Beautiful and provocative! Thank you for sharing that. It rings so true with me. Both in this and throughout the rest of my life. The more I drift away from dogma and doctrine, the more room I have for God's love in my life-- and the more love I have, the more love I can share.

Thank you, Tom, I appreciate your comments. My heart goes out to you for the experiences you have been through. You bring up an excellent thought that has previously crossed my mind but hasn't recently. That of the role of Eve in the introduction of Sin into the world. I have actually heard people use that as an argument for why women are to be held *more* responsible than the men for abuse/rape/etc. "Well it's obvious women are just temptresses and only bring the innocent men down with them...just look at Eve!" Thank you for your thoughts. In answer to your question, I believe a persons 'level' of modesty-- be it denim skirts or shorts, long sleeves or tank tops --is between them, God, (and if they have one) their significant other. There is no clear cut scripture that says "thou shalt not wear bikinis" for us to go by, so I think this is one of those areas that people need to decide for themselves on. If a woman feels comfortable, happy and confident in the way she dresses, there is absolutely no room for me to make a judgement call on whether or not that is "modest". For me, I am FAR more liberal than I used to be. Just today I wore shorts and a halter top! ;) And I should just note that I have nothing against teaching modesty. However it needs to be done in a healthy way that doesn't shame women's bodies and put unnecessary blame on them. Perhaps that will be my next post! Thank you again for your comment, Tom.

I agree wholeheartedly. It is definitely part of the rape culture that our society is only beginning to dig its way out of. I would have liked to get into that a bit more in my post but it seemed slightly deviant from the main point I was trying to make. I firmly believe that saying "If you wear that [insert arbitrary piece of clothing], you will make men sin!" is right on its way to saying "Well she only got groped/molested/raped because she was dressed like a slut!" because it stems from the same viewpoint that women are responsible for the actions of men. Excellent points, Lyra! Thank you for reading and commenting.

It should be noted that I did it on my own as well. It was my own choice to start dressing the way I did and my parents didn't make me do it at all. It was definitely a result of the environment I was in and the 'peer pressure' from my friends around me and not because of anything my parents forced on me. I think it is very important to wear what is comfortable for you and be happy in your own skin. I am glad you have been able to find that balance for yourself! Thanks for reading and giving your input, Jackie!

While you may not have been as strict as I was in your expression, I would say the mindset was just as extreme and unhealthy. I definitely agree that men are turned into animals, which quite honestly, is just as unhealthy for them as it is for us. Thanks for reading and commenting, Deanna! =)