Got You Covered: Stories of Modern Modesty aims to curiously explore the world of hair covering and modesty in contemporary contexts. Listen along as conversations between host Aiden Kent and guests across age, race, religion, culture, and national borders get deep into what it means to cover today. Support the show on Instagram and Patreon at @gotyoucoveredpod.
Featured in this episode:
Darthy (@love.darthy on Instagram and TikTok)
Andrea Herzog (@wrapunzel_ladies)
Uma Samari (@mydearestuma)
Nav Singh (@navthepoet on Instagram and TikTok)
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The closing music is “Little Tongues Chattering” by Ryan Webber, available on Onomatopoeia via the Katuktu Collective.
Got You Covered: Stories of Modern Modesty is supported by listeners on Patreon. Become a patron at patreon.com/gotyoucoveredpod and continue to support the show on Instagram at @gotyoucoveredpod.
It became a spiritual thing where like every time I put some kind of head covering on I entered into the space of prayer, or I entered into the space of at least like being very present with the idea that I was in a divine relationship.
My palms were getting sweaty. My face too was getting sweaty. Uh, it was very obvious that I was overwhelmed, but I chose to explain myself regardless. I could have ducked and like avoided the, the human connection avoided the conversation, but I chose to confront it.
Really using clothing as a tool, like an expressive tool, but also a practical tool. And it has like very, very little to do with my body and how it appears and very, so much to do with like my body and how it's functioning and what it's giving to the world and what I can do with it.
It's not a pain because it's something, I see it as an act of of love, right? It's for, it's for my beloved, which is the divine. And so like if you love someone, aren't you usually willing to, like is it a chore to do something for them?
If you're coming from a particular religious or cultural tradition, or you've been harmed by one, you may have a really specific idea of what modesty means both literally and emotionally. On one hand, modesty is quite literally defined by our holy texts and commentaries. Written by sages and scholars. And that can seem quite inflexible sometimes.
But even these leave room for interpretation, depending on your traditions or your community.
What's defined as modest or required in one tradition, isn't in another. And this also doesn't leave room for secular modesty. On the other hand, modesty, isn't just what you wear. It's a lifestyle that's meant to cultivate a particular inner experience. And from that perspective only you can define what modesty means to you based on the aspects of inner modesty that you wish to improve
Someone's definition of modesty is just as complex as their identity. It's shaped by religion, culture, gender socialization, sex, economic background, climate, and psychological and physiological dimensions.
The concept and practice of modesty gets even more complicated in the context of modern life. What modesty means depends on someone's life story. And I think it's worth listening to as many of those stories as possible.
Listen along as I interview guests across religions, cultures, and borders, in order to explore the deeper fruits of this practice and the spiritual lives of its practitioners.
I'm Aiden, Kent, and you're listening to got you covered stories of modern modesty.