Today's Topic: Modesty is about Pricks

**warning, frank speech in plain terms


I know, *insert sighs and groans* because "modesty" is a trigger word used to condemn anything that is too tight, too short, too thin, or to "sexy."

But have you EVER thought about what that really means?

This blog post; which is very personal, real, and moving brought up a whole new side of "modesty" for me that I had never contemplated before.
When the man asks her to sit down because some boy is "doing things," what is he saying?
He is saying that the boy's penis would not be erect if she were sitting down, or wearing more clothing, or (perhaps preferably) not present.  Really, he is telling her that she needs to submit to some strange, pubescent boy's penis.

THAT BLEW MY MIND.

Modesty, as it is forced upon women by the fundamentalist, jean-jumper, skirts-only, shirts-two-sizes-too-big culture, is all about men's pricks.  Because some man might get an erection from you wearing pants, or from seeing your ankles in sandals, or because your shirt had too big of a neck.

I mean, of course they dont say it this way because talking about sex is taboo and I didnt know what an erection was until I was about 21.  Young girls, it is when a man is sexually aroused.  His penis stands away from his body.  You are NOT trying to "protect the minds of your brothers in Christ."  You are actually trying to not be in any semblance sexual, so that they do not think of anything sexual when they see you.
Ie: the more shapeless, asexual, and invisible you are, the better it is for the men.

Because men cant help it?

Helllooooo, I was taught basic logic even though I was not taught anatomy.

Seeing a chocolate cake does not give a man an erection.
Spending a day in the park does not give a man an erection.
Seeing a woman in pants does not give a man an erection.
Seeing a woman in a bathing suit (one or two piece) does not give a man an erection.
Seeing a woman's V-neck shirt does not give a man an erection.
Seeing a woman bend over does not give a man an erection.
Seeing a woman's breasts does not give a man an erection.
Seeing a woman naked does not give a man an erection.

How can I say this?  Well, because seeing is only that.  Your corneas are sending information pixels to your brain.  There is nothing sexual about pixels.  What causes an erection is a MAN thinking sexual thoughts in his mind.  His body (having evolved to survive and propagate his species) responds to the sexual thoughts by bringing his penis away from his body to better penetrate his object of sexual lust.
Men are not helpless when their corneas unwittingly allow pixels of women to fly to their brains, they are CHOOSING to sexually objectify that woman.  The woman could be doing something as innocent as showing an ankle underneath her voluminous dress when crossing the street, and a man could sexually objectify her.

It is not something women can control.
Because you, as a person, cannot control any person other than yourself.
It is not something women can prevent.
Because you can never predict all the fetishes and turn-ons in the world, and there are more every day!  Unless you never see a man, you cannot protect all men from yourself.  Which leads me to say:
It is not something women are at fault for.
If anything, it was the fault of whomever fashioned women to be so sexually attractive to men (and vise versa), and it was an evolutionary necessity to keep the human race from dying out.  You cannot change being born a woman, (well, you actually can, these days) and you cannot change having a womanly shape, and you cannot stop that from attracting men, as men are attracted to your pheromones as much as they are to your shape(s).
It is not something women should be shamed for.
Seriously.  The message I hear over and over from the "modesty, purity" camp is: Woman, you have a body that attracts men.  For shame!  Cover up and hide that attraction.  Do not have a body.  For shame!

So that's it: modesty is about keeping men from getting an erection.
 So modest is about women preventing blue balls, somehow
So modesty is nothing more than men's penises deciding what women do or dont get to wear or show or cover or have.

Strange, when I put it in those terms I suddenly dont have the urge to ever want to be called "modest" again.

As I told someone I used to know this evening:
    I have decided personally that I will not be a slave to any man's penis.

