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The Sanctified Life: Modesty Is Not the Best Policy

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The Sanctified Life: Modesty Is Not the Best Policy Luther Seminary Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Papers Student Papers 2014 The aS nctified Life: Modesty is Not the Best Policy Ali C. Ferin Luther Seminary Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/cyf_papers Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Ferin, Ali C., "The aS nctified Life: Modesty is Not the Best Policy" (2014). Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Papers. Paper 8. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Papers at Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SANCTIFIED LIFE: MODESTY IS NOT THE BEST POLICY by ALI C. FERIN A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Luther Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF DIVINITY: CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILY CONCENTRATION THESIS ADVISER: DR. ANDREW ROOT ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 2014 Trigger Warning: rape, assault, sexual harassment TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Table of Contents i 2. Dedication ii 3. “No Collarbones” 1 4. The Objectification of Girls and Women: What is it? 3 5. The Objectification of Girls and Women: What does it do? 4 6. The Danger for Girls and Women 6 7. The Danger for Boys and Men 9 8. The Response 10 9. An Alternative 14 10. Appendix 1: Leader Assessment 18 11. Appendix III: A Confession 19 12. Appendix III: A Confession 20 13. Bibliography 21 i This work is dedicated to all girls and women, who have been manipulated by the church to hide, cover, conceal, diminish and shame their bodies. This work is especially dedicated to those young women who years ago, gathered around that trip-packing list, whose groans and protests I ignored. Thankfully, my failure does not have the final word. The final word rests in Christ’s death and bodily resurrection, whose Spirit justifies us, and makes holy the bodies in which we dwell. ii “No Collarbones” Cheeto®-stained packing lists and cans of soda covered the table as 14 Roman Catholic youth giggled and chattered with excitement. School was out, summer had begun, and they were leaving for Spain in just a few short weeks to see Pope Benedict XVI, at World Youth Day1. “Just a few more things kids, and we will be outta here,” the priest promised, as he tried to regain the attention of the youth. I looked around at the other chaperones, wondering if they were as ready to go home as I was. The priest continued, “Girls, I want you to look again at the packing list. Skirts and shorts must be no higher than the knee. No tank tops, no undergarments showing, no necklines below the collarbone…and that includes your swimsuit...one-piece swimsuit of course. This trip is not a fashion show; you are not there to show off. Oh, and I know what men are like. I don’t need you to be grabbed on the metro or yelled at on the street!” I found myself nodding in agreement as the young women sounded sighs of protest. As I sat in compliancy to the priest’s dress code, my inner-dialogue began. “No shorts above the knees, and no tank tops… Isn’t it supposed to be 100 degrees in Spain? Note to self: buy a one-piece swimsuit, and apparently shirts that don’t show my collarbone. Is that what he just said? No collarbones? Men will grab the girls because they can see their collarbones? Something isn’t right.” Something wasn’t right. In that very moment I realized that I had been participating in a system which was instilling body shame and fear into girls and young women. That very moment, my heart broke open, and scenes of my adolescence flashed 1 World Youth Day is an international pilgrimage for Roman Catholic youth. It began in 1986 with His Holiness John Paul II. For more information on the history and mission of World Youth Day, please visit http://worldyouthday.com/about-wyd 1 before me: moments of pulling at my t-shirt, trying to prevent the fabric from clinging to my forming figure. Moments of stretching my arms as far down my legs as they would go, proving that my shorts were longer than my fingertips. That moment of being called down into the principal’s office for wearing tight sweatpants to class, and that day spent perusing the swimsuit aisle in tears with my mother, trying to find something that would cover my young growing body. Moments of college flashed before me, of my male peers grabbing my body through my dress while at the parties, of trying to look pretty without being considered a tease or even worse, a prude. My mind was plagued with memories of hiding my body, trying to cover its curves and diminish my own presence. Memories of staring at my own reflection in the mirror, wondering if I looked thin enough, beautiful enough, strong enough, acceptable enough— to be a considered a woman with self-worth. I felt overwhelmed in that church basement as I looked around the table of growing girls, knowing that for their whole lives, they will be told what to do with their bodies. I shuttered at the fact that as a leader, I consented to a policy that was dehumanizing and had severe emotional, physical, and theological implications. I nodded in approval as I allowed those young women to be objectified, to be told that they must cover up their female bodies to prevent their own harassment. I permitted those young girls to hear the message that their female bodies get in the way of ministry-- that their female bodies are distracting-- that their female bodies are best when hidden--that their female bodies are a source of sin--that their female bodies somehow weaken in their personhood. In that moment, I consented to a culture of objectification, patriarchy, rape, shame, and fear. I wish I had screamed out: “You don’t need to hide your bodies! Your 2 bodies are awesome and beautiful. God will work through you on this trip—every part of you— including your body! And if a man grabs you on the metro, it won’t be because of your collarbone, it will be because he refuses to see the how holy and sacred your body— your entire self—truly is!” Instead, I did nothing; and in my silence, I gave my consent. Let this essay be my recant that I no longer consent to a culture that objectifies the female body, that I refuse to participate in a system that publically shames girls and women, that accuses victims, that dehumanizes and devalues all people. I will not contribute to the sin of objectification anymore. The Objectification of Girls and Women: What is it? From early adolescence, girls2 in the United States3 are sexually objectified as a part of their lived, daily experience. The objectification of girls and women can be defined in a variety of ways, but it is commonly accepted to be the process in which girls and women are recognized as, Objects to be looked at, ogled, even touched or used, anonymous things as commodities perhaps to be purchased, perhaps taken-- and once tired of, discarded and often replaced.4 2 This essay is written from a hetero-normative perspective, and functions under the assumption that there is a distinct gender binary, though I do not promote either of those positions. However, most information on objectification and gender-based crimes enters the discussion by assuming there are only two genders: male and female. I understand that individuals who do not conform to traditional gender roles, are inter-sex, androgynous, or transgender; do experience objectification, violence, and discrimination. 3 Objectification of girls and women exists in various cultures and has happened throughout history. It is by no means a problem that only the United States experiences. However, for the purposes of this essay, only the current context of the United States will be considered. 4 Frank, Phyllis B. "Objectification Of Women." National Organization of Men Against Sexism | NOMAS. National Organization of Men Against Sexism, Web. 08 Apr. 2014. 3 Objectification is “when a woman’s [or girl’s] body or body parts are singled out and separated from her as a person.”5 That is to say, that objectification happens whenever bodies are separated from personhood. Girls especially witness and experience objectification through “television, music videos, music lyrics, magazines, sports media, video games, the Internet and advertising6.” Miss Representation, a documentary on the media’s portrayal of girls and women, shares that Girls get the message from very early on that what’s most important is how they look. That their value, their worth, depends on that. And boys get the message that this is what’s important about girls…no matter what else a woman does, no matter her achievements; her value still depends on how she looks.7 In a culture that objectifies the female body, girls and women are only valued for their bodies, which are seen as objects to be desired or objects that are distracting. Objectification dehumanizes girls because it either places value on females solely for their bodies, or it divides their bodies from their personhood. The Objectification of Girls and Women: What does it do? When girls are objectified, they are forced to function in a world where their bodies are susceptible to constant judgment.
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