Sex and dress
Moderation and chastity required in dress[edit]
Believers not to transgress the bounds of propriety and exercise moderation in all that pertains to dress[edit]
"It hath been forbidden you to carry arms unless essential, and permitted you to attire yourselves in silk. The Lord hath relieved you, as a bounty on His part, of the restrictions that formerly applied to clothing and to the trim of the beard. He, verily, is the Ordainer, the Omniscient. Let there be naught in your demeanour of which sound and upright minds would disapprove, and make not yourselves the playthings of the ignorant. Well is it with him who hath adorned himself with the vesture of seemly conduct and a praiseworthy character. He is assuredly reckoned with those who aid their Lord through distinctive and outstanding deeds."
- (Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 159)
"Bahá'u'lláh removed such limitations on one's apparel and beard. He leaves such matters to the "discretion" of the individual, and at the same time calls upon the believers not to transgress the bounds of propriety and to exercise moderation in all that pertains to dress.
- (Notes to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, no. 175)
Moderation in dress an implication of a chaste and holy life[edit]
"Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations...It condemns...the practices of nudism...It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses."
Dancers should not be indecently clad[edit]
"Dancers may appear, but great care should be used that they are not indecently clad or the dances vulgar in any way. Naturally, there should be no dancers at regular Bahá'í meetings. Vocal soloists, of course, may appear."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, August 19, 1951, in Lights of Guidance, no. 336)
Moderation and chastity[edit]
Per a pilgrim's note, women are to cover their neck and bosom and see spiritual significance of this teaching (but are not to be distressed by being told they should not have done this or that)[edit]
"Describe how you have seen the women of the East, as in Haifa. The Blessed Beauty directed that there should be great modesty in the women, that they should not bare the neck and bosom...
"The conditions are different in the West, but the women of the West must see the spiritual significance of this Teaching. Do not distress them by saying that they should not have done this or that. They will see by themselves. Talk about this only, so to speak, one by one, with the friends, when you have the opportunity."
- (Notes of a talk with Abdu'l-Bahá, New York City, June 7, 1912 at https://bahai-library.org/guardian_easy_familiarity )