TeenPact – My experience (and a lot of parenthesis)

   My mom saw a poster for it on the homeschool group's website. It was being promoted a lot since it was the first year that they gained access to our State. I think I was the ONLY student there who wanted to attend. Amid all the testimonies of hating the fancy (and modest) clothes, hating civics, and it being a struggle to not listen to music or watch television all week, I wondered what was wrong with all these other homeschoolers.

   Yes, I had a lot of pride, but I was raised thinking that homeschooling was better than public school and it was unfortunate that public schoolers could not get a 4 day crash-course of in-depth politics training on a state level. I reveled in the homework and the required modest clothing and I had no problem with the rule about media because my media consumption was already incredibly minuscule. The rules about guy-girl interactions was not a problem because of how strict my father was, and all of the guys there were younger than me and not that appealing.

   I also had a family background in politics (2008 was an election year and my grandparents and older sister were so caught up in the whirlwind that my leaving for so many days was a big deal around the house) which made me the student who knew it all.

And that was a problem. My whole TeenPact experience I was either patronized by staffers and administrators, or I was the problem that they had to deal with and work around.

   One of the staffers inserted a rabbit trail push for John McCain votes/support (we were all too young to vote anyway) and I piped up (in the middle of class) about his immigration bill and his history of non-conservatism. That got me an extremely dirty look from all staffers and I was ignored every time I raised my hand after that...except when no one else knew the answer. (I was down for a couple in-kind contributions to a campaign, so I knew what they were. None of the other students did.)

   I definitely stood out in the class as the only student to ask the Aide to the First Lady (She was also a high-level judge) what (the Judge/First Lady's) stand was on abortion and how she would deal with cases to repeal Roe v. Wade. (I was also very ignorant about how the real world worked. I spouted what I was taught with passion and sincerity.) I was the only one who knew what an “ex-post facto” law was and my team won the Constitution Game because of my knowledge of the Constitution. (Literally, a staffer had to help the other two branches because Congress blew them out of the water.) (Both years!)

And, when I went and visited the 3^rd year (I was unable to attend due to financial constraints –and more on that later) the whole alumni class asked that I be allowed to participate on their team. Their requests were turned down by the less-than-amused staffers.

I was completely gung-ho about TeenPact after my experience. I was effusive in my praise and I thought it was the best thing I had ever experienced and I wanted to attend ALL their other offerings.

Unfortunately, TeenPact is a rich, middle class thing. You pay your own way for everything. And “everything” is not cheap. You get an experience, the opportunity to meet friends, meals, and a T-Shirt. Often the events are far away and even staffers have to pay their own transportation. Housing is an extra cost on top of the $200-$300 event. (Unless it it its own event, like Endeavor or National Convention, which raised the price tag to $400 or more.)

   The first year I was in TeenPact I won a scholarship to go to National Convention and found a last-minute ride from Maryland. It was a 750-1000 word essay on “What Does it Mean to Be a Conservative.” Reading over it now it is a huge mess of right-wing idealism, including a rant about government distribution of wealth. Back then, I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself.

   I spent the week in a mix of pride, boredom, and frustrated anger. There was an obvious problem with popularity. The kids who had staffed multiple places had a huge edge over people who had staffed only their home state or not staffed at all. Their actual personalities were often sickening, but they still received the most votes and applause (or the elections were rigged in their favor). While there is a lot of discipleship and depth in the core groups, a lot of the event was fluffy and I was bored by the big speeches, only broken by the funny skits and attempts at making me play “The Game” (you just lost). Huge promotion of the Ultimate Frisbee tournaments annoyed me, as I was never that in to sports, and all attempts I made at throwing Frisbees resulted in everyone laughing and pointing. I would spend the afternoon wandering the camp looking for people in my group who might not be already with their cliques and might want to do something with me than gawk at Adam whats-his-name in a pink shirt playing with "The Bojangles."

