Beauty is skin deep. You've heard that a million times if you've heard it once. There is great truth to those words. I do think, however, that there are folks out there who are slightly confused about this. And in case you are one of them, let me just set the record straight. It does not mean that since beauty is found at the skin level, you should show as much skin as possible as you go about your life's business! Let me explain...grab a beverage of your choice (and get me a Coke while you're up)...this may get wordy (I know...you're shocked.)!
Saw these words on a t-shirt yesterday..."Haters Keep Hating" and under those words, in a smaller font, was the word "Hustler." Not just ANY t-shirt. Nope...blazoned across the front of a white, nearly sheer tank top...on a young woman who thought the best choice of undergarment was a black brassiere. But wait...it gets better! How do I know it was black? Well, there's the nearly sheer factor of the shirt and the fact that her straps were plainly visible, as seems to be the fashion of the day. Never will understand that...it's called UNDERWEAR...because you wear it UNDER things and if it's properly UNDER your outer clothes, it SHOULDN'T be seen! You're probably thinking I was at WalMart or the grossery (remember, that typo is intentional...a gross amount of money spent on a grossly small amount of food only to turn around in a grossly disproportionate length of time to start the gross buying/consuming cycle all over again)store...maybe at the gym (HAH)? Nope...I might have been able to keep my poker face if I had been any of those places. I was sitting in the lobby of our Ministry Center, where we gather every morning for devotion before opening the doors for business when it came in on the back (and front)of one of our Work Release participants. You know, Ministry Center...as in Local Association of BAPTIST Churches...you know, church as in Jesus and the Bible and no dancing, playing cards, smoking or drinking! And if dancing, playing cards, smoking and drinking are taboo (well, they used to be), can you imagine where this shirt would register on the scale? No imagination required, friends....full tilt INAPPROPRIATE!
I don't have a poker face...I try very hard to keep my emotions from registering on my face when in a public situation but it is so hard!!! My face is more like a scrolling marquee...with neon and flashing lights! Not at all subtle and completely readable! I am not far into the exaggeration pond when I say that I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that shirt! It was the small print "Hustler" that had me doing an Aunt Pittypat and reaching for my smelling salts! Hustler. Is that a rapper? Is that a clothing line? Or is it that really bad "men's" magazine? Seriously! What am I, as a viewer of that shirt supposed to think? Well, I mean other than the obvious FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE, WOMAN, COVER YOURSELF! I've been hoping that Mr. Snark will take a Monday off and come with me to the Center...to see what I do, to meet my friends. Just what if yesterday had been the day that he had chosen to come???? Hello!!! My husband is a good man and a moral man...but he's a MAN! He is lead by his eyes! And when you put it ALL out on the front porch, do you expect him or any other man not to notice? AGGGH!!!!
I pointed it out to Mrs. Helen...she's a little more subtle than I am. She went to the young woman...no more than twenty-five, if that...new to us...we'd never seen her before. BEAUTIFUL! Gorgeous face, pretty dark hair....and healthy...ahem! Mrs. Helen, she's tricksy....she played it off like, "Look...I saw how some of these guys are checking you out and you might want to put this t-shirt on....you know how men are!" The young woman seemed to take it well enough...her comment back to Mrs. Helen was, "Oh...I didn't know!" I nearly swallowed my tongue when Mrs. Helen told me that! Didn't know...what? That her black bra could be seen through her white shirt? That her black straps were shining? That the shirt, alone, was provocative enough, but with the words added it's like kerosene on a barely controlled gasoline fire? Seriously, are people that unaware of self? Is common sense that extinct?
I see the same thing at church...not to this extreme, of course! Thank God...I could never sit in the choir loft again! But I want to go up to certain parents and just shake them and fire questions at them! "Did you see what Prissy wore this morning? Did you buy it for her? What were you thinking? Were you thinking? Did you just blindly hand her your credit card?" Especially the daddies. "Do you REALLY want your daughter's clothing generating THOSE kinds of thoughts and internal responses from your FRIENDS? REALLY???????" I'm not saying that we need to go back to the Victorian idea of modesty...neck to ankles and covered to the wrists. But for pity's sake, I shouldn't have to worry about being flashed or mooned at church! Or anywhere else for that matter! I get it...they are young and tiny and perky and nothing jiggles....nothing wrong with being proud of a healthy body. But wearing clothes that flatter that lovely body and wearing clothes that put it on display are two different things.
I can't help but wonder if there are self esteem issues at play when I see girls in skimpy clothes. Are they looking for the attention that they needed as little girls and didn't get? Is this the best way they can figure to get that love and appreciation? Makes me so sad!!! And angry...angry at their mothers and daddies for not teaching them better and loving them and protecting them. So much emphasis is put on that outer beauty...that facade that is chipped away by time. And no amount of dermablasting, face lifts, chemical peels or toxic injections will reverse the fact that time marches on....and does so right across your face! What about the beauty that lies beyond the skin? Why can't we celebrate the heart? You know, some of the most beautiful women I know are beautiful because of what shines from inside them...they are giving and loving and compassionate and kind. And when you stand in the presence of that kind of beauty, any outer beauty simply pales in comparison.
