My daughter is working on her “My Style” badge for American Heritage Girls and she asked my phone, “Siri, what is the definition of modesty?”
Confession: I’m glad she asked my phone before she asked me. I wasn’t quite sure how to explain it. It’s a term that gets tossed around a lot, more to girls than to boys, and definitely in religious circles. But whenever it was brought up to me, it was always used to bring me shame and condemnation no matter how hard I tried to do what is right.
Last thing I want is to butcher this with her, she’s so sweet and innocent!
So we walked through it step by step. She’s an auditory learner (a fact I’d be wise to remember when I’m dumb enough give her multiplication flash cards… Duh.), so conversation helps her to learn and process information. Here’s what we discussed:
- It starts with being “unassuming”, or in other words, not drawing attention to ourselves as more special or hyped up than we really are. So it has a quality of humility to it. It’s like the ranks on a soldier’s uniform; it’s totally appropriate for the captain to wear captain’s uniform, but it’s a disgrace for someone of low rank (or worse, as has been seen before, someone who is not enlisted) to wear the captain’s rank. It’s appropriate to dress for the job or rank we have earned – or in her case, wear her American Heritage Girls uniform with all her badges. That would not be considered immodest.
- It means we are showing a limited, moderate, or small amounts of ourselves. I told her that just because we may have the money or the good looks to wear certain things doesn’t mean we necessarily should. We even brought up Victoria’s Secret Models (we were surprised with their New Year’s Fashion show on the television of a Dairy Queen dinner date once) and we talked about how even though these women looked great, it wasn’t exactly modest to show so much of their nakedness on national TV. We give people limited amounts of ourselves not just physically, but also to some degree emotionally and financially too.
- It means we behave and dress as is appropriate for the occassion, using these as a way to honor others above ourselves. We talked about different outfits she wears during the week for different things. Although a one piece bathing suit is perfectly modest for swimming, it’s entirely inappropriate for church on Sunday mornings! So being proper and decent also has to do with discerning the occassion. It’s why people don’t wear flashy colors at funerals, but flowery and bright colors are appropriate for weddings. It’s why tight capris and a tank top are perfectly fine for yoga or running in the summer heat, but she really doesn’t need to wear form fitting clothes like that to co-op or Kid’s World at church.
I think this is all withing the realm of possibility for her – not legalistic, which kills your spirit, but not rebellious either (which kills your soul). It was imperative with me, in this conversation with my 9 year old girl, that we addressed modesty without at all addressing sex.
It’s nauseating to me how hyper-sexualized everything is to a younger and younger audience. And while the feminist in me says, “I’m not going to repress my daughter because some perv might be oogling her!” The maternal instinct in me says, “I don’t want to give a perv anything to look at!” We don’t need to bring sex up to talk about the length of her skirt because modesty is so much more than the avoidance of sexual temptation in the first place.
I always try to approach every subject with my kids through the heart of God’s Word, as best I understand it. I don’t want to restrict them in frustration; I want them to willingly make God-honoring choices.
How would you describe modesty to a young girl?
I love this. It is so hard to teach modesty, especially in a world that teaches anything but.
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What you told your daughter was spot on and as you said you didn’t have to bring up sex. She’s only 9 for crying out loud. Great job, Mama! I wish I would have had more of that wisdom when my girls were young. Thanks for sharing. – Amy
http://stylingrannymama.com/
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Thanks Amy! I wish I wasn’t raised in a church culture that defined the absence of modesty as “slutty”, it did me more harm than good. I’m trying to guide her to the truth and still protect her heart!
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I love the thoughtfulness that you approached this with. To me, the dictionary definitions had a negative connotation, but what you said about it was perfect. You are doing a great job!
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Thanks Theresa! The dictionary tends to define things like humility, modesty, and service in a negative light. But God’s Word tells us these are great character traits of high value!
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I’m not sure it is more helpful in this case, but for some things I prefer http://webstersdictionary1828.com as it often has a more biblical view.
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Ooh good to know!
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Not dressing like all the Hollywood celebs (‘specially Beyonce) do…
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Point! For real though…. it’s like Hollywood lost all sense of class!
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Such an important topic that’s often missed.
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Yes. Easier to start sooner than correct bad habits later!
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I think it is awesome that she is learning modesty at such a young age. Good for her. She is adorable too.
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Thanks Amy! I happen to think so too.
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Teaching our children about modesty can save so much heartache for the future. Modesty is respecting yourself and honoring your body. Something which needs to be shared because so many young girls are duped into thinking they have to be one of the crowd to be accepted. I always told my daughter anyone can be part of a crowd, but you are an original. 🙂
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That’s a beautiful way of putting it! Thank you!
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Such great thoughts on modesty! It’s great that American Heritage Girls brings that up as a topic and a conversation starter.
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Yup! Made it fun too. Didn’t take away from her personality either. I’m very thankful to have found American Heritage Girls!
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This has been really interesting to read. I’ve no idea how I would have responded if a young girl asked me that too. But as I grew into a young woman, modesty came up. And I read and read so much, allowing myself to be confronted with the truth: I may have been the most modest within my peers, but I too was immodest. I found a book with a chapter on it. Incredible. Please check it out when you find time, “Creeping Compromises” by one Joe Crews. Changed things for me.
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Ooh I will add that to my booklist! Thanks! And you’re right – it’s not about being less immodest than the girl next to you, it’s about wanting to honor God in all you do. Blessings!
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I really love how you uniquely taught your daughter the definition of modesty. Being a teen girl, I search earnestly for other girls and women who actually teach the right concept of modesty. And I totally agree with you about how modesty should not only be aimed at the sex part of it but also doing it to honor God. Thanks for this post! I found it really helpful. ~Anne
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I’m glad it was helpful Anne! I believe God uses modesty to protect us, and it comes from a place of love. And I know as you pray about it He’ll continue to show you ways to honor him. 🙂💕
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So true!
Thanks a million! God Bless. ~Anne
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and sadly, the media these days is doing anything BUT talking about the idea of modesty
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I’ll be honest, I have no idea how I would ever explain this to a daughter. This topic alone scares the heck out of me. I know all I had to deal with as a young girl and I hate thinking about raising a daughter who would endure the same.
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You and me both! I don’t want to bring shame to any young girl the way modesty was used to shame me. Full disclosure: the standards of modesty that some people set are unattainable for big girls like me. I can’t NOT show any cleavage even if I wear two bras! I can’t have less of a butt no matter the length of my skirt. I got chastised so much no matter what I wore and it was all body shaming, truthfully.
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