   Because it was the first year that my state had ever had a TeenPact class, I was the only one from my state in attendance. I made a laughable attempt at running for Congress (and was one of the few late entries who actually paid my $10, to my knowledge). My contribution to much talked about and poorly attended silent auction was a necklace set that I hand-made.  It was made fun of for not having a more political or state relevance. (I think, I hid and refused to tell them that I made it)

   The only other person I found who was really a “kindred spirit” was a guy, and as I was not “allowed” to crush on him or spend any time with him without someone else there (I didn’t know anyone except staffers, and I followed the rules that I saw many of the “regulars” breaking) we never really got to know each other very well. Interestingly enough, he is the only one of any of them that I still keep in Facebook contact. And, through him I got to know a couple who are now some of my good friends.

   I came home from National Convention tired emotionally. I felt suddenly like TeenPact was not the marvelous place I had once thought it to be. I felt left out and unwanted by the very group I would have given my talents to willingly and eagerly. Unable to afford any other event that year, I began saving what little money I had in order to attend the State Class next year. I also applied to Staff, but I was turned down, which I almost expected. After all, I had spoken up and contradicted a staffer and made myself stick out. I paid for my alumni class all by myself, as my quiverfull father did not have the funds to spend on me for a second year. This is notable in that I was not allowed a job and made this money over the course of a year of saving odds and ends that came my way from neighborhood cleaning or babysitting jobs or from family members. I had no way to MAKE money, so spending that much meant a lot to me.

   I aced the alumni class, again proving to have put the most into the assignments and again leading my branch to victory in the Constitution Search. (When teams were picked everyone asked to switch to my team.) I made an effort to work my hardest and to not cause any issues. I was trying to prove myself as a competent person who was a good candidate to staff her own state. I was also at the upper age limit and I knew that this would be my last class.

    I wanted to attend Endeavor that year, but I was not able to make enough money and instead looked at the perfectly lit pictures of the other girls having a High Tea and shooting guns in a field thinking about how nice it would be to be able to have that kind of an experience. But their middle class families could afford the airfare or gas, the dresses, the makeup, the scones and high teas, and the price of the event.  My father made about $40,000 a year for a family of 11.

   The last year I spent in my home state I applied again to be a staffer and I was turned down again. One of my fellow classmates was accepted, though, as he had gone to National Convention and Survival. He also said that one of that year's staffers had pushed really hard for him. It figures, the staffer I had interrupted my first class was now an Intern (albeit he never came back to my state).

 

  Now, over 5 years later, I look back on it all with a sigh and a shake of my head. I was young and passionate. I had a lot to give and they turned it down. But in the end, I was the one better off for it. I left that state and have since been able to mediate my passion with real knowledge of the world and the incredible amount of variety and complexity in it. I no longer have “pat” answers to everything and I think I am all the better for it. I also refuse to accept their misogynistic belittling of women. I believe I have the right to wear a pair of dress pants instead of being relegated to a skirt. I think that I have just as much ability and knowledge as any male, as they refused to allow women to be an Intern for more than one year. Men could do it for two years and then if they excelled, they could go on to be a program director and have their own gavel made for them. I acknowledge that I could definitely be a Mayor or a President, which position they never elected a woman into. It was an interesting coincidence, if it really WAS a coincidence.

I refuse to think of myself less because I did not have the money that the “TeenPact Families” (ie. the blue bloods) had to host events and send their kids to staff 5 states and run expensive presidential campaigns with the paraphernalia, candy, and free T-shirts.

  I have saved only my first state class t-shirt with all the names on it. The names are mostly faded and can hardly be seen. I have de-friended most of the Interns (or been de-friended) and have since hidden most of my TeenPact pictures and videos. It is a chapter in my life that I do not regret, but do not like to announce. I prefer that no one remember me or pick me out as one of them. I regret being so conservative and blind. I do not regret getting away and changing.
And I hope that people who read this think twice about endorsing a misogynistic group that exists for the wealthy middle class republicans to indoctrinate their children. They also get together groups of students to do grunt work for HSLDA.  Read about that scandalous mess here.