always on our minds

It's truly amazing how many "news" stories are simply descriptions of the clothes popular women are wearing - either their fashion successes or malfunctions thereof.  Far be it from me to decry a woman's enjoyment of a pretty dress or the innate desire to look beautiful, but I think today's headlines tell us there may be a problem.  Everything is not all right in Camelot.

Many online news networks have a fashion channel that keeps American women updated on who looked good, who didn't and how we can avoid their diastrous results.  I admit to checking into the stories sometimes.  I mean, some of them are really kind of funny, and sometimes, I'm just plain curious.

I guess we need to realize that what women wear always makes the news.  It's a barometer of the culture's definition of femininity.  You can usually tell a lot about a society's moral code by the way the women dress.  (think people in primitive cultures who start wearing clothes when they come to faith.)

Our society defines womanhood in terms of sex appeal.  The clothing trends confirm it.  The difference in men's and women's casual attire is often only the cut of the pattern - with the women's clothing contoured or exposed to reveal female curves.

I suppose humankind has always been fascinated with the way women are dressing or undressing.  God created women to be worth looking at and men with eyes that recognize that fact.  But womanhood is much more complex and beautiful than outward characteristics.  It is a sacred gift from God, just as manhood.  It is a code stamped upon the soul; the body is only the reflection of what's inside.  It should be respected by both genders.  And that's something we can affirm on a daily basis - by both those doing the dressing and those doing the looking.