I read just a little of the blogs. I have said any number of times that modesty is important for both genders, but that it's equally important that both genders respect each other enough not to be trying to sneak peeks, and not be trying to sexualize each other. Easier said than done! I also said that I won't wear a suit of armor or a burkha, because there comes a point where if a woman is dressed head to toe, with no low cleavage, or navel showing, and not wearing super tight clothes, then she has done absolutely the maximum she can do to keep her part of the bargain. However, that does NOT stop some men from checking out women's bodies, because there's the rub - women's bodies are sexualized. The media is obsessed with women and their bodies. It's truly pathetic. See if you can make a list of goods or luxuries that are marketed specifically with the use men or men's bodies that are not specifically manufactured for men.
As to why modesty is important, there are several reasons. In my environment, I want people to take me seriously. That doesn't happen if I wear trashy clothes. As a part of that, I want people focusing higher than my chest, preferably my face, while I am talking to them. True, the creeps will still look, but at least I know I didn't tempt them. I used to not care as much outside of work, and wore some scoop neck kind of tops, and then my husband once got very upset that a man was staring at my cleavage, and he asked me not to wear something like that again, so I did what he asked me to do. (It wasn't a command, rather a request. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar for sure.) And I don't wear those kind of shirts, and you know, I'm happier not to, because I agree that that part of me is private, and shouldn't be flashed to the world.
Also, raising sons, if I am the woman who forms their first perceptions of what a woman is, I want to be a woman who is decently covered, and doesn't flaunt it. Maybe they will chose a woman who flaunts anyway - I can't control that - but I am 'modeling' to them a woman who does not.
I do believe that as men and women we have equal responsibility. Him not to look, her not to put it on a plate so it's hard not to look.
Final "also" - it creeps me about when guys look at me in a sexual manner. Really. Big time. So the most I can do to discourage it - I will do.
. It was against health and safety to wear long skirts so basically you had all these teen girls running in miniskirts as opposed to trousers and that was meant to be more modest... insane.
