As a Christian husband and father of 3 sons and 3 daughters, how am I to process role models or famous people wearing revealing or nonexistent clothes?
If you are not familiar with Sydney Sweeny or Variety’s Power of Women event, I’ll introduce you the best I can.
Sydney Sweeny
I’m not much of a movie or TV viewer, so the first time I saw Sydney Sweeny was the now (in)famous American Eagle Jeans commercial. From that I learned that she is an “all-American girl”. She works on cars and knows her way around firearms. As stated above, I’m no expert on Ms. Sweeny but what I started learning about her was impressive. Not many people grow up knowing cars or guns.
Variety’s Power of Women LA
I wasn’t familiar with this event until the Sydney Sweeny silver dress. A quick internet search and I learned that the Power of Women is a series of events that recognizes and celebrates influential women in various fields, such as acting, directing, writing, and music, highlighting their professional accomplishments and their charitable work.
I also found a quote. Nicole Scherzinger said, “…courage isn’t measured by medals or applause, but by the bold willingness to show up with your whole heart. Power of women is not just about success or recognition — it’s about how we use our voices, our platforms and our influence to lift others. True power is shared and ignites others.” – Variety
Dress Code
In most Christian circles there is a dress code. Often it is unwritten. I once had my kids attending a church school where the parents were to sign a dress code agreement. I have no problem with any organization requiring a certain attire. I taught at a school that had uniforms and a very clear dress code for the teachers. But this school’s dress code was trying to be Biblically based. The problem is, the Bible doesn’t address a physical dress code. I could not sign something that forced Bible verses to say things they did not say. I met with the pastor and explained my views. I never did sign that dress code and my kids stayed at the school.
The Problem
There are a few issues that arise when looking at this.
Message vs. presentation
There is concern that Sydney’s message is overshadowed by the display of her body. I would like to understand this concern better. Is it that her body is so distracting that no one can hear her? I don’t follow this idea. Isn’t marketing all about gaining attention then delivering your message? Looks like she has a lot of attention.
Maybe the concern is that she is “showing her body to be objectified.” As a male past puberty, it doesn’t require a woman to show her body for me to objectify her. But that is on me, the observer. I think this view highlights the victim-blaming mentality that is pervasive in our culture. It doesn’t matter what the woman wears, or doesn’t wear, she is a human with all the rights of a human. There is an argument that the Victorian modesty ethic, so strong in this country, contributes greatly to the objectifying of others.
Empowerment vs. objectification
There is some overlap with the previous issue. Does the outfit represent self-confidence and body positivity or does it play into objectification and distract from substance? I mentioned the issue of objectification above. Only the observer creates the object. It is the sin of the observer, not than of the observed. If this is the real issue, then I would say we have a larger cultural problem, people objectify others so much that it is assumed, or the voices proclaiming objectification are projecting their own issues onto others. I believe some quotes from Sydney Sweeny clearly indicates she is self-confident and has a positive view of her body.
“Once I became more confident with myself, [it changed]. I want to show girls that it’s amazing and beautiful and empowering to have the bodies that we have,” the actress explained. “Everybody’s body is beautiful. When you are confident and you’re happy within, it really shows to other people. … Flaunt what you got. Own it. Love them.” – Yahoo
“I’ve been a teenage girl, too, so I’ve had my own insecurities and my own struggles that I’ve got through.” – Brainyquote
What really is body positivity? I think it has become a lot of things to a lot of people, but it boils down to accepting and appreciating all body types, especially your own. A big problem with the pervasive modesty ethic is the only time most people see the body of someone else is something sexually explicit. There doesn’t appear to be a source of wholesome nudity. A place where you see other average people doing normal daily tasks without clothes. These days everyone is very quick to cover up to go from the shower to the bedroom. I believe this is the real problem. If there was less taboo around a nude body, there would be no shock value. We need to destigmatize the human body. We were all created in God’s image and He created us without clothes.
Role model concerns
What will young women learn from Sydney Sweeney’s dress at the Variety’s Women in Power event? Is the fear that they will find a sheer dress and wear it on TV? Most young women don’t have a TV platform. Will they be taught to not dress like Sydney did because a man might objectify her? This is the man’s problem, not hers. I’ve already mention the victim-blaming mentality.
When talking with my girls about what they were wearing when they were younger, I asked them the question, “Why do you want to wear that?” Is the answer, I like the way it looks, I like the way I feel in it, or I want to get everyone’s attention. It’s important to know intention. In 1 Timothy 2, the famous modesty passage, the point is to not focus on what you are wearing, or to compete with what others are wearing, but to be clothed with good works. God is always concerned about the heart and our intentions.
Cultural Double Standard
There also appears to be a dichotomy of sexy vs serious. I’ll not address the difference of having an attractive body versus being sexy. Why does our culture keep the belief that an attractive woman can’t be smart? I saw in an interview that Sydney graduated valedictorian of her high school class of 500. Clearly she is smart and if you’ve seen pictures you can at least agree that some people would say she is attractive. It is a cultural issue that we don’t allow space in our minds for people to be both smart and attractive.
My Daughter
It is interesting to me that this same dress was worn by Siri Lehland. There is some debate about why Sydney Sweeney wearing the dress made the internet take notice. It could be the place she wore it. Siri Lehland is supposedly a professional model who wore the dress at a fashion show. Much different venue than a Woman in Power event. I did see a clip of Siri in it and you can compare the two. It reminded me of a traumatic experience of one of my daughters. She was at a church event and was called out, in front of everyone, for what she was wearing. What was she wearing? The exact thing her friends were. They decided to match that day. But my daughter, at a young age, had a larger bust line than most. So she stood out and some adults did not approve. It is taking my daughter many years to get through that trauma. Did my daughter do anything wrong? No, she just wanted to dress like the other girls. But because she is built differently she was called out. That is not body positivity. I would think a mom would have done better that to traumatize a child like that.
I bring this up to point out a difference in the way the dress fits Siri versus Sydney. Maybe that is why the internet is going crazy. Again, not body positivity.
Conclusions
So what is a Christian to think about all this? Paul taught us to wear good works. The rest of what he was talking about in 1 Timothy was addressing a competition among the churchgoing ladies. So if the Bible doesn’t have a dress code where did we get our ideas? Culture. Fashion has always been cultural. Our culture is still heavily influenced by Victorianism. You can do what you want, but for me, I will not body shame, I will not victim-blame, and I will not impose cultural ideals on another. Do I have a line that can be crossed? Yes, the Bible is clearly against sexually immorality. I didn’t see the Women in Power event, but the pictures don’t depict a sexual act, just an attractive woman comfortable in her own skin.
I would like to think that what Sydney Sweeney did would make people question why they have such a strong response to a revealing dress. To reflect and to reach a point where they can honestly say, “Everybody’s body is beautiful.” Thanks, Sydney.
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