In a little break from the seriousness of the content of the blog, I'm posting Simcha Fisher's very funny Manifesto on Pants.
Simcha wrote up her manifesto in response to an article on CatholiCity.
When we wear pants, it's a near occasion of sin for men?
I gotta tell you, this is a new one on me. I always thought dresses and skirts made us more attractive to men.
As a dress and skirt wearer, frankly I'm a bit relieved.
If you've read Simcha before, you'll not be surprised to learn that responsible women who have been carefully and respectfully downplaying their assets are now being told their pants are responsible for every lustful thought men have in Christendom.
The anti-pants comments thread is most entertaining. Some enlightening comments here too.
Tony Esolen tells that he once explained to his wife how often men think about sex - about once a minute.
As a conservative Catholic woman who tries to be reasonable, I am empathetic to this and make attempts not to cause a scandal. But I'm afraid I agree with Simcha that putting the onus on women to make it impossible for men to be lustful, crosses the rubicon.
I don't think our pants are the problem. It's about re-wiring your brain.
The Tenth Crusade
5 comments:
Way back when "slacks" in public were just coming into vogue, I read the most delicious statement and I still enjoy quoting it. It has transformed many a pants-wearer into a skirt-wearer. Here it is.
"Some women look good in slacks, but not the bulk of them."
I have to admit that, when standing in back of a pair of ill-fitting (read stretched tight) pants, I remark to myself, "If I am thinking such unkind thoughts, I hate to think what my husband is thinking! Women should not make themselves the occasion of sin, even if they have the right to do so. And short, short skirts are just as inappropriate.
Let me add that my thoughts usually run along the lines of "Good grief! Doesn't that woman own a rear-view mirror?"
Many a young woman might be surprised to discover that she is not nearly as sexy or appealing as she defiantly and secretly thinks she is and would discover that a man's thoughts are less flattering that she suspects or hopes that they are.
I think we're on the same page with this one.
As an unmarried man in a lonely metropolis I can't add much to this.... Modesty is a virtue and its decline is tragic, a by-product of the contraceptive mentality, a symptom of hopelessness, and a harbinger of much worse things to come.
This isn't about pants, strictly speaking: the link below, the already-classic image is thought-provoking. But as a regular subway rider I can tell you in this image, religious modesty is disproportionately represented. (Sadly.) But the outsized sunglasses ("you can see everything - I know you can't take your eyes off of me -- but just don't look in my eyes, that's how I protect myself"); the immaturity (flip-flops in the NYC subway), is all too real and overrepresented in this city.
http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2007-07-30
I wanna...protect you, help you, get to know you and be a better person myself if that's what it'll take. Immodesty speaks contempt for that response, and therefore belittles what is natural in a man even while it cashes in on cheaper attention. As such it is dangerous. (And the Jihadists know that.)
I think I'm more shocked that at 50, I'm just learning that there's a modesty problem with pants!
I am am more of a dress/skirt person but I never really thought of it as virtue. In fact, I thought it was exactly the opposite as dresses and skirts are certainly more feminine and attractive and consequently, I presumed more tempting.
I sadly have another confession to make. If you ever come to Boston and see a 50 year old in oversized glasses, please know that little glasses don't give enough coverage to the area where women get all wrinkly under the eyes. It's kind of a protection from crows feet, not intimacy!
And, I do wear sandals on the commuter rail.
I guess I'm a train wreck and didn't know it.
I agree that the casual sex has made it impossible for people to find a compatible mate who reserve their sexuality. Most single women who want to be pleasing to God have taken themselves off the 'market'.
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