In My Humble Jewish Opinion...

Tzniut and Yirat Hashem

The, "but-she-has-middos" argument is not doing it for me anymore. People have used that a defense for girls who are dressed inappropriately. I do not mean to belittle their Middos, because I have met people who wear pants (gasp) and have fine Middos. Therefore, the people who simply have not been taught better are not included in this discussion. They simply do not know better and cannot be blamed. I'm talking girls who have had Bais Yaakov educations and still dress gross-looking.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the way women dress. Whether it's fair or not, here is my conclusion: It's all in the way you carry yourself. "You mean, She and I can wear the same thing, and I can look slutty, and she won't?" You bet. Girls with Bais Yaakov educations have three things in mind: Elbows, knees, and collarbone. Unfortunately, those are frequently ignored as well, so I guess it's down to wearing skirts, and not showing cleavage. My point is that I know people who wear short skirts with high boots, and look like whores. Their knees are barely covered when they stand, and the skirt is so skin tight, they must have been buttered into it. It's not like they were once a certain size, and they gained a few pounds, (like me) so their behinds stick out of everything they wear. It's like, "I'm gonna buy an extra tight skirt so i can look sexy." Not like they stop there, becuase their shirts probably used a whole other tub of butter, and they must have forgotten that their collarbone is like 5 inches ABOVE where their shirt begins. Now people are going to tell me, "Yeah, but she is the sweetest person!" Great. At least she has one thing going for her.

I've made an observation, however. Most, not all, girls that are dressed appropriately, like really, that their elbows, knees, and collarbones are always covered, and their clothing fits into the ramifications of Tzniut, both in spirit and letter of the law, demonstrate a level of Yirat Hashem. These girls are more prone to have good Middos because their Yirat Hashem has helped them strive to improve their Middos.

I must stress that I am not saying that people who dress inappropriately are not as nice as the ones who do. In addition, I do know that some people dress the part, but certainly do not act it.
This goes both ways. Back to the "how you carry yourself" argument.
Some people dress all Bais Yaakovy, and walk into a movie theater like that. Others walk around in a long denim skirt with a slit in the front, short socks and sneakers, or even-gasp-sandals, but davened well that morning, and has great middos. (But chances are she's headed to a movie too) But there are other girls who dress that way, slit and all (and MORE) but did not bother to daven that morning, and are only living the Jewish life because that's how they were brought up.

Okay, see this is the problems when I write things that are a little deep. I get sidetracked, and I get afraid I might forget to say something, so it's kinda hard to understand. But if you took it to mean, you misunderstood. K?

posted by Michelle @ 5:20 PM