Out of Town

We moved 1000 miles away from our friends and family and just had a new baby....

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Tznius meme

Sephardi Lady tagged me with a tznius meme started by Mom in Israel. Since I haven't blogged in about 100 years, I figured this would be a good way to get back into it. I am sure no one has looked over here for a while, since really I haven't updated anything in forever.

Before I start the meme, I just wanted to give everyone an update on the kids. Sima started walking for real yesterday. She had been taking 3 or 4 steps for about 2 weeks, but now she can walk across a room. It is really cute and exciting. Aryeh is really getting big as well. He can now catch line drives and pop flies. It is pretty unbelievable.

Onto the meme:

For married women, do you dress by the same standards as you did when you got married?
I think I might be a little stricter. I don't remember when I stopped wearing slits, it might have been before I was married or after, I am not sure. Apart from that, about the same. I still wear most of the same clothes :)
Also for married women, do you and your husband conflict about this issue?
We do conflict a little. He thinks I could be a little more lenient, especially since we live out of town now. On our side of town, it is really acceptable to not wear stockings, but I am not comfortable with that now.
Have your standards changed from when you were growing up, and why?
Well, since I wasn't raised frum, yes they have changed a bit, although I was never a pants wearer, I did wear shorter skirts.
Do you often feel uncomfortable when you are in the company of a group keeping higher or lower standards than you?
I think I keep the highest level of tznius common in my community (ie. collar bone always covered, all hair covered, stockings, no slits in the skirts), but I don't always look as put together as others. I am not a teacher, so when I drop my kids at school, they always look very professional, and I look kind of shlubby, especially as I have started to walk to work (about 2.5 miles) and I need to wear running shoes.
If you have ever suddenly changed your standard of dress, did people treat you differently or make approving/disapproving remarks? I never suddenly changed.
How accepting is your community of women who "deviate" from the generally accepted mode of dress? On our side of town (the more modern side) women can dress however they want with very little comment. Most of the women here wear pants and do not cover their hair. I have often joked that I could go out in a bikini, and I don't think anyone would care. In the more yeshivish neighborhood, the community is much less accepting of this behavior, and I think it is big reason why the two sides do not get along better.
If you have a daughter, has tzniut become an issue yet? Not yet, she is just 1 :)
Any other comments you care to share on the topic.
In the modern world, I feel that tznius is really not addressed much. I think a lot of the ladies in my community would dress a little differently if they were taught otherwise. There are a lot of baalei tshuva here, who became baalei tshuva here, and don't know any other community. I wouldn't say they should be instructed to keep a yeshivish version of tzius, but a little longer sleeves wouldn't hurt either. I makes me a little uncomfortable being around frum women in tank tops, b/c I think they are uncomfortable with me seeing them....