Submitted by Sarah Townsend
I run cross country here at Asbury and on the first day of pre-season, I noticed the dress code signs hanging up around the Luce. This didn’t seem out of the ordinary, considering the dress code in place here for chapel and classes. But as soon as we left the gym to go on a run for practice, the boys on the team immediately removed their shirts and left them in a pile outside the building. Out of instinct, I reached to do the same, seeing as it was around 85 degrees out. Then I noticed that none of the other girls were following suit. They informed me that we were not allowed to take our shirts off while we ran, because it would be “disrespectful and upsetting to the people of Wilmore.” The group grumbled in discontent about the long-standing double standard as we set off.
Throughout the rest of our hot Kentucky practices during August and September, the dress code was a popular topic of discussion. It seemed so unfair that the boys could keep cooler than we could, simply because of our bodies. There is nothing inherently more sexual or tempting about me in a sports bra in juxtaposition to my bare-chested male counterparts. When I take my shirt off, I remain just as covered as they do, without being bogged down by sweat.
I believe that the evangelical idea of women keeping much more modest than men perpetuates a culture of shame about our bodies. The human body is important to all athletics, but for runners especially, it’s all we have to compete with. God has empowered us to be strong, and work hard to get better. But instead of celebrating our strength, or even viewing the body as a neutral vessel, we tell women that it is something to be covered and ashamed about. When challenging this idea, I’ve found that my spirituality is then challenged. Others ask why I would want to expose myself and tell me that I’m being immodest in this way, and that this is unholy and tempting to the men around me.
But I don’t think it’s that serious. Me removing my shirt has nothing to do with how virtuous of a Christian I am. I’m simply hot. But for some reason, the way I exercise in the heat is a community concern. It’s incredibly frustrating to be guilted into believing that I am morally inferior for wanting to keep cool while exercising. When discussing this, my teammate Austin Blevins likened it to the time when it was considered immodest to have ankles exposed. “When we look back, it seems like such a weird societal norm, but we keep imposing these kinds of rules on women,” he said.
I am well aware of the anatomical differences between men and women. However, we are not asking to run with nothing on our top halves. We will still be wearing sports bras, so no one is at risk of being flashed, or seeing anything more than our stomachs and shoulders. Modesty is constantly enforced with the reasoning of being tempting to men. But if that’s the case, why aren’t men told to keep modest for the same reason? Why is the sight of my bare-chested male teammates running through the streets of Wilmore assumed to not be tempting to the women of town?
Myself, along with most women, realize it’s not that big of a deal. We know that their bodies are not objects for conquest or something only good for sexual enjoyment. We understand that we are all exercising, and it is hot. I only wish that Asbury could understand in the same way.
