Conclusion

My findings are only a small part of this issue, but I believe they effectively illustrate a need on this campus and suggest a solution to start handling the problem. It’s clear to many faculty and students on this campus that we aren’t talking about this issue. As I showed, other institutions (families, schools, churches) have had success with teaching, giving guidelines, and living an example of modesty.

Modesty may not be the easiest or most popular subject to address, but it is extremely important to helping maintain a healthy atmosphere, both socially, academically, and spiritually on our campus. It is my hope that Walla Walla College can recognize these possibilities and move forward with providing for our students in this manner.

Guidelines and Living An Example

After teaching, two more important concepts to utilize in promoting modesty on our campus are guidelines and living an exaple. Coming after this teaching, but only after, is guidelines. This tends to be a touchier issue and must be handled with care. Most importantly, it should be emphasized that principle is what matters. This is why teaching must precede any guidelines. It needs to be understood that whether or not a woman’s heart is open to God and His teaching on this topic is much more vital than the specifics of what she wears.

Once this is in place, however, then I believe that some guidelines can be effective. Currently, the Student Handbook at our college states, “Students are expected to apply Christian principles and mature judgment to dress and appearance. The college stresses modesty, appropriateness and neatness. To maintain an academic atmosphere, neat street clothing is appropriate on campus. Immodest clothing such as tight-fitting garments, low necklines, short skirts, short shorts, tank tops, bare-midriff items, obscene, offensive slogans or graphics are not appropriate…” (Handbook, 19)

In responding to this statement, it is obvious that this dress code does not affect how students dress. I have seen every one of those items labeled “not appropriate” on our campus and most of them I have observed in class. I am rather sure that most students have not even read this statement. I hadn’t, until I looked it up for this project. I believe that our college needs to revamp their approach to this dress code. First, as part of teaching, this dress code needs to be shared. It does very little when no one knows about it. It could be addressed as part of the first girls’ worship of the year, it could be addressed at chapel, or in some other way. However it’s done, students need to hear it. Secondly, students need encouragement to follow it. I don’t believe that strict discipline for wearing any of those items is the answer, but I do think that it could be helpful for girls’ deans to be given the responsibility to talk with girls who clearly display immodest dress. Not to harshly reprove them, but to kindly point out the issue and try to help them understand it. Should they enforce it further? I don’t know. Perhaps it could be helpful. Perhaps not. That isn’t what is vital to carrying out an atmosphere of purity and modesty on our campus.

Lastly, example is also very important. I believe that the faculty plays an important role in modeling Christian values to the students on our campus. Here, I see success on our campus. I have appreciated the dress of my teachers – it’s typically very tasteful and modest. I am glad that the faculty seems to exhibit this quality. If we can combine this with teaching and guidelines, I believe that we could have an effective impact on our campus.

Resources

In conjunction with teaching, I wanted to show that there are a host of resources available on modesty, both spiritual and secular. If our school were to decide to move forward and teach this topic, there are many options available. I have collected here a small list of various books and articles on modesty, as well as a list of modest clothing stores that sell modest and stylish clothing.

Books:
Secret Keeper: the Delicate Power of Modesty, by Dannah Gresh
The Look: Does God Really Care What I Wear? by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue, by Wendy Shalit
Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self-Respect and Find It's Not Bad to Be Good, by Wendy Shalit

Articles:
"GirlTalk": blog posts on modesty
"Beyond the Eye-Candy: Young women issuing call to modesty, healthy images"
"Anti-Britney, the New Look"
"Modesty Revisited" - Boundless.org
"The Beauty in Modesty" - Boundless.org

Modest clothing stores: Down East Basics, Christa Taylor, Modbe Clothing, and Shade Clothing.

Teaching Modesty

I believe there are several ways in which our school can and should step up and provide resources for young women on our campus. These include teaching, living an example, and providing guidelines. For now, I'd like to address the main one - teaching.

Teaching is one of the most vital ways of helping modesty be understood and applied on our campus. Although many students and faculty observe that this is a problem on the campus, all agreed that it was not being taught. I don’t believe that girls are purposely dressing in a way to allure or consciously putting their value in their bodies – rather, I think many are simply unaware. Because of the importance of this issue, it should be the college’s responsibility to provide this teaching for their students.

