can lust over a woman whether she is dressed modestly or not dressed at all. I still think Woman should cover their torso and legs at least above the knee. I also think tight fitting clothing should be avoided. I’m not a person who thinks everyone should wear robes or that woman should only wear skirts. Being fashionable is fine. I like to wear certain clothing that I think is attractive or looks good on me as long as it isn’t immodest or flashy solely for the sake of drawing attention.

I also think beach wear is a different matter then everyday wear. I do think bikinis are immodest though. I certainly wouldn’t want any of my sisters dressing like that or my girlfriend(if I had one)

Yes it is the sin of the man if he lusts over a woman whether she is dressed immodestly or not. That doesn’t mean its ok for a girl to dress immodestly though.

 

[manualman]

1. I don’t think women realize just how much visual creatures us men are. …
2. However the woman wearing a very loose American Apparel grey tank top with no bra and black leggings (BTW ladies…PLEASE PLEASE DON’T WEAR THE LEGGINGS!)…is at fault and not me.

1. True.
2. False. It may be imprudent for someone to leave their door unlocked. But if you walk in and steal the TV set, it’s still YOUR fault!

 

[runwaymodel]

Oh Lord—I probably shouldn’t type this since we have had discussions about this before…but I don’t believe bikini’s are immodest. Its not regular every day wear, it is beach wear. Sure you can wear a one piece but people are still going to stare no matter what you wear.
That being said, I also think its the way you behavior in clothes that bring bad attention.

 

[Jordan719]

COVER UP! If your not wearing a snuggie, your going straight to hell.

img31.imageshack.us/img31/328/snuggien.jpg

In all seriousness, both women and men in our culture need to think of their brothers and sisters in Christ before they think of how they look going out. We are our brothers keeper and we should be helping each other attain eternal salvation. If I can do that by modifying the way I dress, so be it.

 

[Jordan719]

On Black Friday I went to the mall and at the request of a nephew entered a store looking for a shirt he wanted. A&F to be exact. At the door entrance was a young college aged man, standing without a shirt on.

I don’t think it’s an insult to women, to say that it wouldn’t have mattered what he said to me, the fact he was standing there topless ( a paid model to stand there without a shirt on) in the middle of the mall, at 6:00 in the morning, would have made it very hard for me to focus on anything else.

Not because I’m some perverted middle age lady being excited by a young man’s body, but because it made me uncomfortable. It didn’t seem appropriate. I felt embarrassed for him, being made into an object that way.

I think at one time, it would have been the same for men. It would have been seen by most that to have the flesh of a women’s breast flashed at them in a public place would seem inappropriate. Somehow though, now many women think that men should be desensitized and as long as the nipples are covered, it’s all good and a man shouldn’t take notice of the breast flesh being flashed at them.

Makes no sense to me.

Me either.

 

[LemonAndLime]

 

[manualman]

Oh Lord—I probably shouldn’t type this since we have had discussions about this before…but I don’t believe bikini’s are immodest. Its not regular every day wear, it is beach wear. Sure you can wear a one piece but people are still going to stare no matter what you wear.
That being said, I also think its the way you behavior in clothes that bring bad attention.

I’ll partially agree in that the beach is a place where a man chooses to go KNOWING he’s going to have to keep his guard up.

But trust me, a bikini still has an effect on a man that a ladies Speedo never will.

P.S. Isn’t it odd that Speedos are the worst of all possible male swimsuits, but some of the most modest of womens? Weird world!

 

[severus68]

My exact words in that post were “We finally did move a bit further down the beach **because some of the comments of others about her were very offensive,and upsetting. **”

Yes, while I don’t think bikinis are modest, we were not the ones making the comments about her, and I wasn’t so much upset with her as for her.

I did not think you were making the comments and perhaps you could have said something to those who were, since the comments were made loud enough for you to hear.
To quote you:
“t seems that there are some who will fight till the end of the earth for their freedom to wear or do something and that’s all well and good. However, what they seem to miss is the lesson, that can be learned by listening to others and trying to learn how some of their choices do affect others. It’s called courtesy, and consideration for those around you.”

It appears that you put the blame for those offensive comments on her…

 

[austenbosten]

1. True.
2. False. It may be imprudent for someone to leave their door unlocked. But if you walk in and steal the TV set, it’s still YOUR fault!

