eh... this is the first i've heard about this story (yay for living back east again!). i'm amused by how much attention this is getting, and reminded of how small the world gets when you live in Provo and/or go to BYU...
go check out the story, watch the video.
and now go check out the Dress and Grooming Standards of the BYU Honor Code, if you're unfamiliar with it. (if you go to BYU, you likely have this memorized, in which case- just keep reading.)
some people are strongly defending that she's not wearing anything "immodest." I heard a rumor that she got hired by a clothing company that specializes in making modest clothing to be a model. just checked it, she's already got some modeled pics up on http://www.crisandkates.com/
some people are getting angry and saying things like, "you signed the Honor Code and if you're not going to live it, then go to a different school!" (the trump end to any conversation about the Honor Code among the BYU species...)
those are the really disturbing thing-- calling the guy who wrote the note a bully, telling the girl she's out of line and needs to repent, comparing the Honor Code to "forcing women to wear burkahs," ... just WOW!
and now my opinion:
looking at her, i don't think she's dressed immodestly or that her clothing encourages unwanted attention to her body, or that her clothes promote negative thoughts about her. but like it or not, BYU's honor code as it relates to appearance isn't always about the Spirit of the law when it gets broken down into the nitty-gritty rules(though if you follow it by the letter you can't go wrong, think of it as an "extra high standard").
so yeah, she did technically break the Honor Code. (and i'm not totally against the "no leggings" rule in the honor code, since there are many degrees of leggings depending on color, sheer-ness, and tight-ness [which is really more of an issue of body shape and size than how the item is made].... though the rule does make her outfit and i'm sure others' outfits "against the honor code", even though i think it's acceptable...but i digress...)
what that guy did wasn't really the worst he could do either. do i think her clothes are "immodest?" no. is it breaking the honor code?-yes. so the guy felt he should say something, and he gave her a note, which granted may or may not have been written in a "nicer" way, but i'd really prefer to have a person write me a note or address me privately instead of just turning me into the HC office. i had roommates who were anonymously turned into the HC office and never knew why because people would get offended about something trivial and just turn them in, instead of talking to them about it in person first. so, maybe the guy was a bit uptight about the honor code... but he handled it the best way he could and feel good about it.
do i think this woman needs to leave BYU because she's not obeying the honor code perfectly as it's written? uh, no. the favorite trump end to all honor code conversations ("you signed it, if you don't like it go somewhere else!") is stupid, kills potentially meaningful discussion, and makes the assumption that people who break the honor code aren't worthy of BYU (and by extension forgiveness or the Atonement).
The Atonement is awesome and available to everyone-- BYU student or not, Mormon of not. We're all learning to be our best. Students at BYU are not the "judges in Israel." I think a lot of people over at BYU need to get their heads screwed on right and realize there are more important things to worry about, like the reality of the Atonement, their own personal testimonies, and their own need for repentance instead of everyone else's testimonies and need for repentance.
(ok, i'm gonna stop now before i become too hypocritical and make this a bigger deal than it should be.)
