Monday, November 27, 2006

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Skirts

There are three reasons why I'm writing this post:
1- I've just been wanting to.
2- I'm tired of seeing that picture of me from the post below.
3- I haven't posted anything at all in forever, so it's time for something new. : )

You may have caught the allusion in my title for this post, coming from the title of a book I've never read and movie I've never seen... but working in a public library exposes me to a lot of liberal stuff out there! It just seemed fitting to "steal" the wording of that book, and use it for my purposes.

At Wal-Mart on Saturday I was reminded again of something that is special amongst us skirt/dress-wearing girls. I was in the children's department, holding my 5-year old sister's hand, admiring the baby things with her. I was dressed in a skirt and blouse, with my hair twisted up; Hannah was in a printed jumper and pink turtleneck. Her hair was down, and it's l-o-n-g!

As we stood there, with the rest of my female family members nearby (also wearing skirts), a "skirt lady" and her teenage daughter strolled down the main aisle. I noticed they were dressed femininely, and they had their hair all up and pretty, and the mother glanced at Hannah and me-- and then I caught the knowing nod she tossed over her shoulder to her daughter. There it was- the look that says it all amongst us girls: they're wearing skirts!

My family classifies conservatively-dressed women and girls as either "bun ladies" (the ones who wear skirts and long hair, and are usually seen sporting a Gibson-girl pompadour) or "skirt ladies" (ones who may or may not have particularly long hair, but who dress and live femininely and modestly). Many times we don't complete a shopping trip anywhere without meeting one or twenty. I'm not always sure of their religious background, but when we see each other, we see a kinship, an encouragement that we aren't alone in our stand against immodesty.

Besides the knowing nods we occasionally see, one time in particular that stands out in my memory was once when I was in the grocery store with my family. Another family passed us in the store, and this family was full of little girls in dresses. As they walked by, I heard the littlest girl whisper to her mother, "Look, Mommy! They're wearing skirts!" Even to that little girl, it was obvious that femininity is not popular. She was shocked to run into us at the store, happily attired in girly clothes.

I don't wear skirts because my church tells me to. I don't wear skirts because I just like being different and having people talk about me. I don't wear skirts so I can belong to some sort of "secret club." I wear skirts becase to me, they are the most appropriate way to be modest and feminine. I like being a girl, and that's why I wear skirts.


**This post is not meant to offend anyone's beliefs about the way she dresses. I believe we have Christian liberty to hold differing views as to the standards of women's dress, as long as the biblical principle of modesty is always sought to be honored. The way I apply the principle of modesty may look different from the way you do; this post is only about my application of modesty. These statements have not been approved by the FDA and are not to be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease. I just had to throw that in.**

Labels: ,