Homecoming Horrors

I saw some news clip over the weekend about how there were girls turned away from their homecoming dances because their dresses were "too short."

Let me preface this by saying that I am LDS, so I know about the whole "modesty" thing.  I was raised in the Mormon faith and have known about the book "For Strength of Youth" that the church put out as a guideline for teens since I was 12.  One of the "guidelines" talked about is modesty - viewing one's body as a temple and to not defile it.  This includes wearing modest clothing.  'Modest,' in the church's eyes, is clothing that covers one's shoulders, doesn't show the bare back, keeps the girls inside the shirt, and reaches to the knees in length (shorts, dresses, etc).  Basically what the church is doing is preparing youth for when they further their covenants with the Lord and start wearing garments (the 'holy underwear' as people say).  I know people who have even gone as far as to not let their infants wear sundresses as they don't follow those guidelines (but we won't get started on that...).

Me, the disobedient one, at my senior prom without sleeves

My sister, Whitney, being obedient with sleeves

My point is this - you know I grew up in Nebraska.  Nebraska is not Utah, certainly not Provo.  Finding dresses that covered our shoulders for dances was extremely hard.  And looking online wasn't helpful either.  Most 'modest' LDS dresses are, frankly, hideous.  So my mom let me wear sleeveless dresses to my homecoming and prom occasions.  The dresses were always appropriate length, and were otherwise modest, just minus the sleeves.  This was a decision I made and my parents were okay with it.  My clothing other than these occasions followed these guidelines.  I always made sure my dresses were modest for church and I covered myself properly for school.  My sister has tried hard to remain within the church's guidelines and has been lucky enough to find dresses throughout high school that have sleeves and are not frumpy. 

To imagine someone being turned away in Nebraska for a short dress is unfathomable.  Most of the girls looked like they should be standing on some street corner in Vegas.  They just didn't care.  No one cared.  I was one of 3 people in my high school who was LDS (one other being my sister).  We did what we could to follow the church's guidelines but sometimes there were occasions where we had to compensate.  Am I ashamed?  Nope.  I was a young, teenage girl.  I was in high school. I wasn't wearing garments and one night without a dress with sleeves wasn't going to corrupt me.  

I realize that a large majority of the Utah population is Mormon (dur).  That being said, I'm still shocked at the way the high schools reacted.  This wasn't that the dress was barely covering their butts.  This was that the dresses were TWO INCHES ABOVE THE KNEE CAP.  The horror!!

I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous.  And I'm Mormon.  Sigh, sometimes people are too stuffy for their own good.