I Am Not A Fruit

"'I am not a fruit.' With these words, a Muslim woman began her comments to a room of teenagers. As you would expect, the teens responded with a puzzled look. She repeated herself:

'I am not a fruit. I grew up near a marketplace, and the men would walk down the aisles of fruit. The men picked up and examined everything before they bought one. The would touch them, smell them, handle them, and toss them back into the pile. After rummaging through the batch, they would pick one, buy it, and leave. I am not a fruit.'" - How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul, Page 101.

Ladies, we are not fruits and we should not be treated as if we are. It is not okay for men to treat us the way they do. We deserve to be loved and treated with respect as God's beautiful daughters. But how do we show the men around us that we deserve to be treated right? One important way we can do this is by dressing in a way that upholds our dignity, by dressing modestly.

Men will respect us when they see that we respect ourselves. When we dress modestly, we tell those around us: I am special. I am valuable. I don't need to flaunt my body to feel my worth. The king of the whole world died to save ME and I am worth being respected. Modesty demands that men look at us not with lust, but love.

Modesty also reminds us of our worth as women. "When a woman chooses to dress modestly, it's deliberate....Not much thought goes into buying sexy clothes. A girl will say to herself, 'Oh, that is so cute. It goes perfectly with my shoes,' and the sale is complete. When selecting a modest outfit, the process is more involved. The woman is conscious of how her clothing reflects her standards. Every time she puts on the outfit, it will be an unconscious reminder of what lifestyle she is choosing to lead." - Soulmate, Page 172.

"Modesty inspires an allure that lasts becasue she retains the element of mystery and directs his attention to more than the external. By your very nature as a woman, you are mysterious to men....You're mysterious because you are a woman. Retain that mystery by considering your body to be a secret, spoken only to the one who deserves to know it." - Soulmate, Page 173.

When you pick out your outfit tomorrow, think about what you are choosing to wear and how it will affect those around you. :)