Coco Chanel is known for having said something like, "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." Now...in case you might be confused, she was talking about accessories...a scarf, a necklace, your earrings. NOT your clothes.
Saw these words on a t-shirt yesterday..."Haters Keep Hating" and under those words, in a smaller font, was the word "Hustler." Not just ANY t-shirt. Nope...blazoned across the front of a white, nearly sheer tank top...on a young woman who thought the best choice of undergarment was a black brassiere. But wait...it gets better! How do I know it was black? Well, there's the nearly sheer factor of the shirt and the fact that her straps were plainly visible, as seems to be the fashion of the day. Never will understand that...it's called UNDERWEAR...because you wear it UNDER things and if it's properly UNDER your outer clothes, it SHOULDN'T be seen! You're probably thinking I was at WalMart or the grossery (remember, that typo is intentional...a gross amount of money spent on a grossly small amount of food only to turn around in a grossly disproportionate length of time to start the gross buying/consuming cycle all over again)store...maybe at the gym (HAH)? Nope...I might have been able to keep my poker face if I had been any of those places. I was sitting in the lobby of our Ministry Center, where we gather every morning for devotion before opening the doors for business when it came in on the back (and front)of one of our Work Release participants. You know, Ministry Center...as in Local Association of BAPTIST Churches...you know, church as in Jesus and the Bible and no dancing, playing cards, smoking or drinking! And if dancing, playing cards, smoking and drinking are taboo (well, they used to be), can you imagine where this shirt would register on the scale? No imagination required, friends....full tilt INAPPROPRIATE!
I don't have a poker face...I try very hard to keep my emotions from registering on my face when in a public situation but it is so hard!!! My face is more like a scrolling marquee...with neon and flashing lights! Not at all subtle and completely readable! I am not far into the exaggeration pond when I say that I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that shirt! It was the small print "Hustler" that had me doing an Aunt Pittypat and reaching for my smelling salts! Hustler. Is that a rapper? Is that a clothing line? Or is it that really bad "men's" magazine? Seriously! What am I, as a viewer of that shirt supposed to think? Well, I mean other than the obvious FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE, WOMAN, COVER YOURSELF! I've been hoping that Mr. Snark will take a Monday off and come with me to the Center...to see what I do, to meet my friends. Just what if yesterday had been the day that he had chosen to come???? Hello!!! My husband is a good man and a moral man...but he's a MAN! He is lead by his eyes! And when you put it ALL out on the front porch, do you expect him or any other man not to notice? AGGGH!!!!
I pointed it out to Mrs. Helen...she's a little more subtle than I am. She went to the young woman...no more than twenty-five, if that...new to us...we'd never seen her before. BEAUTIFUL! Gorgeous face, pretty dark hair....and healthy...ahem! Mrs. Helen, she's tricksy....she played it off like, "Look...I saw how some of these guys are checking you out and you might want to put this t-shirt on....you know how men are!" The young woman seemed to take it well enough...her comment back to Mrs. Helen was, "Oh...I didn't know!" I nearly swallowed my tongue when Mrs. Helen told me that! Didn't know...what? That her black bra could be seen through her white shirt? That her black straps were shining? That the shirt, alone, was provocative enough, but with the words added it's like kerosene on a barely controlled gasoline fire? Seriously, are people that unaware of self? Is common sense that extinct?
I see the same thing at church...not to this extreme, of course! Thank God...I could never sit in the choir loft again! But I want to go up to certain parents and just shake them and fire questions at them! "Did you see what Prissy wore this morning? Did you buy it for her? What were you thinking? Were you thinking? Did you just blindly hand her your credit card?" Especially the daddies. "Do you REALLY want your daughter's clothing generating THOSE kinds of thoughts and internal responses from your FRIENDS? REALLY???????" I'm not saying that we need to go back to the Victorian idea of modesty...neck to ankles and covered to the wrists. But for pity's sake, I shouldn't have to worry about being flashed or mooned at church! Or anywhere else for that matter! I get it...they are young and tiny and perky and nothing jiggles....nothing wrong with being proud of a healthy body. But wearing clothes that flatter that lovely body and wearing clothes that put it on display are two different things.
I can't help but wonder if there are self esteem issues at play when I see girls in skimpy clothes. Are they looking for the attention that they needed as little girls and didn't get? Is this the best way they can figure to get that love and appreciation? Makes me so sad!!! And angry...angry at their mothers and daddies for not teaching them better and loving them and protecting them. So much emphasis is put on that outer beauty...that facade that is chipped away by time. And no amount of dermablasting, face lifts, chemical peels or toxic injections will reverse the fact that time marches on....and does so right across your face! What about the beauty that lies beyond the skin? Why can't we celebrate the heart? You know, some of the most beautiful women I know are beautiful because of what shines from inside them...they are giving and loving and compassionate and kind. And when you stand in the presence of that kind of beauty, any outer beauty simply pales in comparison.
Coco Chanel is known for having said something like, "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." Now...in case you might be confused, she was talking about accessories...a scarf, a necklace, your earrings. NOT your clothes.
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