Jessie Funk, from Episode 31 of The Cultural Hall, has recently found her self under some scrutiny for a “lack of being Modest” in the above photo.
What do you think of her dress/modesty or lack there of?
Hear her response to the “controversy” and where her faith resides in this “Special Episode of The Cultural Hall.”
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The for strength of youth pamphlet (guidelines for girls as young as age 12 and up) are told: Immodest clothing is any clothing that is tight, sheer, or revealing in any other manner. Young women should avoid short shorts and short skirts, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and clothing that does not cover the shoulders or is low-cut in the front or the back.
I don’t really know who she is, but if she’s an LDS artist, she needs to apply her talents and costumes that appeal to the LDS demographic that go with main stream ideology. That’s just business. The image of her above is a tasteful by all means, but does not conform to LDS standards. It’s embarrassing that some “faithful” LDS members though are being judgmental-which is also not in line with church teachings.
It’s amazing how much fundamental Mormonism has in common with fundamental Islam. What a gorgeous woman! Let’s throw a burka on her — wouldn’t want the poor men to be tempted with dirty thoughts. SMH.
“inch wide sleeves”? I hardly think you can call those sleeves, they are straps. Idk if she is LDS or not, sounds like she is not? She should talk to someone about her Q’s but to each their own in their journey on finding out what’s right and wrong in life. I just know that I would not be able to wear that since I’ve been through the temple. It is tastefully modest for someone who has not gone through the temple imho. But like I said, to each their own and I love her music regardless
@ stacie — actually, they look like 1 and half inch sleeves. oh brother. the guy in robes preaching against the Pharisees would be ashamed.
Amen to Sheryl!
This is not an unfounded pressure of “Mormon culture” that makes most active members wear sleeves or at least slap on a bolero.
This is doctrine, preached by the leadership of the Church, and printed in official Church manuals.
Not to mention the fact that is she is an endowed member, she is breaking her temple covenants to wear this, because she’s obviously not wearing her garments.
And if someone is going to act the part of a member of the church in the media, they shouldn’t be disregarding official church guidelines. I can’t hear her response because my speakers are broken, but I don’t really care. If she is stating that we can all be true to the faith while wearing clothes like that, she’s wrong, and I can just feel all the parents out there groaning as their daughters beg for spaghetti straps and use this clip as justification!
To Susie: No, modesty is not doctrine. Official doctrine includes the Standard Works, Proclamation to the World, etc. But I’d say that modesty in the strength for youth (emphasis on *for youth*) is more policy/cultural. You realize that even in temple recommend interviews for non-endowed people, they are never asked if they “keep the law of modesty”. Modesty has no real doctrine or scriptural basis, other than respecting your body as a temple which I think Jessie does perfectly fine. But if mormons keep policing each other, deeming even shoulders as a sign of wickedness, how will we be any better than the pharisees, who also set up elaborate rules and loved to judge based on outside appearances? If girls wanting to wear spaghetti straps is your biggest concern, well there are far far worse things out there.
I don’t think the For Strength of Youth pamphlet is for adults.
Amen Jessie! Yes, we LDS people can turn people away from the Gospel with petty holier-than-thou judgements. So she couldn’t wear her garments with that. Shouldn’t that be her own personal thing? Other than that, it’s classy and nice. And to the Mom who won’t send her daughter to Jessie’s academy now because of it? She’s doing more harm than good in teaching her daughter right from wrong in the Gospel. That Mom needs to pull her head out of her judgmental bubble and see the whole picture.
This has piqued my interest because I’m an lds woman who is also a professional musician, but not an LDS music musician. There is a very simple answer to this issue -
The only reason this is a problem for folks is because she has been set up as an LDS artist. If she herself has done so, she has taken advantage of moneys and fame in the name of the church without being willing to adhere to the basic standards. I take it she is not endowed.
There is not a single person in the world, LDS or otherwise, that if we saw a photo of her without knowing how she is gaining from this career, would criticize her lack of modesty. You “cannot” play both sides of the fence though.
Want to get famous? Want to make money? Know your audience or you will feel betrayed by them. It’s as simple as that.
She is beautiful, talented, modest. She also takes issue with the temple garment. If she’s making money off the LDS audience, the will feel betrayed by this. It’s not rocket science.
