HILLCREST SECONDARY SCHOOL Final HILLCREST MAG 2017 | Page 43

Girls’ corner
Girls hear the word ‘modesty’ more than they care to listen. For a girl,
the word conjures up images of a matronly figure in oversize clothes.
Ask any girl and she will tell you that modesty is simply a list of clothes
she is not allowed or expected to wear, including scandalous items
such as spaghetti-strap shirts, two-piece bathing suits, and sweatpants.
Modesty to us is our mum’s weapon in her plot to take away everything
cute in our wardrobe! Actually, modesty is more than this- it goes much
deeper than the clothes we wear. It is who we are. Modesty is simply
freedom from vanity. It is freedom from the pressure to conform to the
so-called ideal standard. In other words, you don’t have to be obsessed
with flaunting your image and fighting with teachers about your
miniscule skirt. It is a myth to imagine that modesty is restricting- a
prison. The truth is that modesty is freedom. Obviously, girls want to
express themselves through their dressing- but do you have to become
depressed, anorexic, a cutter and insecure? Image is closely woven into
our DNA as girls- even tomboys that claim that they don’t care about
their clothes intentionally select quirky T-shirts, shoelaces and jeans to
pull off the ‘I-don’t-care’ look. But let’s not go too far. Modesty is our
freedom.
By Michelle Nyaribari
www.hillcrest.ac.ke
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