Quote:
Originally Posted by morningstar55
Morning loft dwellers and peekers
Its gona b a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
headng to west Memphis this morning.
yotly.... im at a wow, may I ask.. forgive me if im asking a crazy question... how does the mennonite culture feel of queer women?? |
They don't particularly welcome me with open arms LOL!
Let me say though, that there ARE Mennonites who either silently and some verbally, include and even move to openly include GLBTQ members of the community. I can say, pretty assuredly though, that those who do, are more progressive in their thinking, but also in their style of dress and their practice of the faith.
If you saw me on the street, you would notice me, because I dress very conservatively... similar to Amish style clothing. However, if you saw me in a group of conservative Mennonites or Amish, you would not be able to tell me apart from them. But neither by myself, nor with a group of Mennonites, would you ever be able to tell that I am gay. I can't/don't wear jewelry of any kind, so... identifying myself with rainbow jewelry is out. I only have one dress that's a printed cotton, and it's very light pastel colors on a white background. So, wearing rainbow colors is out.
Wearing plain clothing is rather a contradiction. We are to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world... we are called to be a "pecular" people, not conforming... so we do not, I do not, wear what other "english" people wear. I want to be set apart from them, as I feel I am called to be. However, having said that.. part of dressing plain, without alot of bells and whistles, not only covers the whole modesty issue, it also covers the "not drawing special attention to yourself through your appearance" issue. While we are to set ourselves apart from the world, we are not suppose to be vain enough, to want to draw attention to our personal appearance, thus avoiding vanity and pride.
Wearing jewelry, makeup, would be conforming, wearing loud prints and colors would be drawing attention LOL
So....
As far as community... even though I am not welcomed into membership at any Mennonite church in my area (there's about 20 in a 20 miles radius) doesn't make me any less Mennonite. It's how I was raised, how I believe and how I live my life. Old fashioned doesn't even begin to describe it.
But as for dressing like I do.... and I do do it for the afore mentioned reasons... there's also something else. Something inside of me... and it is also taught, but perhaps not with the "kinky" twist that I perceive LOL...
My body is to be covered modestly.. that is why I wear the dress, the caped apron (full body apron) and the tights... all of that. But also... I like the entire idea of saving my body, not allowing anyone who is not my spouse, to see my body, to see the sexual, the sensual.. that is for my spouse and my spouse alone to see. The same with my "uncovered" head... only my spouse should see that.. and I'll go further and say only my spouse should see my "crowning glory" (Biblical reference) which is my hair... down.
As an aside.... most Amish women, barring medical purposes, have never ever had their hair cut, trimmed or in any way shortened. By the time they get to their 20's, their hair can reach their feet! It was the apostle Paul that said that a woman's hair was given to her for a "crowning glory". But that's a whole other ball of wax.
Take care MS and thanks for the interest!