Okay so if I walk around naked and some woman gets aroused, gets lustful and sins…she’s at fault and not me…nah sorry I don’t believe in that. :nope:

We are in this together, if I take advantage of some woman while dating her, I don’t view it as her fault, I view it as mine. If I seduce a woman and cause her to sin, I’m to blame not her…yes she has a choice, but it’s my responsibility to make sure I treat her with respect and not try and seduce her, much like women should respect men and not wear such improper clothing that entices men to commit sin.

[BIBLEDRB]1 Timothy 2:9[/BIBLEDRB]

Women are told to dress modestly (and no that doesn’t mean they are banned from wearing pants) why? because it pleases God and how is God pleased knowing that there are some women who knowingly walk around in provocative clothing that was designed to entice men to commit sin and also…objectify women and view them as objects for man’s personal selfish desires rather than fellow Children of God…sorry I’m not buying into the feminist wonk about it’s okay for women to dress inappropriately because it’s all and always has been the man’s fault for everything…some women need to cover up and some men need to pull their pants up.

 

[severus68]

I think you’ll find that I consistently oppose the practice of scolding ‘immodestly dressed’ women for the claim that they are ‘causing’ men to sin. Men are plenty able to sin all by themselves! To that part of your point, yes it is futile to attempt to constantly be everyone’s grandmother. Instead I choose to explain to women how men typically experience tantilizingly dressed women. So I agree that one can focus too much on the sins of others, if that’s what you mean.

But your last line seems a bit ignorant of Scripture and Tradition. Read the first couple chapters of Genesis: Sin IS everywhere! We humans are all faulty, flawed and doomed to self destruction without the intervention of Grace.

Like it or not, the way you dress yourself sends a message to others about how you think of yourself. If you think you have better things to offer the world than merely your body, then tell us that nonverbally. That applies to men and women, of course.

Yes, the world is full of flawed people including ourselves but is it necessary to ‘sniff’ around looking for and then 'finding 'them like a self fulfilling prophesy.

On your how you dress sends a message, well people should look at other people as fellow human beings, more at their faces and learn more about them before making judgements.

 

[severus68]

I think she has a heart of gold too. I also think that she dressed immodestly showing all that cleavage. I believe that she most certainly caused some men to lust after her breasts.

Actually, I absolutely believe that many(dare say most) women who dress immodestly have good hearts, are good people, and love God. However, that doesn’t really change that they are dressing immodestly.

Many people commit mortal sins. They are still what most of us would call good people, and most of them do love God. That doesn’t change the fact they committed a mortal sin.

I guess my point is, one thing does not negate the other.

So if you went to a country where some women (especially elderly women) walk around bare breasted and it is culturally acceptable there, are those women also commiting mortal sins? They too love God, some are even Christians. Some of the women would even nurse their babies openly.

 

[severus68]

He’s right.

At the end of the day, we are still sexual beings and we will still be attracted to women. Wear a bikini, cover yourself head to toe in burlap, wear nothing but socks, don full plate armor… we will still find a way to be attracted to women.

I don’t have the answers to what is modest or immodest, or whether it is a man’s lack of chastity, or a woman dressing to draw attention to herself. All I know is God made us all to be beautiful and to appreciate each others’ beauty whether it is inside or out. God made women to appeal to men with their beauty, and men are called to appreciate that beauty in a chaste way no matter how it presents itself.

I love the beauty of women and I am a chaste man,
Joshua

I like your post. You make a great point.

 

[severus68]

I don’t think women realize just how much visual creatures us men are. Sure anything can be viewed as immodest, I can easily get just as aroused from a woman wearing a sweater as well as a bikini…however the woman wearing the sweater was dressed as modest as possible and if I lust after her, it’s my problem and my fault alone. She did nothing wrong and it’s me and my lustful, perverted mind that’s at fault.

However the woman wearing a very loose American Apparel grey tank top with no bra and black leggings (BTW ladies…PLEASE PLEASE DON’T WEAR THE LEGGINGS!)…is at fault and not me.

Dennis Prager I think says it best on this

youtube.com/watch?v=U8W9gv9CIAM&feature=channel_video_title

So you don’t look at women as persons? You appear to get aroused at the drop of a penny. So it is woman’s fault if you get aroused when she is wearing what you find unacceptable? So is a woman who is raped while dressed imodestly according to you, be at fault too?

 

[severus68]

1. False. It may be imprudent for someone to leave their door unlocked. But if you walk in and steal the TV set, it’s still YOUR fault!

Absolutely!

