Popular Christian recording artist Matthew West has apologized after facing criticism over a lighthearted parody song about modesty.
The 44-year-old singer-songwriter, who has two daughters, first shared the jokey song last week, describing it as his “ridiculously silly way of reminding [my kids] that their appearance doesn’t define them.”
In it, West sang that “modest is hottest, the latest fashion trend,” urging his daughters to choose outfits that are “a little more Amish, a little less Kardashian.”
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The song, though, quickly sparked backlash from some who saw the lyrics as more harmful than funny, so West apologized Thursday evening.
“I’m blessed to be the father of two amazing daughters,” he wrote in a post on his Instagram account. “I wrote a song poking fun at myself for being an over-protective dad and my family thought it was funny. The song was created as satire, and I realize some people did not receive it as it was intended.”
“I’ve taken the feedback to heart,” West continued. “The last thing I want is to distract from the real reason why I make music: to spread a message of hope and love to the world.”
West has since removed the song’s music video — which featured West, his wife, Emily, and their two daughters — from his social media platforms.
Recording artist Audrey Assad was one of West’s staunchest critics.
In a post of her own, she said the phrase “‘modest is hottest’ still entirely centers men and their preferences in the way a woman should dress, sets up being ‘hot’ as the goal for women, and positions all men as creeps who can’t handle seeing a woman’s skin without becoming out of control monsters.”
“It’s demeaning to men and women,” she argued. “I really hate this phrase and somehow it is the one cockroach that survives literally everything.”
USA Today columnist Kirsten Powers commented on Assad’s Instagram post, describing West’s parody song as “so disturbing.”
Oklahoma-based Pastor Jeremy Coleman responded, too, with a TikTok video making fun of the song.
In West’s original version, he joked, “If I catch you doing dances on the TikTok in a crop top, so help me God, you’ll be grounded ’til the world stops.”
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Coleman sang, “Well, if I catch you doing dances on the TikTok, wear what you want, girl, just go off. Hold your head up so your crown doesn’t fall off. You’re a queen, if you forgot. So just wear what you want. The latest fashion trends, I probably won’t get, but it’s not for me to understand.”
“If the boys act like pigs, tell ’em gouge out their eyes, ’cause I’ve got some shovels and some alibis, so just wear what you want and I’ll love you ’til I die.”
A father of three daughters, Coleman told Newsweek he was concerned about West’s song because he takes issue “with purity culture as a whole.”
“We are telling our daughters and young women that their body image should be defined by someone else’s opinion,” he said. “Women should feel confident, comfortable, and free to dress and express themselves however they want. Telling them to dress a certain way to be ‘less attractive’ is reverse body shaming.”
He said he understands “wanting to protect your children, but why should my girls have to change who they are, be uncomfortable with who they are, because men are unable to appreciate women without sexualizing them?”
“Women are far too often shamed and blamed for the abhorrent behavior of men,” Coleman continued. So the idea of ‘Modest Is Hottest’ is saying that, because men can’t control their lustful desires, you have to change who you are. It’s the same mentality that inevitably produces victim blaming for sexual abuse victims. We need men to take responsibility for their eyes, thoughts, and actions.”
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