The Modesty Survey III

 

1)    Standards can vary for different occasions. (e.g., a formal spaghetti strap dress at a wedding is more modest than a spaghetti strap top at the movie theater).

Age	Comments
15	Occasion is the wrong word, setting is a better word. In the living room of your own house, without any guests, sisters could probably wear almost any thing without being immodest, although their actions will still have to be modest. Outside of the home I don't think there should be a difference of standards.
18	I have questions about this. I personally have been bothered by some of the wedding dresses I've seen recently. I think I will encourage my future fiancée to choose a dress that is beyond reproach, with no possibility of causing someone to stumble.
18	A spaghetti strap top would usually be more immodest than a spaghetti strap dress, but neither are modest. The standards may vary slightly, but it still wouldn't make it modest.
21	A tough question. First I would say it is immodest for a girl to wear a spaghetti-strap top to a movie theater. Would it then not be immodest to wear a similar style in a formal setting? Logic demands a reason for this difference. Part of my answer is attitude. The attitude used in a formal isn't to seduce as it often is in the movie setting (or that at least is the perception). Apart from that though, I can find no satisfactory excuse. While I haven't found immodest formal clothing a stumbling block in my setting; I have at times wished that particular formals were more modest. Also I do not wish to encourage females that formals are a opportunity to 'show off.' But overall I would say it is more modest in a formal setting, my explanation or lack thereof is heretofor laid out.
21	My head is really starting to hurt with this one. I know I've been guilty of this, and I know a whole bunch of other people are too. It amazes me. I've seen women before their wedding day who wouldn't show the tops of their shoulders in public, yet on their wedding day they have a plunging "V" in the wedding dress that shows quite nearlly everything, and some how everyone seems "O.K." with it. I fail to understand that dichotomy in my life. Just another interesting dualism that Christians tend to have in their lives.
22	Different events call for different styles and fits and such (think how modest swimming attire isn't considered modest if you wear it to a fancy seafood dinner). Also though, if God has laid it on your conscience that you shouldn't allow yourself to be seen in a certain way, then you should think twice.
24	Guidlines can change, according to situations, (eg. I don't wear black tie to an ultimate frisbee game) but standards should stay the same.
40-49	A man's penchant for lust knows no such distinctions. It is a short-sighted bride who turns her wedding day into an opportunity for lust by dressing herself and her bridesmaids immodestly and shows to the men in the audience what should be reserved for her husband's eyes alone.
40-49	I don't agree with the spaghetti strap dress at a wedding, but obviously a one piece bathing suit is more modest at the beach than at the mall.

 

2)    Bending over so that cleavage is visible down the front of the shirt or dress is a stumbling block.

 

Age	Comments
15	Oh, yeah... This has happened to me a few times. It has to be one of the more awkward situations I have been put in. This kind of thing can catch me off guard, and I can't even look at the person for a while.
16	STRONGLY AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GAH! THIS IS SOOOOOO DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH!!!!
18	It's not a stumbling block. I don't take it bad and don't look so it doesn't matter.
21	I cannot agree stronger. This is a big one for me. It would appear some shirt are MADE to do this. I appreciate it when girls hold there hand to their chest as they bend over. It demonstrates not only a respect for themselves, but also to me.
25	I would like to add, that this is something where responsibility falls more with the guy than the girl to avoid such instances as to cause stumbling. But it is also important for girls to know that because it can be a stumbling block to guys who care for purity, and it is something sought after by guys who do not care about purity.
30-34	This is hard to avoid in many situations, especially when dealing with children who are on the floor! Motives are vitally important here - why is she doing this? To attract attention? Or accidentally because she's doing something important?
40-49	Even in some modest clothing this is a possibility that many girls/women don't seem to be aware enough of. Know who is in front of you when you are bending over and risk showing any cleavage.
40-49	This one is a cliche in the male community. As a young man, I was always on the alert for a woman who was bending over. Even if the exposure wasn't intended, that doesn't mean it won't be a problem for us guys. That may be unfair for women, but that's how it works.
50+	Not so much for me. I turn away my eyes... others in my line of work undress the person the rest of the way.

 

3)    Showing any cleavage is immodest.

