Ahhh...Girls At Hershey Park Dress Immodestly!!

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Isn't part of being modest not standing out? So a girl wearing a long skirt in an amusement park is going to stand out. Why not wear appropriate clothing that doesn't show your breasts or butt but also, does not make you stand out? They could have worn longish shorts and a t-shirt. Of course, no one would have noticed how godly these young ladies. How are these young ladies any different than the ones in the skimpy suits? They are still seeking attention

Seriously. I think wearing a t-shirt that says "Purity is In" DOES say something about your character, and it's not a good thing.

[BoomerLynn]

WTF? Did he expect them to be wearing snowsuits in the summer? Not that someone else's clothing choices are any of his business. Seriously kid, if it bothers you that bad, look the other way.

This actually reminds me of a funny story. I was accused by a friend's step-dad for being a bad influence (when In reality she was the bad influence lol) for showing up at her house in a midriff-baring shirt and short shorts, which I was wearing over my bathing suit because we were going to the pool. It was 90 fucking degrees out and extremely humid, hence said trip to the pool. My car was a piece of junk with a non-working ac (typical broke teenager car). Idiot. :roll:

[happy atheist]

Every time we go to Hershey Park we see at least one group of people where the men and boys are all wearing yarmulkes and have the ringlet curls beside their faces, and the women and girls wear long skirts, and generally long sleeves. And you know what? They're walking around, eating ice cream and having fun just like everyone else. I've never noticed them giving the stink-eye to girls in shorts. This guy needs to loosen up and just ride the damn roller coasters.

[louisa05]

I feel bad for the kid that wrote that. He has been so conditioned to think about what women are wearing that it overshadowed his entire time at the park. Despite everything he has been taught about how women's clothing choices are supposed to affect him, the reality is that what anyone in the place is wearing should not preoccupy him. It wasn't a runway show where the purpose of being there was to sit and look at what women were wearing. His attitude is so beyond unhealthy yet his mother popped up in the comments to defend him. I have a teenage nephew and if he wrote such a thing, I'd be very concerned about his mindset about his own and others' sexuality being so unhealthy. Not to mention the judgmental tone and arrogance of his declaring that he knows what people's motives are.

[Maggie Mae]

Scattered throughout the entire park, students were wearing their school’s t-shirts. What could be wrong with that?! But left and right, girls had somehow found a way to get around a standard dress code.

If it's anything like I remember, the school purchases 10 small sized tee shirts, 20 medium, 30-40 large, and 350 XL and probably 50 XXL (all men's sizes). It's not just the heat. Ridiculously over sized clothing is UNCOMFORTABLE in general, especially when you have boobs. I had a closet of tee shirts that I never wore once after their assigned usage, because my school hated women or something. Having the shoulder seem hang at your elbow impairs movement. Rolling up the sleeves, cutting the shirts, pinning the shirts, it was all a bid to make the shirts not uncomfortable. Not to mention that it is probably sunny and warm, and teen girls don't particularly love farmer's tans.

[Free2BeMe]

So basically, 16 yo fundie boys are special snowflakes who would not be able to handle the message that "Labelling girls and women as worthy or unworthy of your respect based on your perception of how they wear their t-shirts is NOT OK because *so many reasons*". What happened to "Do Hard Things" Brett?

Haha, do hard things, get it-hard!

[Beammeup]

I'm disturbed by how young those little girls are in that modesty test. SMDH

[TheJewAmongUs]

Although I will say that I see teens walking around Disney in the summer with their butt cheeks hanging out. When it's 100 degrees out I'm not so keen to see your sweaty butt cheeks sitting on a bench or in a chair that I'm about the occupy. I don't have a problem with some dress code in theme parks, though nowhere near what a fundie would like to see.

[CruitLvr]

Women are not responsible for men's thoughts. Period. Women are under no obligation to protect me from thinking dirty thoughts. Noticing the opposite sex or having a stray fantasy is normal and not wrong. Viewing the other person as an object who is responsible for either your satisfaction or thoughts is wrong.

This times a million.

[whirlygirly]

Isn't part of being modest not standing out? So a girl wearing a long skirt in an amusement park is going to stand out. Why not wear appropriate clothing that doesn't show your breasts or butt but also, does not make you stand out? They could have worn longish shorts and a t-shirt. Of course, no one would have noticed how godly these young ladies. How are these young ladies any different than the ones in the skimpy suits? They are still seeking attention

I bet there were plenty of young women wearing longish shorts and t-shirts that day, but Nathan didn't notice any of them, did he? Nope, the only ones who drew his attention were those he deemed immodest and those two "respectable" girls wearing skirts long enough to stand out.

