The Beauty of Modesty

A Missionary priest that I'm friends with told me a story of riding a bus in the country of Nicaragua. When he boarded the bus in the country, the women were dressed so modestly that he was overcome by their beauty, to the point were he actually desired to give up his seat on the bus, he wanted to protect them. Then as they entered the city, a group of women poured onto the bus, and he felt an incredible desire to guard his eye's, because these women were dressed so immodestly. He was struck that these women all looked alike, they had almost the exact same features, but the first group led him to want to protect, they inspired manly virtues in him, while the second group inspired fear in him, and probably lust in many of the other men from the bus. Whether intentional or not, the dress brought out the worst desires of the men involved, while the first group brought out the best in all the men involved.

I thought about this while watching the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rear Window with Grace Kelly, and then right after the movie, my wife and I finished the movie, we watched the end of the tv show "Dancing with the Stars,". During the movie, I watched one of the most physically beautiful women ever for two hours, and her dress was so modest and dignified that it led me to a good place, it gave me the desire to protect. I even commented on this to my wife during the film, that her dignity let me focus on her actual acting, her craft.

Then we watched the interviewer for Dancing with the Stars, and I had the exact opposite desire, it was fear, for her dignity and for my own. Grace Kelly was a lot more physically beautiful, but never for a moment was I afraid of her beauty. Modesty in culture is a good thing, but were afraid to speak about it, because we don't want to sound repressive or prudish. But its true, and its not only true for the men involved. Its true because the dignity of woman is important.

A lot has been made in our culture that men should grow up, and start seeing women properly, that if men lust after a women dressed immodestly, then he should have a change of heart, and see women's true beauty. This is all good, men should constantly strive to see women as God intended, but the more that women can do to lead men to the proper place, the better, for every one's dignity involved.