Teaching could be provided through several outlets. Our school could benefit from Bible classes that emphasize practical Christianity, including the topic of modesty and apparel. The girls’ deans and AGA leaders could teach this topic through worships on Mondays or other girls’ events. We could talk about the topic at chapel, freely and openly, along with the topic of lust. They’re sensitive issues, but they desperately need to be addressed and our school is silent. Lastly, we could even invite in speakers like Dannah Gresh, author of “Secret Keepers”, a book on modesty for young women.

But does teaching work? I believe that evidence shows that it does. I looked into the teaching of modesty at a large congregation at Covenant Life Church in MD and was impressed by the effectiveness they have experienced as a result. Their church provides teaching on modesty from the pulpit, in small community groups, in youth groups, and in women’s ministry. Overall, their pastor notes, the women in the congregation exhibit an attitude of modesty and commitment to God’s way for how they dress. (Mahaney, 2002) In addition, young men and women have expressed appreciation for the understanding they have gained from their church’s leadership. One young woman wrote to one of the church’s pastors,

"I wanted to thank you for the message on modesty that you presented at my church several months ago…I usually consider myself as dressing modestly… But [after the message] I had to go back, with the 'Modesty Heart Check' you provided for us. It has been a challenge, a means of grace for my friends and me. I have seen it hung on the mirrors of many of my friends as they exclaimed, 'if you stick it there, there is just no way of getting around it.' It has also been much easier to bring things to people about their clothing, or point something out to them, because they have heard the message. I have seen a lot of changes in the way some of the girls dress as a result of your message. Thank you!! Emily." (Whitacre, 2005)

The young men in the church, as well, have expressed gratitude for the teaching of their church and how women exhibit modesty. One wrote,

“I am so grateful of the friendships that God has given me over the past year and a half and for the godly ladies in my care group. I am so appreciative of the sacrifice that these ladies make to glorify God and to serve and care for the guys. I heard a story of one of the ladies in our ministry who went shopping and really liked a shirt she was trying on. But then she thought, “No, I can’t do this to the guys.” That was the first time I had ever heard of anything like that and it made me so grateful. It is such a blessing to have friends who care for us enough to be selfless and sacrifice… I think modesty is so attractive and helpful in friendship because it makes it easier for a friendship to be centered around God and for fellowship to be unhindered.” (Mahaney, 2002)

In addition, even the secular American Psychological Association, in their study on sexualization, noted the importance and effectiveness of teaching. “Action by parents and families has been effective in confronting sources of sexualized images of girls. Organized religious and other ethical instruction can offer girls important practical and psychological alternatives to the values conveyed by popular culture.” (Zurbriggen, 2007)

Teaching promotes principle and because of this, it's most foundational to helping modesty be understood and lived out on our campus. Once it's in place, then I believe there are a couple more ways that we can next address this issue on campus.

Do we dress modestly at Walla Walla College?

Do we dress modestly at Walla Walla College? I have my own thoughts, but I also decided to ask the students, faculty, and spiritual leadership on campus.

First, I have my own observations. Especially as summer has arrived and the weather has warmed up, I have noticed more and more of a lack of modesty among the young women on our campus. Skirts and shorts are very short; shirts are low-cut; spaghetti strap tops (very tight and revealing) are commonly worn to class; dresses are often strapless and quite short. A lack of modesty is also evidenced in the sight of young women often laying on blankets on the various lawns on campus in revealing clothing. This particularly surprises me when it is down on the lawn in front of Sittner, with quite a few windows facing the girls. I believe that for all these reasons, I’ve personally seen a lack of modesty in the dress on this campus.

I also talked to some students on campus. It was interesting to find that most girls were surprised at the issue being brought up and didn’t seem to see it as an issue or else were somewhat defensive, while more young men thought it was a problem. One young man said, “The girls on the campus seem to often dress to attract guys too much with their bodies, instead attracting them for who they really are.” (Anonymous, personal communication, May 22, 2007)

I also talked faculty on the campus, asking them about their observations. First, I asked Bible teachers whether or not this concept was addressed in any of their classes. The answer was no, from the responses I received. I asked spiritual leaders (including pastors) whether or not they have addressed this issue in the spiritual arena of this campus as well. Karl Haffner, senior pastor of the college church, noted that he had covered the principle before in sermons, but it was not a general theme and he thought the teaching was very limited. He did, however, point out that the church has dress guidelines for platform participants. Troy Ahrens, leader of The Awakening, similarly noted that the Awakening also has dress guidelines for their platform participants. “At The Awakening modesty issues for women have been addressed but mostly behind the scenes,” he said. (Ahrens, personal communication, 05 14 2007) I also talked to administration about the issue. One administrator noted, “I think a number of young women on this campus dress in a way that shows they don't understand the messages they're sending, and in addition, doesn't prepare them to be professionals when they leave here.” (Anonymous, 05 06 2007)