Brett Harris Says:

March 8th, 2013 at 4:54 pm

To Those Who Disagree: Whether you agree with Nathan’s perspective on modesty or not, please heed Abigail’s encouragement to communicate out of love.

OK, Brett, you can't have it both ways- is this directed to everyone "whether you agree with Nathan’s perspective on modesty or not" or is it only "To Those Who Disagree"?? Nevermind, I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to that.

I'm not even halfway through the comments on that page, but AARRGGGH at this one from "Madison":

As a student at a large public university, immodesty surrounds me on a daily basis - both from girls and guys. To be honest, it disgusts me just as much when girls wear shirts that are a bit too tight/low as when guys wear their pants around their ankles.

Really- girls wearing shirts that are a bit too tight or low (by Madison's standards) are just as disgusting as guys wearing pants around their ankles? Leaving aside for the moment the fact that "a bit too tight/low" is extremely subjective- did Madison ever stop to think that maybe this girl's shirt shrunk in the wash (many college students are not that experienced at doing their own laundry yet) or maybe she gained a few pounds (they don't call it the "freshman fifteen" for nothing!) and being a college student maybe she doesn't have the money to go out and buy new shirts? Nah, she must just be a slutty slut. But, as Madison herself says later in the same comment:

God is leading us all on slightly different paths and it’s important not to judge others simply because they’re not at the same point we are.

Edited to add: WTF do school dress codes have to do with what people wear to an amusement park, anyway?

[LostSamurai]

Asshole hates the way women are dressed in amusement park, except for the two fundies with the Purity shirts. In other news, water is wet.

If women wearing shorts, shirts and basically anything that shows skin threatens you having a good time at an amusement park, then y'all have some serious issues.

[elanej]

I am a long time lurker and a first time poster, but I had to post this guy's comment below. I grew up with the modesty movement and it just about destroyed my ability to communicate in a healthy manner with young men. Thank God that my husband didn't give up on me and pursued me because that is the only reason we got married. Anyway, this young man makes me mad. Yes, I do expect him to be able to control himself. They expected us as Christian young women to constantly be viewing everything from the lens of what our brother might be thinking and that was an enormous amount of pressure all the time. It is so devastating to a young woman. This whole modesty culture causes young men to obsess about sex and women's bodies in a way that is not healthy and leads to things that the "rules" were in place to prevent. I am very passionate about this topic because I still struggle with the lingering effects of this type of teaching, the teaching on courtship, and the IBLP principles. I am sorry if these are things that have already been touched on in this thread, I just got so mad that I almost cried.

Forgive me if I didn't post the quote right. I will catch on eventually!

"Jacob C Says:

March 8th, 2013 at 11:15 pm

@Caliegh– you dont know what its like to be a guy. a girl wearing booty shorts is all it takes for a guy to stumble. its not like we want to. you want to be viewed as a piece of meat? go ahead and tell all the females of this culture they can dress how they want. but when a girl wears immodest stuff- *and I live in Las Vegas- I see it every day, all a girl is, is a prize, a piece of meat. why would a female want to be viewed that way? its helping satan gain ground and win the battle. why would any female want to help that?

I get its not comfortable but should a guy just not go places if he struggles? “which we ALL do when placed around a bunch of females wearing close to nothing nothing. Its hard for me to drive home every day because of the billboards I see on the roads. on top of the Taxis. in the Newspaper vents on the side of the road. on the casino buildings. in the malls. youre telling me its the GUYS fault for not being able to train his eyes and not getting accountability?.. cmon. a girl knows what she’s doing. and what she wants when she wears revealing clothing.

just a thought. coming from a Christain guy who struggles with this every day. and lives in the city of sin."

[debrand]

Jacob C's letter is disturbing.

Today we were watching the extended version of Apocalypse Now. Apparently, the new version has a sex scene that wasn't in the old one. During the scene, with the very attractive girls nude, my twenty year old son turned to me and said it was a disturbing clip. It wasn't because the girls were exciting him but because the actresses acted spaced out and he wondered if they had the ability to consent to sex. He also noted that they were being prostituted for fuel and that bothered him. Somehow he could see the humanity in nude women and be troubled by the film's depiction of them. Most normal humans do not stop seeing another person's humanity because of their clothes or lack of clothes.

