As temperatures rise, Christian women must pack away their beloved infinity scarves, sacrificing the classic “Christian Girl Autumn” style to avoid heat-stroke in the brutal summer sun.
The social media reversal of Christian Girl Autumn is the secular “Hot Girl Summer,” which social media users coin as the time of year when women can wear whatever they want to show off their bodies and find confidence in their open expressions of style. This time is characteristic of revealing clothing, such as shorts, crop tops, tank tops and bikinis that leave skin showing.
Mallory Challis
But as summer approaches, Christian Twitter is resisting this with assertions of modesty, as both women and men are sending out reminders to their followers that no matter how hot it is outside, skin-showing is not OK for Christian women.
One woman who began a thread denouncing the wearing of anything “sleeveless” for women in the summer, explained to dissenting Twitter users: “If your husband is allowed to touch it, but other men aren’t,” it should not be exposed.
Dissenters, both Christian and non-Christian alike, have been arguing with this woman and others who have tweeted similar remarks. Most objections reference the ambiguous nature of “modesty” for women, noting there are different factors at play for every person choosing an outfit, including body size and comfort.
For example, a dress might be extremely modest on a size extra-extra-small woman but perceived as provocative in a woman who wears a size medium (even if it has straps). This has nothing to do with the style of the dress and everything to do with how the two women have completely different body shapes and sizes.
Others argue that modesty rules centered around women’s husbands do not make sense and could be dangerous for women.
Some explained that, if we assume women are covering up parts of their skin that are not allowed to be touched, we risk implying the remaining skin showing is up for grabs. This leaves women vulnerable to sexual harassment and places the blame on them for being too immodest if they are attacked.
Still, many women in these Twitter threads proudly proclaim they will adorn their God-given bodies in whatever they feel comfortable in. They are beloved by the one who made them, exposed shoulders and all.
These women are discussing a mental component of modesty, which for them is more important than clothing. It is how one chooses to respect and dignify those around them that is important for Christian thinking.
This means it is the responsibility of every Christian to respect other humans enough to abstain from mentally sexualizing them without their consent. And they are not going to dress in ways that make them uncomfortable or unhappy just because others do not want to control their own thoughts.
With all this discourse about how modesty should work, what can Christian girls wear during “Hot Girl Summer”? Can we, or should we, even participate? With so many different opinions out there, it seems like Christian women do not even agree.
“We should consider how our clothing honors our bodies and faith … but we should not suffer from heat stroke doing so.”
I’m not sure women should bear the summer heat in layers upon layers of clothing, just for the sake of modesty. We should consider how our clothing honors our bodies and faith and also how they are an expression of who we are, but we should not suffer from heat stroke doing so.
My shoulders showing in a tank top will only allow my brothers in Christ to stumble if they are looking toward me with lustful minds and not acknowledging the many other aspects of my being that are valuable. My shorts are only a source of temptation if the men I’m in congregation with allow themselves to fantasize about me in objectifying ways, knowing I would not want them to.
But even if I choose an outfit I think is modest, how will I know the men looking at me will agree?
As a 22-year-old woman who dresses regularly in baggy jeans and thick, thrifted grandma sweaters, I can report that I have been sexualized, objectified and catcalled no matter what I am wearing. To be clear, this is in clothing I wear intentionally because it is non-formfitting. Although I will admit I wear shorts and tank tops in the summer months, modest clothing seems to be an ineffective solution to the problem of lustful thinking.
“Modest clothing seems to be an ineffective solution to the problem of lustful thinking.”
As the women on Twitter assert, this mental component of modesty may be more important than any piece of clothing I will ever wear. Women do not have control over when, where or how men objectify their bodies, even if they dress as modestly as possible. My grandma sweaters can attest to that.
So, for Christian women entering “Hot Girl Summer,” my recommendation is to try your best to wear the clothing that makes you feel most comfortable, both physically and spiritually.
If you have a deep conviction to wear leggings and jean jackets with every dress you put on, that is OK. If you feel your relationship with God won’t be affected by a pair of jean shorts, put them on. And if you are somewhere in the middle, that’s fine too. God loves your body just the way it is, and you should too.
The church has deeper issues to deal with than whose wife, daughter or girlfriend is wearing a strapless maxi dress to the Sunday morning worship service. Issues like why we do not respect each other enough to stop violating each other with our minds, and why we think piling on our clothes in the summer will help more than a change of spirit.
And for the record, if Jesus were writing this article, he would certainly tell everyone so focused on women’s shoulders to go pluck their own eyes out. Because he’s told us that before, and I don’t think we listened very well the first time.
Mallory Challis is a senior at Wingate University and currently serves as BNG’s Clemons Fellow. She will begin studies at Wake Forest University School of Divinity next fall.
Related articles:
Get on your sweaters: ‘Christian Girl Autumn’ is here
Preston Sprinkle’s strange interview with Sheila Gregoire and Rebecca Lindenbach | Analysis by Rick Pidcock
Can pastors please stop salivating over women’s bodies in sermons? A response to Jonathan Pokluda’s objectification of the ‘perfect’ woman | Opinion by Shiela Gregoire