Amazing, those who love her because she is living by her own standards and are then mocking others because they feel she is betraying the LDS Standards are as much at fault as anybody else. If she’s Endowed and isn’t wearing her Garments then that’s a personal choice, of which she will have to answer to. For her to then go to get a Temple Recommend after this will put her in an interesting position because she won’t be able to answer all the questions honestly. But then again, that’s her choice. For those who pull their children out of her academy because of this, then good for you. That is your right as parents. For those who feel these parents are wrong then shame on you for your judgmentalism. Parents have that right and it is their right regardless of your thoughts.
Mormon modesty rhetoric has become downright unhealthy. There’s nothing wrong with shoulders. Modesty isn’t a checklist. And adults don’t have to adhere to a youth pamphlet in their day-to-day decision-making. Principles rather than rules, people. Use your own brains.
Having grown up in the church, we never were asked to dress as if we were already wearing garments. Not sure why that changed in the culture.
I am 32 and I love the “For the Strength of Youth” Pamphlet! I could not find anything in there that does not apply to me as an adult. (except some of the dating guidelines as I am married now)
One question I was curious was wither she is an endowed member. She spoke about having concerns about garments, and I was curious if she wore them and now chooses not to, or if those are covenants she has not chosen to make.
I am sure being fashionable and being in alignment with Church standards is hard for a woman. Someone who is not acquainted with garment lines might not know how much they cover. I like that she wanted to add wide straps to a dress that was strapless. Which makes me think it is just out of ignorance.
It could feel like a betrayal (or misrepresentation) when someone who is marketed as an LDS artist does not promote LDS standards in their public persona.
I understand someone rethinking sending their daughters to her camp if they are expecting an EFY type experience, but learn that (while possibly uplifting) some things taught might not be in accordance to Church standards.
One thing members (myself included) want is public figures they can look up to. There is so much celebrity worship in the world, it is nice to have someone we can hold as an example of the Mormon faith in the public eye.
It seems like most of our famous Mormons are inactive or outright left the church. It is hard to brag about great actors like Ryan Gosling, Aaron Eckhart, and Amy Adams, but who don’t really follow the tenants of the faith.
We need to have more standard bearers than just Rick Schroder, Jon Heder, and the famous Richie T.
I just finished the episode and appreciate that Jessie came on and talked to the issues straight. I think she’s free to wear what she wants, when she wants. I did find her last comments Naive and and big denial about her Ivy Girl Academy. It may not be her target to have only Mormon girls there, but her workshops were in Idaho Falls and SLC last year… this is obviously a program targeted to a ‘personal progress’ – like crowd. Look at the program and it has NOTHING to do with the LDS faith, but without the LDS faith would it exist? If a captive audience with same-leaning values didn’t exist for the idea to be planted and flourish – It wouldn’t get off the ground.
It is something Jessie should think about, if she wants to understand why some people think the way they do.
Also, just a note about if an LDS MALE singer had posted an ‘immodest’ pic of their own, would it get the same play? Imagine Donny Osmond posting a half-shirt showing his belly or a pic with his top off….. You don’t think that would get facebook play? gimme a break…One thing we like to do as Mormons is jump all over anyone who doesn’t conform to our cultural norms!
People are getting confused here. We have no right to judge her at all – and it would be stupid to point fingers.
However….
Know your audience. She’ll figure that out when she matures as an artist.
Even the Dixie Chicks had to learn the hard way. Did they have a right to say what they said? Yep. They just didn’t play the game right. Know your audience.
Justin Beebs? If you’re gonna appeal to pre teen girls and make your money off their mommys and daddys, stay off the MJ. It’s simple math.
Being a successful artist has everything to do with not only your talent but your savvy. If you’re gonna sing LDS songs and sell to that market, then there will be the expectation that you are going to be an example. An endowed woman who doesn’t keep that basic covenant does not make her a worse person than you or I, it simply makes her someone who blatanty does not keep a “Basic” covenant and it will be noticed. It’s a no brainer.
Wow. These comments have been so educational for me. Now I know that the one thing I really need to make clear is that I am NOT and LDS singer. I have actually been fighting hard to completely sever my reputation as a “Mormon singer.” The last two albums I’ve done in the last five years have been broadway and country genres. I don’t even sell my lds CDs on my website.
