It's A Beauty Thing

There are many lessons that I learned while I was in Sri Lanka. There are also many things that I came to appreciate about their culture. While I was there I was aware of some of them but now that I am back in Canada I am realizing that there were more than I thought.

When I got off the plane in Vancouver I was asking myself, "I wonder what differences I'm going to notice right away?" By the time I made it to customs I was already trying to walk with my mouth closed. I was shocked and kind of repulsed by what I saw.

Now I'm sure some people are going to label me as "old, stuck-in-the-past, fashion illiterate, fundamentalist puritan," or whatever, I don't care, it really bothered me. It was the way that women dress. Now not all women but a good majority of them. I hadn't seen so much skin as I did the first 5 minutes in the airport. Shirts too short so the belly is showing (if not hanging out!) and too low so that you see their boob crack for miles! Also skirts and shorts so short that you wonder how they move in them without their butt showing. Jeans that barely cover their bum and so tight that they waddle like a duck. How as a society do we think that this is beautiful? Can someone tell me what is beautiful about the tight jeans and the too short, too low shirts? There are not even that many people who can actually pull these styles off with grace and dignity. I really wonder if any of us actually take time to think about what we are doing or do we just pick up the next Cosmo or other "beauty" magazine and do what we're told? If our society is so bent on being individualistic, why do we let the media, designers, advertisers and celebrities tell us how we should dress? And do it in droves none the less!

When I was in Sri Lanka I thought that the women were beautiful. I realize that it was not just their features but the way that they presented themselves. It wasn't because they dressed in fancy clothes or traditional clothes, many wore western style clothing. It was because they actually clothed themselves. I didn't see boobs, belly or butts the entire 7 months that I was there. If I did, it usually was a foreigner or someone from Colombo (the capitol city). Doesn't God call us to be modest? To be in this world but not of it?