Politics & Government

Ditch that Mini Skirt: It's Modesty Week in South Pas

Teenager Saige Hatch received a proclamation from City Council Wednesday night for starting the Modesty Club at South Pasadena High School.

South Pasadena High School student Saige Hatch isn’t shy when it comes to modesty.

Standing in front of City Council Wednesday, sporting a dress that flowed past her knees, the 15-year-old received kudos from Mayor Cacciotti for starting the Modesty Club, a social club that asks girls to pledge they will wear “shirts and dresses that cover my stomach, lower back, breasts and shoulders” and “not ask, persuade, or allow a boy to do anything with me that will jeopardize the code of chastity.”

Cacciotti proclaimed Dec. 3-7 modesty week in South Pasadena.

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our mission is to empower men and women, boys and girls to the highest quality of self esteem,’’ Hatch said, adding she hopes by raising people’s self confidence as individuals, you can raise self confidence as a community.

On the club’s website, www.modestyclub.com, reads the message: "A shift is coming, sneaking through the literal fabric of our culture. Our bright heroic women are being made the fool. A fool to think that to be loved they must be naked. To be noticed they must be sexualized. To be admired they must be objectified."

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The website features a Modesty Club rap video. It is attached to this article. 

Hatch is not the first person in her family to stand up for her beliefs.

Hatch’s brother, McKay Hatch, snared national headlines in 2008, even appearing on “The Tonight Show” after founding a No Cussing Club at SPHS. And perhaps you recognize Saige’s last name from her father’s rather famous cousin, Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Utah).

Saige’s father, Brent Hatch, told the Pasadena Sun, that trumpeting the message of  propriety hasn’t been a cake walk. A week after Saige started the Modesty Club, vandals egged and left graffiti on her father’s van, she told the paper. The website has also received a few nasty messages.

And back when the No Cussing Club started, the family was forced to stay with relatives for a brief time due to a bomb threat, according to the article. 

To join the Modesty Club, whose website touts that it has members in all 50 states and several countries, click here. 

Follow South Pasadena Patch on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for our Newsletter.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from South Pasadena