Men’s Short Shorts and Modesty
Recently Amanda Hess of Slate Magazine wrote an article, “How Men Can Fight Sexism by Wearing Very Short Shorts,” lauding a new fashion trend of short shorts among men.
Yeah, about that.
Normally, we associate modesty problems with women, but apparently men have now joined the crowd. Though Amanda Hess is encouraging this trend and the end to a sexist double standard, there are some of us who don’t believe anyone should be wearing short shorts. Here are a few reasons why men (and women) should not wear short shorts.
Warmth
Though I have never personally worn short shorts, they look like they don’t keep one warm at all. Why go through goosebumps and shivering when a nice pair of long jeans can keep you perfectly comfortable and happy? Even in the summertime you can get cold when an unexpected breeze sweeps through. Plus, there is the fact that most legs are a shocking white, so your legs will BURN in the relentless rays of the sun when exposed by short shorts. That is never pleasant, so cover up and spare yourself the agony.
Another note, wearing long pants will help prevent rug burn, your legs from sticking to leather couches, and getting red marks that everyone can see until they fade.
It Will Never Look Good
I’m sorry guys, but as a woman I can tell you that we will never find short shorts attractive. They just don’t look good. You don’t have to show off every inch of your body. People do not need or want to see everything. So go and rock out a nice pair of jeans, because with jeans you can never go wrong.
Modest is Hottest (see “warmth” above for the heat part)
How we dress is a reflection of who we are inside. That is why when we go to a job interview, we dress up so we may give the best impression of ourselves. The “Dress and Appearance” section of the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet says that “[y]our body is sacred. Respect it and do not defile it in any way.” When we dress modestly we show respect for ourselves. Our body is a gift from God, and dressing modestly is how God wants to see us.
We are chaste and do not draw undue attention to ourselves when modestly dressed. LDS.org says that “[c]entral to the command to be modest is an understanding of the sacred power of procreation . . . Revealing and sexually suggestive clothing . . . can stimulate desires and actions that violate the Lord’s law of chastity.” Modest dress helps to protect us from the temptation to break God’s commandments of chastity.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). We treat our temples with great sacredness, we should also treat us bodies thus. Modest dress is an example to others of who we are and who we follow.
In Conclusion . . .
Don’t let your temple get cold or sunburned! Knee-length shorts will never go out of fashion, so you don’t need to go any shorter. When we dress modestly, we show that we not only respect God’s gift of a body, but ourselves as well. We show that we believe our body is sacred and should not be flaunted about. Modest clothing will keep us safe, show who we are, and it will always look good. Modesty is a fashion trend that will literally last into the eternities.