The definition of modesty is arbitrary across cultures. It defines the instinctive opinion of an individual regarding to the dictates of the society where she belongs to. But as women, especially Filipina women, we have to define the bounds of our own societal view of modesty.
As we trace the roots of our history, when we knew Catholicism from our European conquistadors in the 16th century, our own civilizations adapted to the European view of modesty. Our own Filipino tribes gradually adapted to the same manner the European dresses, because according to studies of Havelock Ellis, modesty is brought about by the feeling of humiliation, or embarrassment, "instinctive fear prompting to concealment, usually centering around sexual processes".
How did our tribes adapt? Maybe because the Europeans themselves, seeing our naked ancestors looked on them differently, with shame and disgust, or with lust, that somehow made them feel embarrassed despite on how their fellow tribesmen looked at them. With the feeling of shame and embarrassment, we learned to alter our clothes onto the European way of dressing: petty coats, long dresses and long sleeved shirts of some sort, despite the tropical climate we have. As we seldom think of it, the European society’s way of dressing were deeply rooted from their climate. But being powerful enough to quest for spices, travelling to the east made them see how diverse cultures are: Africans wearing almost nothing, those from northeast wearing almost the same thick coats, and those from the pacific islands barely naked. It was due to their influence that we learned to adapt on their point of views, our own elites westernized as they traveled to be educated.
But modesty is not just defined on the way we dress. It also spans the way we act and we talk. Westernized enough, we learned as how European way of education spread, but until today, the way we speak and act is defined to our rooted culture of honoring our elders and obeying their rules. There's more out there that we can think of, I'm sure.
With all these instinctive roots on how we see modesty, it’s hard to define to bring altogether the fashion, actions and language which we should consider to define its bounds.
So the great challenge is: Why don’t you create your own? I’ll give my fair share of ideas on my next blog post. ;)
