The You-Know-You-Want-Me
Clothes
pamela spurling
I
spent the day yesterday with the
olders… the olders, meaning the
four oldest at home (and that,
thankfully, included Timothy).
We sort of followed an oft taken
course… Penney’s in town, the
bank and Starbucks. Our little
town really only has one viable
clothing store and we’re thus
forced to drive a tad bit to
surrounding towns to do any
significant shopping. I guess
we still do get into enough
shopping trouble locally, so, I
suppose it’s a good thing the
great stores require a bit of
time. Time and planning.
My
boys know there’s been some
discussion of clothing (in the
blogosphere and after our time
at the Deer Lake Conference last
weekend). So Samuel knew he’d
hit a hot button by pulling out
a T-shirt with a inscribed
message: You know you want me.
Instantly… the modesty “issue”
flashed before me and remains on
my mind. It seems as if, to one
degree or another, it’s always
on my mind. I sometimes wonder
if it’s because it’s been an oft
discussed topic in our home and
elsewhere throughout the years.
Truly, I wonder if it’s because
we have daughters or if, really,
it’s because we have sons. Then
I wonder if it’s not also bcz I
and our daughters, by
conviction, wear dresses (and
not pants). Whatever the case,
the matter of modesty and
feminine dress (and I don’t use
the term interchangeably) is, or
ought to be, a matter of concern
to believers.
I think seeing that shirt,
having just been through the
little girls’ department and
seeing nothing but
downsized-Hollywood clothing. I
was grieved as I looked at the
marketing being foisted on
little girls and forced on
mothers attempting to dress
little girls. I was grieved bcz
I have a little daughter whom I
would never ever set as a sex
object before men and yet were I
to purchase and dress her in
much of what I saw yesterday I
would be doing just such a
thing. Little girls…
little women
dressed in the attire of
harlots. There is clothing that
is an abomination. Sadly, it’s
everywhere.
I
don’t expect “modesty” to be a
matter of concern to those
outside “the faith” bcz, let’s
face it, truly they serve the
gods of this world and do not
have a walk with the Living
LORD… so, how can modesty (or
anything else, really) matter
much? And while I’m all for
“mainstream” retailers creating
and marketing “modest clothes,”
I don’t and cannot really expect they’ll do
so on a large scale *unless*
they see a huge market and I
certainly don’t anticipate
retailers’ versions of modest
clothes to be genuinely modest.
And until the “church” gets into
the Word of God and out of the
entertainment business, those
who honestly seek modest
clothing will represent such an
insignificant fraction of the
retail dollars, it won’t make
fiscal sense to cater to the
small sect. O, sure, there are
retailers who market modest
clothing — and we occasionally
find them — but, generally
speaking, it’s the handful of
catalog stores that carry lines
of modest clothing.
After our local jaunt, we headed
to the thrift stores and
Marshall’s. Timothy was
anxious for me to find some new
dresses or whatever I needed
—
whatever, it was his treat! I looked… and
looked... and after pulling out a
couple of dresses that were
identical to ones I already
have, I realized I didn’t really
need anything. Later we headed
over to Marshall’s (a store
where one can find marvelous
deals on men’s and baby’s
clothing and housewares). After
looking through racks and racks
of immodest clothing, I told
Timothy that, really, I just
needed a bath mat. And a can
opener.
In
the back of my mind was the
visual of that inscription: You
know you want me... It seemed
throughout the day I was seeing
shoppers wearing (and buying
more) clothing that stated that
message: You know you want me
(and I’m available). I felt
sad as I watched and have, since
then, thought of the girls in
the different stores… already
dressed in come-hither clothing,
they were buying more of the
same — perhaps intentionally
stating the message and perhaps
hoping for a response. Trouble
is, once the girls become aware
of some guy’s passion toward
them they’re often angry and
resentful of the attention they
receive. That’s the remarkable
part of women’s attire. It is
so powerful… and sends such
strong messages. Many women
desperately crave the
show-stopping attention and then
abhor it and the feeling of
being an object of lust when
they receive it. They appear
to be confused by the reactions
they receive and seem oblivious
of mixed signals they’re
giving. But they’re not
oblivious. Ignorant, but not
oblivious.
I
pray others will join in taking
a stand for modest clothing.
Next on my list will be modest
*and* feminine clothing.
pamela spurling |