Rockin Out With Your Top Out
Today was Go Topless Day across the United States. That’s right. Go topless. Women (and some men) across the nation gathered to demonstrate and exercise the female constitutional right to go topless by actually assembling and going topless in public spaces. The visual effort was also used to reemphasize Women’s Equality Day. Now, as a man I am all for the female form. As a student of international custom and heritage I understand toplessness in most countries as an everyday occurrence. But as a Christian I am quite confused by the issue altogether.
Is it okay for a man to be in public with his shirt off for any reason? If yes, what is the difference between a man doing it and a woman doing it? Besides, of course, the obvious mammary gland issue. The question then becomes one of modesty. Modesty deals with the understanding of the presentation of the physical body in public situations. The Bible speaks about this subject and so we should try to understand what the Bible has to say about the subject and then conform our lives to that standard. There are basically two principles involved within the discussion of modesty which we must consider. The first is the principle of giving glory to God. The Bible teaches that one should glorify God in the body. In 1 Corinthians 6:20 For Your Consideration hd we read, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” The principle is to bring glory to God through the use of one’s body and not to bring glory to oneself. There is a way to dress so as to glorify one’s self instead of giving glory to God. Now this is where I really get confused because I am obviously very into the fiber arts, design arts and fashion, in general. I have a consistent hard time deciding what is tasteful and what is not when it comes to artistic license. Christians, both male and female, should not dress in such a fashion, as described in the Bible. This aspect of modest dress can and does involve the culture in which one is living. It could be a sin for me to dress in a three-piece suit and oxford shoes in a culture where everyone wears robes and sandals. It would be a sin for a Christian woman to not veil her face in public in some areas of the world today because that is what the culture dictates and God does not want us bringing glory to ourselves in the presence of cultures who need the gospel more than anything.
Second, there is also the principle of sexual attraction. In consideration of this principle, there are no cultural considerations. Neither men nor women should dress in such a provocative way so as to entice the opposite sex into immoral sexual thoughts or behavior. WOW! Now that is a tough pill to swallow in this day and age of glamour photography, swimsuit magazines, lengerie commercials, backless dresses, etc. We are children of our God and God tempts no man with evil and neither should we ( James 1:13).
So I ask you, my loyal reader, what do you think? Where do you stand on this issue? What is modest and what is not? Should American women be allowed to go topless? Should men even be allowed to go topless? What are some other issues that come into play in regards to this topic? Help me out.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 pm
If the U.S. allowed unrestricted toplessness on a trial basis, perhaps it would become less taboo and appealing. We’d probably get sick of nipples and it would go out of style. I don’t think God would have intended humans to hide or be ashamed of their bodies – why bother making them so neat-looking otherwise?
August 24th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Well, that is my thought too. However, I wonder if the U.S. population has become so barbaric that the very sight of female breasts would bring on an onslaught of verbal and possibly physical attacks against women. I think it would take everyone having a mother or sister or cousin going topless for them to adopt and respect the notion.
I do think that we would become less sensitive to the visualization and sexualization of nudity if it were more obvious. It is like the apple in the garden. Tell me not to eat it and it is going to tempt me that much more.
My other thought would be what parameters would we place on things? Would some beaches be nude and others not? What would age restrictions be? Could a 14-year old girl go topless or would that be inappropriate? Would sex offenders be banned from this same “right”?
August 25th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
In the garden of Eden Adam and Eve covered themselves after eating of the fruit so that God would not see their nakedness. Of course He knew that they had sinned and before that event I guess we would have all gone around with no clothing but because of man’s sinful nature I believe God intends for us to be clothed. I don’t think going around topless 24-7 would keep all men(or women) from having sinful thoughts. I also think that even a man should not be without a shirt in many, many cases!!!
August 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Yes momma. Some men (myself included most times) should probably wear a shirt in public. hahahahaha! However, I think I understand what you mean. I have been reading more on the garden of Eden and the difference between being ashamed and not ashamed, etc.
Genesis 2:25 speaks about Adam and Eve “both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Before their sin, Adam and Eve made no connection between nudity and sexuality. However, this condition changed in Genesis 3:7 when “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked: and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” They now “knew” that they were naked. Since the Hebrew word for “knew” (YADA) means to “perceive,” we must conclude that sin caused Adam and Eve to “see” things differently than before. Their sense of shame caused them to think differently about their bodies. They felt something that they had not felt before. And if I may be crass…”saw” some things they hadn’t seen before. They went from being naked and unashamed to naked and ashamed. In fact, they became so ashamed of themselves that even with their hand sewn fig leaf aprons; they still weren’t comfortable in God’s presence as in Genesis 3:8. Since God’s view of sin had not changed, we are forced to conclude that Adam and Eve had changed. This change was not in their physical, mental or spiritual make-up; it was in their perception of sin. Because of this change, life would be much different and much more difficult. Not only for Adam and Eve, but also for all of mankind and bring us to where we are now on this nudity issue. Check out Genesis 3:16-19 and 24.
In short:
Because of sin, a bond was forged between nudity and sexuality.