So…it’s late when I’m writing this, I need material, and I’m low on inspiration. Partially because I’m tired, and partially because the idiot above my head is throwing a party and the apartment is not rated with great insulation.

So I get to hear it.

Which makes me wonder if there isn’t some sort of hospitality rule about that says you should inform your neighbors of the party, time of the party, possibly invite them to the party, and not just throw it and blast your music, interfering with any activities like watching tv that they (i.e. me!) might be doing.

Okay, dragging myself away from that before I start sounding more like I’ve been here half a century rather than a quarter.

So I’m guessing that several people have heard about this, it’s been mentioned a couple places. It’s about the girl who got the note on valentine’s day that instead of telling her she was pretty or the boy liked her, that her garments were immodest and disruptive to the environment and violated the honor code.

 

(if anyone can tell me how you get the caption to be on the pic like one of those self developing pics like so many here get their pics to have, please tell me!)

So yes, looking at the pic, I was a bit confused. After all, my 5-6 years in college/university showed me much, much skimpier garments than that. I mean, short of a Mennonite or something, that’s a very modest outfit (or at least appropriate for cold weather, depending on the location).

Needless to say, I was confused. Then the second article I linked mentioned that it was at a Seventh Day Adventist College. I.e. Mormons. I think. I get seriously confused about the numerous Christian denominations out there. I can’t even keep the Pagan ones straight.

I recommend you read the two articles I linked for further details about the situation. What I want to talk about is Modesty itself. Lots of people like to make a big deal about modesty, and the morality of modesty, etc. People like to say that Modesty is a good thing.

I am not so sure.

Now, I know what some are going to say. I’m a young man, in his prime. Of course I think it’s a good thing for young, attractive women to go around flashing as much as they can for all to see. And I will admit, that I am indeed a man that likes to look upon lovely ladies. But my stance goes beyond that.

See, Pagan civilizations weren’t all that big on modesty. They glorified the sexual in life, and the beautiful, and they didn’t believe in hiding it away. In Sparta, women walked around naked. In Rome, phallic carvings were all over the place a good luck charms. They Egyptians ran around in transparent fabric that showed everything. And I do mean everything. The Norse have the tale of how Freyja slept with four dwarfs to gain her famous necklace. Thor’s hammer Mjolnir has a short handle that gets longer as he strokes it.

 

 

Yeah, we pagans didn’t have an issue with Teh Sex. We certainly didn’t have modesty issues. And we never complained about women dressing immodestly. In fact, we glorified both the male and female figures and their sexuality.

On the other hand, it’s funny. Certain other groups out there complain about modesty too. It’s about considering women sacred as well. Only they “sanctify” it by keeping it covered, because to display is to cause lust, and lust is evil. (Still trying to figure out that one, btw.) So to protect women from the “lust” of men, women have to cover themselves up, lest they tempt men. Of course there’s various degrees and ways this works.

Yeah…that would never have flown with my ancestors. And any man that would have tried it would have found a knife in his balls, from the woman he attacked. He’d probably be dead before the menfolk got to him to kill him. My ancestors were a proud and violent people. And the only thing a viking feared was his wife. It’s in the sagas.

I wonder if it’s because of the fundamental difference between the Pagan and Monotheistic point of views on the nature of the sacred. For Pagans and Heathens, the sacred is there, out in the open. Be it nature, the Gods and Goddesses, the human body, etc, it’s all there, not hidden, but glorified. But with Monotheism it’s different, the sacred is hidden away, locked up, inside the “holy of holies” like the invisible god that you can’t see, because if you did you’d go mad and die. I guess for them it has to be hidden to be sacred, or else it’s not. Because Gods forbid (or would it be God forbids) you get to see something holy in life.

Some like to say that being immodest is a sin. I think I might stand the other way. I think being modest might be the “Sin.” Denying and hiding the sacred in life, making it some how dirty and evil, that’s something that strikes me as wrong. You can make all the arguments about respect you want, but I’m sorry. You’re not respecting anyone when you try to shame them into covering up and hiding what the Gods and Goddesses have given them. You’re not respecting them when you tell a woman that the sight of bare skin is evil, and that they must cover up.

That’s not respect. That’s disrespect. Plain and simple.