And my academy WOULD absolutely continue to thrive without the lds market! I love that you assume we only had lds girls at our slc and Idaho workshops when it was in fact a pretty even split between lds and not-lds! THAT was naive of you to assume that there just couldn’t possibly be any non-lds girls that could be interested in learning what we teach! We have 15 women in 15 different states across the country who are in the process of planning Ivy Girl Workshops for this fall or 2014! Our program is thriving and Mormonism has nothing to do with our success! It has to do with teen girls who are struggling, religion is not a factor! Heavenly Father has guided me in this and HE is steering the ship! That’s why we will succeed!
I am completely comfortable with where I am with all this. I know that God supports where my heart is…genuinely seeking a real testimony instead of pretending and going through the motions just because our culture says we should. I’m done with that facade and that’s a very good thing! I will continue to be an instrument in Fathers hand by making uplifting music and reach out to our struggling young ladies and try my best to set an example for them… WHETHER THEY ARE LDS or NOT!
Judge me all you want- but my heart is good and I’m trying my best to do good in the world. I can’t please everyone- everyone has a different definition of “perfect.” I have never claimed to be perfect- nor will I ever. I’m just doing the best I can.
I am glad you know that you can recognize the love God has for you. I wish more people could identify and feel that.
The photo that you have provided has given those in the LDS community (this board is geared to those of us in the LDS church) a reason to discuss the subject or modesty that has lead to discussion to respect of temple garments and covenants. If you don’t want people to talk about it, why put yourself out there?
After reading these comments and listening to your conversation with Richie, I love you even more. You came to speak at a fireside in our stake a few years ago and I shared with you afterwards how meaningful your music was to me when I was away from the church and then came back. The beautiful lyrics and spirit of your songs are what touched my heart, not the clothes you wore or whatever PERSONAL beliefs you may have. I continue to be astounded at the LDS members who treat this gospel as the “cool club” that you must have the appearance of belonging to in order to be accepted. Or parents who are scared to death that their children may see or hear about something they must then explain. Last time I checked, the Lord loves and welcomes everyone. I love your music, I love your positive message, and you have truly enriched my life.
Jessie,
I hope you read my whole post, rather than assuming that my argument was that only LDS people attended the workshops is not the case. I offered my observation that if an LDS person were to visit the site, knowing you are LDS, you are from Utah, knowing in the past that you marketed to an LDS audience with music, and KNOWING that the academy you created was fostered and nurtured in a Personal Progress-like area lends a mormon who is considering your program to view it as an lds-like program (think EFY). That is why a mormon person might look at what you’re doing and be disappointed.
Just as a note, I’m not in Utah, and I looked at your Academy stuff and purchased a book. I have 4 daughters from 12-5 and I hope they are raised to love people as individuals and accept in others that they see as ‘different’ as others need to accept of them that are seen as different. BUT… In this church, and I’m not in UTAH let me remind you… we don’t do that very well.
We love ortho-praxy (behavior) over ortho-doxy (belief) – I think I noticed that in 5 years of feeling and believing differently about the church you seem to be making out ok… but DARE post a picture of yourself not conforming to the ‘practice’ of modest dress and your outed and ostracized.
This is a very good micro-example of an interesting statement of the culture of our church…. Believe all sorts of crazy stuff… but don’t you dear wear a colored shirt to Church!!!
@amy, I’ll bet you a 100 dollar gift certificate to Deseret Book that you can find non-lds authors and/or musicians at Deseret.
It’s a matter of understanding that there are so many ‘lemming-ish’ mentality people in mormonism that they do believe that anything in Deseret Book is endorsed by the Church, and if there are non-lds artists/authors in the Church that they’ve been vetted by a General Authority before going on the shelves.
Nevertheless I think its modest and she is pretty hott. And her eyes are just gorgeous.
I think the thing that it comes down to Jessie is the no matter how hard you try to distance yourself from “Mormon singer” you will be and are a “Mormon Singer” You ARE an example, good or bad, of our faith. YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL OF THE FAITH! SO when you wear a dress that a garment can’t be worn with (regardless if you wear garments or not) PEOPLE OF OUR FAITH WILL NOTICE!! You are in an unfortunate position of people caring and noticing what you do, BUT you put yourself there by virtue of you job. Is that right? No. But that is the way it is.
You were right about your workshops not being LDS based…but yet they kind of are. The commenter was right about your workshops, about a lot of LDS youth liking it because guess what…its is kind of LDS based. Ask Stephanie Mayer if that is fair.
Because in the end, if you wanted it or not, YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL.