(We will be submitting this link along with the original petition containing the original signees to the BWSC organization. Below is a compressed summary of the original petition to allow more people to submit their signatures!) 

     As a former attendee, I can attest to the wonderful tools BWSC has provided for many people. It has the potential to create a flourishing environment for many Christian women seeking to learn more about God and the world from a biblical perspective.

It is an incredible blessing to be able to attend camps and conferences to learn about our Creator and fellowship with like-minded people. However, with great blessing comes great responsibility. As a professing Christian organization, BWSC is accountable for preaching and teaching biblical and ethical values just as much implicitly as it does explicitly. We want our sisters and daughters to know they are safe, respected, and valued. For this reason, there needs to be a change.

     I and many many others will testify to how the regulations affected them. One such testimony involves my underage relative and her acquaintance: The pair of young conservative girls were told to "prove" to their counselor that their shorts were long enough. They were made to stand up in front of their group to display their outfits and show how long their clothing was. (One of them did not pass and so she wore pants in the hot TN summer the rest of the week)

That same week my relative heard a counselor make a generalized statement regarding other girls and their clothing. The counselor said: "GIRLS try to get away with all sorts of things".  

These are just a few of many stories.

 

     If we look at the clothing regulations, we can see a blatant bias against one part of the population and an absence of regulations for the other. The majority of the dress code is addressed to females, only one sentence specifically addresses the young men. Boys need only to “wear a shirt”, whereas the girls need to go through an entire process to make sure that at every angle the clothing they wear meets the restricting guidelines. This does not only apply to the underage “girls” but also applies to the legal adult women. (Yet there are no such extensive restrictions for the "boys" to adhere to the same standards of conduct or respect women's bodies.)

     Unlike many attire guidelines that workplaces or academic facilities implement, BWSC does not enforce its policy under generalized professional dress codes, such as “business casual” or “formal”. Instead, their rules are specifically targeted at women, under accusations that they will each purposefully try to “push boundaries”.

So...

     Instead of listing a set of lengthy, specific rules which shame and inhibit women and disregard their education, we propose a more biblical and equal set of instructions to hold the upcoming generations accountable. Trust that their years of biblical training and the instruction of their parents have helped instill them with an adequate level of discernment. Below is a suggestion for reform:

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  “Both young ladies and young men are to dress and act in a way that displays their intent to conduct themselves in a God-honoring manner. Any clothing that is directed to provoke or intentionally disrupt the safe and encouraging learning environment BWSC intends to uphold is discouraged. Parents of underage children are required to approve clothing choices before attendance.”

 

     This policy change will not only hold men and women equally accountable but will also nurture a more comfortable and safe learning environment. It will teach the adults and young adults in attendance how to act wisely and with biblical discernment, applying the tools they learn at the conference.

     As a professing Christian organization, BWSC has the power to be an enormous influence and because of that, it has a responsibility to hold itself accountable for what it teaches directly and indirectly. I propose we reform the policy and work towards ending unbiblical presumption and instead nurture a safe, God-honoring, and respectful learning environment for men and women.