Modesty is Sexy
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Recently, Dmitri challenged his readers to identify their guilty pleasures. Here’s one of mine.
I find the photograph to the right to be one of the most alluring images I’ve seen. Ever. There is something about modesty and head coverings that is very attractive. I can’t put my finger on it.
I do not dispense advice about whether women should cover their heads, a traditional practice for Christian women, for the same reason that I don’t tell parents how to discipline their children. (And women will probably never ask me for said advice for the same reason that parents do not ask me for parenting tips — namely, that I have no parenting experience.) However, I shall likely never be wooed to the position that head coverings should be universally put aside, simply because I think they’re so hot.
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13 Responses to “Modesty is Sexy”
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November 6th, 2005 at 11:06 pm
Interesting, and I agree there is something very alluring about that image. It works in much the same way as good suspense movies do, by allowing the mind of the viewer to fill in the missing pieces.
Very nice, and welcome back.
November 7th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
Lots of girls on campus wear these sweatpants with logos and words printed across the derriere, in a rather obvious bid to attract attention to their fannies. Or they wear tight or low cut things. I think they were completely blown out of the water by a young Indian girl I saw one day wearing a modest pair of regular pants…with the end of her beautiful, thick, long, black braid switching back and forth right across her posterior as she walked. It was mesmerizing! And I’m not even a guy (obviously). It worked because it was completely unconscious.
And yes, welcome back.
November 7th, 2005 at 8:07 pm
Hmmm. You sure it’s not just the eyes that you’re drawn too? I mean, I could fall into the eyes of this young woman. *warning: artistic training reemerging*
See, the head scarf is so plain and minimalistic that it naturally draws attention away from itself and towards the exposed area – in this case the eyes.
In fact, there’s a good chance you’d pass over this image if it weren’t for the fact that the young lady has her hand up, next to her face. In doing so, our eyes are drawn from the top right of the scarf, across the top, then down along the bottom of the scarf and back to her hand, completing the circle.
So it’s obvious that her eyes are meant to be the center of attention.
And also, the contrast of exposed skin is then reinforced with make-up, adding a sense of the exotic and sexual mystery.
Marketing 101 – it’s all in the packaging. Why do you think Samson fell for it? 😉
November 7th, 2005 at 10:58 pm
Mr HG, I certainly agree with you. I posit that your analysis of the photograph (how sparky of you) is spot on, but it also applies equally to an understanding of why I feel the same when I see women in scarves at church and in hijab on the street.
November 10th, 2005 at 12:37 pm
Oh my … that’s all I can say.
November 12th, 2005 at 3:24 am
………….make-up …equals modesty….how?
This is a lovely photograph, taken by someone with a creative imagination. I think that covering of the entire face is too extreme. Only in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula is this traditional to my knowledge. What right have they to spread their heresies over half the world? (although I am proud of them for promoting monotheism) Covering the head was standard for women in all of the west and northern middle east for at least 2500 years and among the most traditional it still is. (take a look at St. Bernadette for example from southern france in 1866, notice she does not have maquillaje on her face!: http://www.catholic-forum.com/catholicteacher/bernadette2-new.jpg)
As for modesty being attractive it is, humility is a virtue. But modesty must not only be thought of as clothing which we cover ourselves with..for how much clothing we wear is subjective not objective. It is the meaning of the clothes we wear that counts not the clothes themselves. In the hot humid climate of a polynesian island or central african rainforest a woman may be the most modest yet appear nude to us. This does not mean I condone western european nudism because this is trying to replicate a whole society within a very different society which is actually a distortion of the dress of other cultures. For even though almost no clothes are worn in another society, the fact that some small ones are worn around the genitals and feathers in the hair may signal status and ego tells us that their lack of clothing is simply a replicating of anothers motives when wearing clothing over their whole body. To some it up a smile alone is always attractive for me, a person who laughs and gives me the feeling of love, which is God working through that person at that moment is what attracts most people to each other ultimately.
November 14th, 2005 at 6:41 pm
Yes, I saw this image at Get Religion and was struck by it, too. I couldn’t help but wonder, though, if she were hiding a mouth full of rotten teeth. heh.
November 21st, 2005 at 4:47 pm
Oh, great….now I go and pray and have to worry about who thinks the ugly head scarf thing that I try to hide under, that I wear to remind myself that I’m there to PRAY and not to {zoolander voice} be “good looking”… is SEXY?????? How many other men are out there like this???
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Alana, there’s too much to say here. Let’s start with: This is bad?
May 6th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
It’s a natural part of human nature, really. Everyone, in their own way, is curious. I’d say that is why you find the picture alluring. Her eyes are really pretty (which is where your main focus is on the pic), and part of you wants to know what is under the head dress.
(this is probably a horrid explanation, but I can’t think of a better one -.-)
June 13th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
i wear a scarf too and i never thought it too be sexy but i makes me feel good to know that people think its sexy
August 26th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Thanks, women should cover their head for lustfull eyes of men.
November 16th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I would rather use the word beauty than sexy. I also believe “covering body” makes a woman more attractive, but in a good way.