Are People Showing Too Much Skin in Public?

A mother of two young daughters shared with me how she taught her daughters to dress modestly. She had a rule that before her early teens left the house for the day, their clothes were to be approved by her. It was a simple rule.

“If they revealed too much of their body that should be left private, it had to be covered.”

Some people reading this column immediately think I am going back into the dark ages with that example. That actually occurred only a few short years (less than 10) ago. As I am in many public gatherings, it is no longer just the young girls in their teens, but the fashion style drawing attention to inappropriate clothing now is in every age range it seems. Men, women, teens and senior citizens all have come to a place of non-concern about the way they dress in public. There was a time, maybe in the dark ages of our culture, when men and women dressed with an awareness of where they were going and dressed with a sense of respect for the location or the other people who were going to be present at the event.  In the so-called more relaxed culture today, it seems that almost anything someone chooses to throw on as clothing is allowed.

The dress code seems to indicate there is no dress code.

With celebrities exposing as much of their bodies as possible at awards shows, clubs and parties, they serve as examples to many who dream of one day being famous and allowed to enjoy the celebrity party lifestyle. The example set by many celebrities seems to indicate the more money one has, the fewer clothes they wear in public. There was a time when I remember people saying they did not have clothes to wear to public functions or to church. Now that excuse is no longer valid as a realistic reason to miss going to church or other public functions.

The issue as we deal with appropriate or inappropriate dress is not the cost or style of clothing but, for me, it is modesty. The question seems reasonable to me: “Is too much of one's body being revealed that should be left private?”

There are those people who would quickly let me know that it is none of my business. How a person chooses to dress is a private and personal matter and I need to stay out of it, some would argue. I would argue that once a person goes outside the privacy of their home, revealing too much of their body for the general public to see, it becomes the business of others. We could be dealing with a bigger question of morals and how they influence the decisions we make when we talk about how a person dresses. From where I stand, rules for appropriate dress should always reflect the moral standards of the person as they are going into public view.

Do the clothes a person wears reflect their moral standards? Tell us what you think in comments. 

Follow Ray Newman on Twitter — @RayNewmanSr.