Wednesday, June 24, 2009

SIGH...

I couldn't make this up. This is one that even if I wanted to show how insane some schools are, I wouldn't have thought of this:
Bais Yaakov of Monsey will not be having dances in their concerts anymore.
Instead, there will be hand movements coordinating with the music. Which is already quite filtered and limited.
Because dancing is unTzniyusdik.

What, exactly, did Miriam do at the Yam Suf?
She stood there in her pleated skirt and buttoned up heavy cotton blouse two sizes too big and waved her hands. While off to the side, probably hiding under a sand dune, other women banged out a tune. With their almost stationary feet. And of course Miriam and the other women did NOT raise their hands over their head. Because their blouses may have become untucked. Or the movement of had raising would cause the blouse to ride up slightly over their female bodies.

Of course, since no other body part was moving, it didn't matter that they weren't wearing dangly jingling earrings. Little pearl studs don't move.

but this is actually not too surprising. for those of you who have attended these concert/plays (which take as long as speeches in the kremlin) this is the logical eventual outcome of a lot of rules and regulations.
1. most of the plays have seriously cut down on the number of male characters. Those that remain are either priests, rabbis, or fathers with zero personality and horrid dialogue
2.any scene that does have a male in it is short, and if there is a female, they stand further apart that a chassidish couple on their first "bshow"
3. since you can't have men wear pleated skirts, and still be considered a male character, all pants are loose concoctions with the crotch sewn in at the knees. sort of like pants falling down, but the waistband sits on the waist. and the jackets, usually procurred from older brothers who are 6'3" and weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 175 lbs., come down to that crotch at the knees. add to that a banged up hat covering half the face, and ALWAYS a girl with the longest hair in school, and they don't look like men. they look like fugitive migdets with speech impediments (they all mumble).


I do believe we have a problem with too many of our beautiful bnos yisroel pushing the limits with hemlines and tight tops. Especially if they are from homes that disapprove of such dress. But don't these principals and champions of tzniyus realize that their ridiculous rules and limits are contributing to our girls rebelliousness?

I think this same school had allowed a G.O. several years ago to plan a school trip which included a ropes course. The girls were all psyched- and then the ruling was issued, as I heard it from a G.O. member : "the ropes course is cancelled, Pas Nisht for bais yaakov girls to be swinging from trees".

I think these people are nuts. And you wonder why you see a BYM graduate 8 years later, married, with a shaitel down to her lower body, tight skirts, zona shoes, and empty 65" high def t.v. boxes on their driveway??

not every bais yaakov in monsey thinks like this one does


the straws is not a new thing. it doesn't look refined. The only reason this rule didn't exist 15 years ago is because water bottles weren't a way to drink. we used fountains. or little cans of shoprite juice.

I think the rabbonim and female principals worry every time there is a new trend. They are so scared of technology or changes in our society, that their knee-jerk reaction is to find a reason to assur it.


2 comments:

G6 said...

Funny funny post.
Oh, I have so much to write on this one...
I'm going to only *start* now and maybe I'll add more later.
a) earrings?!? earrings?!? Women in the Torah were known to wear NOSE rings! Can you imagine? Calling attention to yourself like that??
b) re the dancing, my husband, believe it or not, will argue the other side to you (maybe not in this instance but speaking generally) that the way some women dance nowadays at weddings, etc. - it should be banned. Some of the dancers nowadays aim to be provocative.
c) I agree with your description of the sequalae of such restrictions after graduation and beyond. Very frightening.
d) the straws thing I just don't get. Straws seem bad to me as well...

Anonymous said...

In La, they still have dances in the song and dance :)