Comments on: Briefly: Baptists, Boobies, Bad Parents, and God’s Cripples http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2009/05/2925/ Fighting antigay lies and the ex-gay myth Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:13:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jayelle Wiggins-Lunacharsky http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2009/05/2925/comment-page-1/#comment-12200 Jayelle Wiggins-Lunacharsky Tue, 05 May 2009 22:22:09 +0000 http://www.truthwinsout.org/?p=2925#comment-12200 As a woman who left the Assemblies of God church in part because of the repressive attitudes about womens' sexuality, I don't really want to judge Prejean for posing topless. That's what people in her church do. I'm Pagan, and I don't believe in shaming people about their bodies. However, she's allowed herself to become a spokeswoman for conservative Evangelical Christianity and "family values", and she thinks that LGBT people should live by the sexually repressive standards that she, at least as far as her appearance goes, has cast aside for herself. I remember being told not to wear the brightly patterned tights I loved, as a chubby teenage girl with athletic legs, because they made guys looked at my legs and therefore "caused my brothers to stumble" sexually. Other women who grew up in conservative Evangelical churches can tell similar stories, and I understand there is a huge emphasis on "modesty"--that is, guilt-tripping girls about their bodies--in today's youth groups. But Prejean can wear a teeny white bikini or less because she's publicly opposed LGBT civil rights in Jesus' name?! I'll bet there are some angry teenage girls in the youth groups right now. I'm okay with that. As a woman who left the Assemblies of God church in part because of the repressive attitudes about womens’ sexuality, I don’t really want to judge Prejean for posing topless. That’s what people in her church do. I’m Pagan, and I don’t believe in shaming people about their bodies. However, she’s allowed herself to become a spokeswoman for conservative Evangelical Christianity and “family values”, and she thinks that LGBT people should live by the sexually repressive standards that she, at least as far as her appearance goes, has cast aside for herself.

I remember being told not to wear the brightly patterned tights I loved, as a chubby teenage girl with athletic legs, because they made guys looked at my legs and therefore “caused my brothers to stumble” sexually. Other women who grew up in conservative Evangelical churches can tell similar stories, and I understand there is a huge emphasis on “modesty”–that is, guilt-tripping girls about their bodies–in today’s youth groups. But Prejean can wear a teeny white bikini or less because she’s publicly opposed LGBT civil rights in Jesus’ name?! I’ll bet there are some angry teenage girls in the youth groups right now. I’m okay with that.

]]>