Lastly, I asked the girls’ deans for their input. Iva Armstrong shared her concern. “To my knowledge, the females on this campus have not been provided any classes or council on how to dress appropriately,” she said. “I am concerned that the dress code around here in null and void and everyone talks about the way the ladies dress yet no one will say or do anything. (Armstrong, personal communication, 05 14 2007)

Thus, from personal observation, from talking to students, and from the insight I gained from faculty members, I believe our school lacks both teaching on modesty and modest dress exhibited by its students. No one I talked to knew of any outlet for teaching on this subject. Most responded affirmatively to the idea that there is a need for teaching this subject and that the young women on this campus lack an understanding of modesty. Because of this, I suggest that our school needs to take action. But how? I'll look at that next.

Is modesty important?

The concept of modesty isn't necessarily immediately popular. Besides the misconceptions about what modesty is, the general idea may not feel very exciting to us as young women because it seems to limit us. Becaues of this, it's important to understand just how much our dress affects ourselves and those on our campus.

First, I believe that modesty is vitally important for young women. As our culture continues to lower the standard of dress and raise the standard of flawless bodies, wearing revealing clothing only fuels the problem. These trends are harmful because they lift up an ideal that the majority of young women cannot live up to. Facing pressure to live up to this ideal has created a multitude of problems in our society. Recently, the American Psychological Association did a study on the sexualization of young women. The APA defined sexualization as occurring when “…a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal…a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) with being sexy…a person is sexually objectified—that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making.” (APA, 2007) Their research used revealing clothing as part of sexualization. The APA studies then tied sexualization to a large number of problems, from self-objectification and shame about appearance to depression, eating disorders, low self-esteem, and the lack of ability to develop sexually in a healthy way. When young women can have a healthy sense of valuing themselves as more than sexual objects, they will have less of these problems. They will be able to function as happy, healthy individuals in our society – and on our campus.

I also believe that modesty of dress will benefit the young men on our campus and I look at this from more than one angle. From the secular angle, the APA research addressed this as well, noting that “Exposure to narrow ideals of female sexual attractiveness may make it difficult for some men to find an ‘acceptable’ partner or to fully enjoy intimacy with a female partner.” Similarly, when a man is around many women every day who dress in revealing ways, it is harder for him to not to create this narrow ideal that may not match the woman in his life. He is exposed to more, so there are more options. From the Christian angle, this ties in with Jesus’ statement that “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28) In other words, a man whose eyes are not kept for the woman God gave him is committing adultery in his heart by sexually appreciating her when he should be saving that for his wife. I believe this would apply to unmarried men as well, because the call to be faithful to a spouse should apply to one’s whole life, not just after you are married.

Lastly, I believe that modesty of dress would benefit the faculty. One faculty member I spoke talked to spoke of the male faculty in particular and their commitment to purity of mind. “It's very uncomfortable for a male teacher to have to ask them to go dress better,” this individual said, “because it generally makes him look like a guy with a ‘dirty mind’, when he's not. The male faculty would be thankful for the girls to get education on dressing more appropriately.” (Anonymous, personal communication, 05 06 2007)

So as I look at the campus as a whole, I believe that modest dress would help create an atmosphere of learning and healthy interaction with less of a focus on appearance and sexual objectification. For us as young women, we need to make conscious choices based on this. It takes unselfishness, but in the long run, it benefits us and everyone around us. Our school, too, needs to recognize tihs and encourage it on our campus.

Modesty - the Purpose of This Blog

As a young woman and a student at Walla Walla College, I am interested in issues that relate to young women on our campus. As a project for my social problems class, taught by Bobbie Sue Arias, I have looked into the issue of modesty on our campus. As I've studied, I've realized more and more how important this topic is and how much it affects both students and faculty on our campus. In the following posts, I will address and share with you about issues such as...

• Is modesty really important - and if so, why?
• Do women on our campus dress modesty?
• Does Walla Walla College have a dress code?
• How can we promote modesty at our school?

I hope to further our understanding of why this topic is vital to a healthy atmosphere on our campus, both socially, academically, and spiritually. In addition, I'd like to share what I've heard from students and faculty about this topic. Lastly, I want to share how I believe we can effectively promote modesty on our campus.

Whatever you may this about this topic, I hope you'll take the time look at what I've learned and be open to considering new ideas and new thoughts.