Modesty

Is the concept of modesty universal? I think not. Rather, the understanding of modesty mostly remains individual. More importantly, modesty is an elusive concept to define. That is, one's account of modesty differs from another's. As Elizabeth Bucar succinctly puts it, the term modesty is "an abstract idea about conforming to standards of what is considered appropriate," and more importantly, "it is understood in relation to local perspectives on dress, gender, aesthetics, and so on."1 Several factors could affect one's understanding of modesty. Religion, especially its reaction to modernity and modern norms, is one of the essential factors affecting how people perceive and express modesty. Thus, in this study, I will not attempt to define the wordmodesty. On