[whirlygirly]

"Jacob C Says:

March 8th, 2013 at 11:15 pm

@Caliegh– you dont know what its like to be a guy blah blah blah

Yeah, that guy- ugh. :angry-cussingblack:

[JMarie]

This is my favorite response:

Hanna Says:

March 13th, 2013 at 10:54 pm

Please excuse me for not clearly explaining why I was offended by Nathan’s article in my previous comment. (you may also congratulate me for not writing all the profanities i was thinking)

Here are the objections I have to the article, written out clearly:

1. It is arrogant. Nathan assumes that all the girls at the theme park (including the modest ones) were dressing for him. I’ll tell you a secret. Most teenage girls (especially the younger ones) do not think twice about what men think of their outfit, unless they have been raised a very specific way. It is arrogant to assume their choices had anything to do with you.

2. It is selfish. As I said in my previous comment, Nathan was only thinking about himself and not about what might be comfortable for the girls at the park.

3. It is dehumanizing. You are taking living, thinking, people and reducing to their bodies and their clothing. Women are dehumanized all the time in the secular world, but usually in the opposite way (girls who dress immodestly are given attention and treated as more valuable). In this article, Nathan has the exact same attitude as people who pay attention to immodest girls. The fact that he does it the opposite way doesn’t make it any better.

4. It is unloving. Jesus loved all of these girls enough to die for them, yet you don’t even think they deserve the slightest bit of respect because of the way they dress.

5. It is extremely judgmental. Despite your self-righteousness, you directly disobey God’s command not to judge as seen in Matthew 7:1 as well as in other passages. Not only are you being judgmental, but you are completely judging by outward appearances. Even this might be slightly understandable (though not excusable) if you knew all the girls at the theme park were Christians. Try to think from another perspective. If you were not a Christian, why would you try to obey all of our rules? You have no right to judge strangers at an amusement park.

6. It is sexist. You may not realize this, but teenage girls can have problems with lust too. Growing up in the church I hear lots of guys demanding that girls be modest. Never once have I seen any of those same guys wearing a t-shirt with their swimsuit, for instance, or in any way trying to be modest themselves. To me, this says that the so called “modesty†movement actually has nothing to do with modesty and everything to do with the type of misogyny that punishes women’s sexuality.

7. (This is the most important one imo) It oversexualizes the human (female) body. Believe it or not, thighs were not designed to be a temptation to guys. They were designed to allow the legs to move. Abs were designed to hold the torso upright. Shoulders were designed to um support the arms. For you to demand that these parts be covered is to say that these parts are all sexual (and that men should control them). It definitely reveals a small mindedness and an under appreciation for God’s creation, if all you can think of when you see a human body is sex. I can forgive you for that because you are a teenage boy so you probably think about sex an unhealthy amount anyway. I urge you to study anatomy, physiology, to appreciate how wonderful the body really is.

If you don’t think it’s possible to think about girls’ bodies in a nonsexual way, remember that Michelangelo painted lots of nudes and they were considered glorifying to God and displayed in a church.

In conclusion, I urge you to be less selfish, less judgmental, and to open your mind.

Also I think a bikini top with short denim shorts is completely appropriate for the boardwalk so if i see you there you have officially been warned not to tell me otherwise.

If I was visiting Hershey Park, I'd be way more interested in touring the chocolate factory than what other people were wearing. But hey, that's me.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

This is my favorite response:

Go Hanna!!!! I was trying to think of a good way I might respond to this attitude and she nails it.

[sillysally314]

i live so close to hersheypark i can practically smell the chocolate in the air.

this makes me want to dress like a two-bit hooker when i go this summer. and dress my 3-year-old the same. y'know, to inflame desires and whatnot... :roll:

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Oh jeez, I keep hoping this thread will die only because I hate Hershey's chocolate so much that even seeing the title of this thread makes me queasy.

[thoughtful]

This thread inspired me to google modesty test, and I found this incredibly sad thread. I comforted myself somewhat by wondering if they weren't all real comments from individual girls, since the writing style sounds like it's mostly the same person over and over:

liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/index.php?id=101

More recent stuff from the same person:

liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/index.php?id=222

[fundiefun]

I posted

I agree the sexist tone of this article is sad so it’s okay for him as a male to dress however not thinking it may be immodest for us girls, but were supposed to be responsible for every thought that pops into their head for what were wearing? If he has that much trouble going out in public with thinking impure thoughts about every girl he sees than maybe the problem isn’t with them but perhaps him?