While emptying my TiVo this weekend after a long week of work, I ran across an episode of TLC’s What Not to Wear that got me thinking. On this episode their target was a young woman, an artist, in her mid-20s from Provo, Utah. Most women this age would not be afraid of showing some skin. Before the makeover she was covered from chin to toe in tons of fabric. I came to find out that her religion forbid her to expose certain parts of her body, namely the legs and chest. So, if we want to make a wild leap, let’s pretend she was raised Mormon (Utah, ya know).
I have nothing against religious values in general, except for forced homophobia, but that’s another topic. This woman did not feel that she was allowed to express herself through modern clothes and socially acceptable amounts of skin shown due to her religious beliefs. Why do people believe that tenets of their religion are steadfast and cannot be broken? Can we not have free thought from the organizations with which we are associated? Does having alternative views make one a heretic?
We are living in a time in this country where we should be able to think freely and yet society is turning to more puritanical times. Broadcast television is less edgy than it used to be. Hollywood cannot tackle certain subjects due to modern sensibilities and decency standards. The U.S. Government has all but banned STD prevention education in lieu of abstinence only education. What is going on here?
Freedom of thought, speech, and expression are moving to the Internet and satellite radio. These are the last bastions of hope for the First Amendment. Am I going off the deep end? Is what is going on today a harbinger of things to come? I’d love to hear your comments.
On an unrelated NOTE: I’ve added Gravatars to this website. If you go to the website and submit your global-avatar, it will show up on your comments.
Tags: decency · decency standards · government · hollywood · religion · religious values · satellite radio · society · u.s. government2 Comments
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I was thinking (uh oh, scary)… the same applies to drinking, dancing, sex, etc. in many religions.
[...] had a bad experience. As a broad statement, you may or may not agree with me. A few weeks ago I wrote this post about a woman who was scared of wearing things that would expose her skin because her religion and [...]