 

Age	Comments
16	Cleavage always seems to stand out and draw attention to places men shouldn't be looking.
19	What's the point of showing cleavage if it's not so that guys will notice it? If there are any other motives I am unaware of them. Maybe in places that have extreme heat conditions or something. But I'm a guy and have no idea how girls think.
21	Any amount of cleavage immediately inspires the mind to think of breasts, which should be for only a girl's husband. And thoughts of breasts lead to more sinful thoughts.
22	Why? Why must you? What is your reasoning for doing it? You can be fashionable with out doing it, so why?
22	Okay. Yes, showing cleavage is immodest, but trying to wear something that hides the fact that you're body is a female body is something you see at liberal arts state colleges and hippie fests, and for all the wrong reasons. You have to find a balance in these things.
25	The female body is the most beautiful thing in the world and guys want to see that. It is not preverted to want to see it because God made woman for men but a guy only needs to see his wife in that way. Showing cleavage allows a guy to see what he should not see and cause the thought of what she looks like further down to come to mind which he then must battle.
26	I think sometimes some women find it hard to hide all cleavage and I don't think they have to. However, I would say that for many, many men cleavage is a really big lead in to lust and I wonder the exact need to show it. On the whole I'd say showing cleavage should be avoided, but if on occasion - like with a formal dress or something - it is shown, it's not wrong as long as it's not done gratuitously.
30-34	However, it should be kept to a minimum.
35-39	Totally depends on the person. I have a couple of old aunts who are a stumbling block to no man....
40-49	No exceptions. Period.
40-49	I find it totally distracting. It's EVERYTHING I can do to keep my eyes on her eyes when cleavage is showing.

 

 

4)    Bikini swimsuits are immodest.

Age	Comments
15	It's like walking around in underwear. It takes my eyes automatically to the wrong places. It is a major stumbling block. Plus, it takes joy out of swimming, because I am worried about guarding my eyes.
18	There is no other reason to wear a bikini than to show off a girl's body, which is pretty much a definition of immodesty.
18	Of course they are modest! After all, bikinis are nothing more than colorful underwear (less, actually, but that is besides the point) and we all know that underwear is perfectly acceptable and modest to wear in public. What guy could possibly be stumbled by seeing a girl only wearing underwear? Only some home-schooled, stuck-up, legalistic prude could object to that.
19	I know they're popular, but they're really, really not helpful. You wouldn't go to the park dressed in something that revealing, and as far as limiting the possibility for temptation goes, I could scarcely design a more unhelpful garment from the guy's point of view.
23	If you don't understand this, you need to start at square one. The more skin that is revealed, the more of a stumbling block. You can't reveal more skin than with a bikini. If you understood the purpose of publications like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, or the objectification of swimsuit and lingerie models, you wouldn't want to wear a bikini -- unless you actually want men to sin as they look at you.
30-34	When you're basically wearing underwear (or less than that) all you do is show off your body. 99 percent of guys see all of you, regardless of what body parts you think you're covering, when you wear that kind of swimsuit.
40-49	Two things: First, if your choice on the bottom is to shave or to show hair, it's immodest. Second, if your underwear covers more than your swimsuit, and you wouldn't walk around in your underwear, shouldn't that tell you something about your swimsuit?
40-49	Bikini swimsuits should be considered totally unacceptable for all Christian girls.

 

5)    A girl's underwear should never show.

 

Age	Comments
16	Agreed. It is immodest for anyone's (guy's or girl's) underwear to show.
17	It is a huge stumbling block, especially if she is wearing a thong
18	That draws WAY too much attention to the wrong areas of the body.
20	I don't want to know what underwear you have on unless I'm your husband. However, bra straps tend to drift out of place and that doesn't bother me.
24	I think a girl should make an effort to keep her underwear from showing, just as I think guys should make the same effort. There are situations where a person's underwear may be showing accidentally, and such things do happen, but it is something to be avoided, and is not an acceptable fashion statement.
26	Underwear is meant to stay under clothes. When enough of the covering layer is removed (or out of place) to allow underwear to be seen, it draws the imagination past the outer layer to the under layer. It is preferable that the imagination never goes beyond the outer layer of clothes.

Until next time ladies!

Daughter of the King!