[Avodah] Tznius (for Men)

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Yitzchok Levine wrote:

> True, a bathing suit is all that is needed when one goes
> swimming,  but I do think that there is more to this issue.
> Are dirty, torn jeans and a T-shirt with an "in your face"
> slogan on it proper dress for a Jewish man?  I think not.
> Is it OK for men to wear shorts?  According to some it is
> not. ...
> Would it be appropriate for a Jewish man to wear a red suit?
> Is it "proper" for a Jewish man to look like Charley Chaplin
> (See http://tinyurl.com/44sdops )?  To wear a Chairman Mao
> suit?  (See http://tinyurl.com/439g75z )  You get my drift
> I am sure.

Yes, I certainly do. And I've been thinking about how to respond.

> It seems to me that there is a lot to tznius for men, but
> it is ignored.

I'm not so sure that it is ignored. I think that there is a large body of halacha - on these tz'nius issues and many other issues too - which appears not in Shulchan Aruch nor any of the codes, but in the *other* writings and speakings of our teachers. RYL's frequent quotes from Rav Hirsch are but one example of this.

> Where are the guidelines?  There are plenty for women.  Why
> is this the case?

It seems to me that the codes speak only of the minimums which tend to apply across the generations. When you write "There are plenty for women", I think you're including the many pashkevilin and other edicts which have been promulgated of late. And I think it is safe to say that historically, these sorts of teachings focus on the areas where the leadership thinks that the masses need to be stronger.

We can discuss whether the many edicts we've seen about women's clothing go overboard or not, but it is safe to the that the ones issuing these edicts see a need for further limitations on women's clothing, and they *don't* see as much need for limitations on men's clothing.

In other words, the simple answer to RYL's question ("Where are the guidelines?  There are plenty for women.") is that our current leadership sees women's clothing as more problematic than men's. I'm confident that they don't like the idea of men who wear t-shirts or yarmulkas with the insignia of sports teams on them. But it seems that they aren't as bothered by that as by women who wear skirts so close to their ankles that they draw the attention of men.

And who am I to say that they're wrong?

Akiva Miller

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