Please don’t talk of body-revealing outfits this way!

It is common, but that does not make it right: Many people try to tell young women to cover up their bodies when they dress. In itself, I can see some reasons for that.

But too much of this kind of advice ends up treating women as objects instead of people. The short piece which I reference here is one often-shared admonishment of that kind. The article I respond to is in black, and my comments are in red.

Young ladies, this is for you!!!

All young ladies and only them? Are you sure that there are no young ladies who already cover their bodies, nor older ladies or males who let too much hang out?
A woman arrived in a store wearing clothes that showed her body all too well.
Too well? By whose opinion of too well?
The shop owner, being a wise older man, took a good look at her, asked her to sit down, looked straight into her eyes, and said something she would never forget for the rest of her life.
“Young Lady, everything that God has made valuable in this world, is covered up and hard to see or find.” I notice that his advice was not covered up, nor was it hard to find. Does this mean his advice is not valuable?
For example:
1. Where can you find diamonds?
• In the ground, covered and protected. Also, on the wrists, necks, fingers, and ears of the rich. And in display windows of shops like American Swiss. Uncovered and displayed, but often still protected.
2. Where are the pearls? Almost all of them are cultured in the shallow water of pearl “farms”. Also, the same as diamonds, on the wrists, necks, and ears of those who can afford it. And in display windows of jewelry stores. Uncovered and displayed, but still protected.
• Deep in the ocean, covered and protected in a beautiful shell. If you think pearl oysters, freshwater mussels, and abalone are beautiful on the outside, that makes one of us.
3. Where can you find gold? In all the same places as diamonds and pearls.
• Underground, covered with layers of rock, and to get there you have to work very hard and dig deep.
He looked at her again and said, “Your body is sacred and unique to God.”
You are far more precious than gold, diamonds, and pearls, therefore you must be covered too. Or uncovered, too – since they are often uncovered. Also, a young woman’s valuable aspects are not just her bust, legs, and other body parts, but her heart and knowledge, her wisdom and actions – should all those be covered too? Should the valuable heart, knowledge, wisdom, and actions of men and older women be hidden, likewise?
He then added: “If you keep your precious minerals like gold, diamonds, and pearls deeply covered, a “reputable mining organization” with the necessary machines, will work for years to mine those precious goods.
* First, they will contact your government (family),
* Second, sign professional contracts (marriage),
* Third, they will professionally extract those goods, and tenderly refine those precious goods. (marital life).
But if you let your minerals find themselves on top of the Earth’s surface (exposed to everyone), you will always attract many illegal miners to come, exploit, illegally, and freely take those riches and leave you without the precious goods God gave you!

Illegal miners and legal miners do the same thing: They dig up the riches and sell them, leaving the mine without any treasure. Also, the wording of one mining company against “many illegal miners” is intellectually dishonest – a legal mining company employs dozens or hundreds of miners to work together to leave the mine bare. The man as the miner and the woman’s body as the treasure being mined is probably the worst metaphor I ever heard for a healthy marriage.

WOMEN, YOU ARE VALUABLE!!
Remember – Class is more desirable than Trash. Pick a lane. Either all women are valuable, or some women are “trash.” Prior to that last sentence, I was willing to give the writer the benefit of the doubt. But to call women valuable, while actually thinking some young women are trash? The writer doesn’t believe in young women’s value. He believes they are objects to be mined empty – as long as it is legal, in other words within marriage.

We need a better way of speaking of women – a way that does not call them objects for male use. We need to call them image-bearers of God and fellow heirs to God’s kingdom.

Women are not apples (objects) for men (pictured as humans with agency) to pick, gum (objects) for men (pictured as humans with agency) to chew, or grounds filled with treasure (objects) for men (pictured as humans with agency) to dig up. We need metaphors that call women people, standing sometimes beside men and sometimes away from them, living their lives.

This picture – without the text – is usually shared with the story which makes her an object for mining.