Female Body Shaming in Christian Churches

[Boltingmadonna]

The following is what used to appear on a plaque in the vestibule of the Catholic Church I attended as a child. After many Sundays I had it memorized and could chant it--and still can.

Out of respect for Our Lord and for the edification of our neighbor, we beg women and girls to appear in Church modestly dressed. Slacks, shorts, sleeveless and low-cut dresses do not meet the norm of Christian modesty. Your cooperation is evidence of your love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and respect for the House of God. "Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much." Our Lady of Fatima, 1917.

We heard quite a few sermons, too, on the evils of immodest dress and behavior. Why didn't we ever hear a sermon directing men and boys to mind their own business and look at the altar instead of trying to peek up women's skirts? Why didn't someone remind them they were in church to think about God, not their boners? Meh. I guess we all know why. Because God is male, and church is for men, and women are only allowed in if they are quiet and useful and don't mess things up with their dirty dirty ladybusiness.

[louisa05]

Whoever put up that plaque would fall over and die in my Catholic parish where sleeveless tops and dresses, shorts, slacks and (gasp) even jeans are the norm. To be completely honest, I thought the woman who came to Saturday night mass in full fan attire including face paint--apparently leaving directly for a local college basketball game--may have been crossing some line but it was a line of good taste not "modesty".

[Boltingmadonna]

Heh heh. Yeah, I know, louisa05. I am fed up and no longer attend Catholic Mass. I found a nice little UU congregation. However, in our last parish, back in Pennsylvania, I was quite astonished by the beach wear that showed up every Sunday in the summertime. People would be returning from or going to "down da Shore," which is where they go from southeast PA in the summertime. Flip flops, tank tops, shorts. And these were mostly pretty traditional Italian and Irish families who would be dressed to the nines during the winter.

Still, the slut-shaming attitude is definitely what I grew up with. And I think it lives on in the minds of many clergy, including young priests who come from traddie families. The Catholic Church is an interesting mixture.

[louisa05]

The diocese I grew up in (I attended Catholic school there long before I converted) has gone ultra conservative and that kind of thing goes on in many of their parishes. A friend there told me that her priest has decreed that women are not allowed to wear pants to mass. I told her that was complete BS, unfortunately, she agrees with it in spite of having to go out and acquire skirts for church. When I was a Protestant, I was acceptable to her and my other friends from there. Now that I converted, I find they just regard me as a bad Catholic. Interestingly, Pope Francis gave a homily last week about "opening the doors" of the church rather than guarding them and trying to keep people out. He spoke about issues like single mothers but I would think dress codes would qualify as just a way of keeping people out which he seems to disapprove of.

My parish is pretty liberal, quite honestly. I worked with our senior pastor in another parish when I taught in Catholic school and he would not do anything to push people away from church. The associate on the other hand...he did give a homily on what we are all doing wrong in church (a myriad of things including walking wrong in the communion line...not sure what that meant) that had a brief line about "immodest" and "informal" clothing. However, since that rather over the top homily, he has completely toned down so we are guessing there were a lot of complaints. He even told people not to carry a baby or toddler when they go to receive communion--as if you could just leave them in the pew.

[Aerial312]

I've long stopped going for many reasons, but I'm at least thankful that the Catholic church I grew up attending was incredibly informal, with most people in jeans and the like, except on Christmas and Easter.