Modesty (some more)

I sometimes engage in (usually pointless) discussions on a blog.  The author's stated purpose is to encourage LDS men to be more manly and what he thinks of as fulfilling their "divine roles" as men.

Usually he says things that are downright misogynistic, and on more than one occasion has stuck to his opinion despite being presented with facts to the contrary.

The most recent exchange has been about modesty, where he takes the typical "I can't control the biological response I have to a woman's body....women shouldn't dress like sluts if they don't want attention from bums".  (Those classifications of men and women are his word choice, not mine).

I'm afraid a comment I posted will hang out in moderation (cause he does that when he doesn't like my argument), so I wanted to post it somewhere:

Given Jesus' example of welcoming sinners, shouldn't we cultivate an atmosphere where we teach young people not to judge based on appearance?

So instead of saying "of course young men are going to see that immodest girl and think she's easy" would a better approach not be to say "we fallible humans judge people, often, wrongly, and that's a shame.  Why don't we teach that modesty is about appropriateness instead of inches of fabric?"

Taunting a gang member....did you really compare the sexual urges of teenaged boys to gang members who beat people up?  That's unfortunate.  But I guess it explains the difference in our approaches.

You say, and I agree with, the following:
Taunting a gang member is likely to get you beat up.

Dressing like a slut will probably get you unwelcome attention.

You say:
So don't taunt a gang member.

So don't dress like a slut.

I would offer:
So let's encourage community members to implement community action programs, create community centers, and emphasize education.  Let's offer education initiatives to try to break this cycle.

So let's teach the YM that sexual responses are normal and learning to control them and respond only in appropriate ways to them is part of growing up.  But let's also teach them that a person's appearance does not always correspond to their level of personal righteousness, because teenagers often have a variety of obstacles (lack of parental support, poverty, insecurity or self-esteem issues) in their way that prevent them from looking like a Mormon fashion plate.


I'll grant that your solution is quicker, easier, and more succinct than mine.  But ease does not necessarily equate with correctness.