 

[austenbosten]

So you don’t look at women as persons? You appear to get aroused at the drop of a penny. So it is woman’s fault if you get aroused when she is wearing what you find unacceptable? So is a woman who is raped while dressed imodestly according to you, be at fault too?

Oh here we go with the hyperboles…I was wondering when it was going to start in

Yeah I view women as objects, I believe in the Saudi Arabian corporal punishment of women who show anything more than the eyes. I believe that women should have no rights and serve every selfish desire of man.

Once again this is the problem…it’s always the man’s fault no matter what. There is never any share of the guilt, it’s always man is bad and evil and woman is good no matter what. I love how the double-standard is men are called to a higher amount of strictness and women are given a pass…forgive me if I don’t buy into that.

Men should treat women with respect and women should treat men with respect. This means that men should not lust after women and objectify them and women should not act or dress in a manner that is objectifying…but I’m sure you believe those female pornstars are free of sin and guilt, because it’s all the man’s fault cause ‘hey they don’t need to look’

…Oh hey! looks like the hyperbole can go both ways!

 

[severus68]

Oh here we go with the hyperboles…I was wondering when it was going to start in

Yeah I view women as objects, I believe in the Saudi Arabian corporal punishment of women who show anything more than the eyes. I believe that women should have no rights and serve every selfish desire of man.

Once again this is the problem…it’s always the man’s fault no matter what. There is never any share of the guilt, it’s always man is bad and evil and woman is good no matter what. I love how the double-standard is men are called to a higher amount of strictness and women are given a pass…forgive me if I don’t buy into that.

Men should treat women with respect and women should treat men with respect. This means that men should not lust after women and objectify them and women should not act or dress in a manner that is objectifying…but I’m sure you believe those female pornstars are free of sin and guilt, because it’s all the man’s fault cause ‘hey they don’t need to look’

…Oh hey! looks like the hyperbole can go both ways!

This is where you are not even trying to get what I am saying. On the contrary, I think men are being maligned when people (even some men) go on about how men are easily aroused, they can’t help themselves etc. No, most men are not like that. Animals can’t help themselves, men can.

People in the porn industry do it for one thing - money, so porn stars are asked to incite sexual excitement. Are you even remotely comparing women who dress ‘immodestly’ to female porn stars???

 

[severus68]

I’ll partially agree in that the beach is a place where a man chooses to go KNOWING he’s going to have to keep his guard up.

But trust me, a bikini still has an effect on a man that a ladies Speedo never will.

P.S. Isn’t it odd that Speedos are the worst of all possible male swimsuits, but some of the most modest of womens? Weird world!

Well aren’t Speedos made for a purpose - for speed.

 

[austenbosten]

This is where you are not even trying to get what I am saying. On the contrary, I think men are being maligned when people (even some men) go on about how men are easily aroused, they can’t help themselves etc. No, most men are not like that. Animals can’t help themselves, men can.

People in the porn industry do it for one thing - money, so porn stars are asked to incite sexual excitement. Are you even remotely comparing women who dress ‘immodestly’ to female porn stars???

Oh well now, are we getting a little pre-judgemental? How are you so sure they do it for the money? many pornstars I used to read about really did do it for the attention it got from men…so yes I do compare some immodest dressed women to some pornstars for they are doing it to attract the attention of males, but in a negative way.

BTW did I say that this is all the woman’s fault? Did you not read where I said men have a responsibility too in not objectifying and lusting after women? Are you so stuck in that hippie-Liberal wonkish mindset that you think that this is Saudi Arabia and we are told constantly that it’s the woman’s fault…seriously dude what country are you typing from?

I love this mindset “Hey, putting all the blame on women is wrong, but let’s go the other extreme and put it on men!”

Now I say we try and end this soon and part because I don’t see anything but a :slapfight: building.

 

[severus68]

Oh well now, are we getting a little pre-judgemental? How are you so sure they do it for the money? many pornstars I used to read about really did do it for the attention it got from men…so yes I do compare some immodest dressed women to some pornstars for they are doing it to attract the attention of males, but in a negative way.

BTW did I say that this is all the woman’s fault? Did you not read where I said men have a responsibility too in not objectifying and lusting after women? Are you so stuck in that hippie-Liberal wonkish mindset that you think that this is Saudi Arabia and we are told constantly that it’s the woman’s fault…seriously dude what country are you typing from?

I love this mindset “Hey, putting all the blame on women is wrong, but let’s go the other extreme and put it on men!”

Now I say we try and end this soon and part because I don’t see anything but a :slapfight: building.

I can’t even begin to respond to such a post.