Dress modestly – act modestly

The Editor I am very happy to see that International experts are telling us Abstinence is the best and most important element in the fight against HIV/AIDS and STDs.

But, just as in business, if we keep doing the same things, in the same way, we cannot expect different results. If we continue to party hearty, wining, drinking with abandon, dressing in a provocative manner, pairing off to indulge in heavy petting, do we really expect that we will be able to “say no sex, I am going to abstain”? If we play with fire, we will get burned! The first thing we must do to achieve abstinence is to love and respect ourselves.  Immodest dress and behavior is not respectful ?of ourselves, or of others. We must dress modestly which means no skimpy or tight clothes; no gaps between items of clothing; no cutouts; etc.  Underwear should not be seen, but neither should our clothing be such that it causes a suspicion that we are not wearing any! This does not mean that we cannot look good.  We can look very good, indeed,when we dress modestly.

Why do women dress sexy?  Clearly, to attract the attention of men!  But, the kind of attention they will attract with tight and/or revealing clothing is not healthy.  Our young women need to realise that dressing immodestly contributes to the kind of behaviour that leads to heavy petting, inappropriate touching, and, eventually sex.  And, if they only attract men with the (whether conscious or unconscious) invitation to see them simply as bodies to be used, then, what do they expect? At the same time, we need to look at our dating behaviour.  Where do we go on dates?  Do we keep to places that are well lit and avoid such things as parking in lonely spots, dark bars, clubs, etc, where things might get out-of-hand?  Do we drink too much, and lose control of our feelings?  We need to examine ourselves, and make changes.

Carnival is on top of us.  There will be thousands of young people on the streets  whether in costume or not.  Please think carefully of the message you are sending by your dress and behaviour.  We can enjoy the music and the colour without lowering our morals, and, perhaps, bringing evil down on ourselves — the evil of HIV/AIDS. Let us start immediately to make changes to our lifestyle so as to be able to live a clean, chaste life.  We will be so much happier.

Joan Moore
Carenage