I don't give a shit who labels me what anymore. It's their problem.

@GoldenDoll by fgm do you mean female genital mutilation? Because if you do I will point out the simple Act of discrimination occurred in Australia about 1996. Female genital mutilation was criminalised under the Labor Attorney-General Lavarche. The government was asked "why is this sexist law being passed? Why is male circumcision not included?" Their response was "the panel advising the government" (manginas, catholics, prurients, jews and christian or feminazi women?) "state that female circumcision involves the removal of an important organ whereas in men it is merely skin". When it was pointed out that skin is the biggest of the human organs no answer was forthcoming. The sexist religious based discriminatory legislation is still in place.
I recommend people to read the following blog to learn about the barbarity of male circumcision and its irreperable damage and harm:

[madsciencewriter.blogspot.co.id]

As for the government subsidising research into new fashion compared to subsidy for corporate theft of water, mineral deposits and coal burning pollution, we are talking montary peanuts. A new modest garment could turn into a profitable export earner for Australia - a country with a long history of subsidising General Motors and Ford to have them slap the citizens in the face and close manufacturing down.
Methinks you have been reading a report written by a poorly trained journalist obeying her publisher's edict of "stir the sheeple into hatred of Muslims".

I like immodest very much.

I have incredibly mixed feelings on this topic.

I have zero body shame and am not wrapped up in anyone's appearance--least of all mine--so I used to go about in tank tops, short shorts, and skirts without thinking about it too much--apart from enjoying my comfort on a 90° F day. I love to feel sun and wind on my skin. I enjoyed some lovely, freeing summers this way.

The rest of the year I would dress fairly "modestly", as I am generally averse to attention, and I need the warmth. Anyway I'm built like a bundle of sticks so cleavage is out of the question. But I would choose clothes that fit and flatter my figure--so I could be covered from wrists to ankles and still look amazing. (We get hot summers and cold winters with snow here.)

This was working for me until I started to notice how much side-eye I was getting from other women--especially during the summer. I wasn't showing nearly as much cleavage or wearing as short of shorts as others, but I got a lot of eyeball-hate. I didn't think there was anything at all provocative about how I was dressing, but evidently many folks, almost all women, had a problem with it. Even during the cooler months when I was more covered up.

So I don't care about "modesty", nor feel the need to cover my skin, generally--it's what I tend to prefer living in a colder climate and fashion-wise...and I know what kind of attention to expect from men when I expose certain areas and amounts of my skin (I hate attention). I used to treat my wardrobe like any other creative medium and create pleasing compositions for the artistic thrill of it--for my own amusent, with little thought to what anyone else would think.

I don't care what other people wear. I may think it's tacky to wear clothes that permit your boobs to hang out, but that's only because it treats the body like some kind of party favor when (I feel) the body should be regarded as natural and completely acceptible as is, not as having salacious parts. And if you want to treat your body like a party favor, who am I to look askance? I don't make the rules.

There's a difference between exposing skin and highlighting exposed skin, for the purpose of drawing sexualized attention. I used to unselfconsciously do the former, never the latter. I don't think many people can tell the difference, though. Not here in America. I'd like to see us accept nudity as something as natural as changing a baby's diaper but I don't know how we'd get there, with the Puritan hangover that's still afflicting us.

These days I make a point to choose oversized, shapeless clothing that obscures my figure. I'm not sure how I'll deal with the 90° F weather when it comes around again. Hopefully I'll be over it by then. I'm not the kind of person who can "just ignore it" when others are being hateful. I feel guilty when other people are catalysed to be hurtful on my account. I don't want anyone getting "bad karma" because of me. Not when there's so much of it about.

It doesn't seem to matter what my attitudes toward modesty are: people are going to project onto me their own attitudes and treat me accordingly. Perception is reality: I'm the stuck-up size 4 bitch who wants to make you feel bad about yourself and steal your husband. I don't want to deal with the fallout, so I don't dress the way I would like to dress--I dress the way that doesn't get me treated like a villain. At this point in my life, not being treated like a villian is more important to me than clothing. And I'm fine with that.

P.S. I've already heard all the "You shouldn't..." and "You should..." arguments, and I know that my attitude is not ideal. It's not designed to be permanent. This is something I need to work out on my own, and there's more to it than I've laid out here. Save yourself the typing and let me deal how I'm gonna deal.

Hey, I think that We all have our style preferences, but to each his or her own.
Why does it matter, and who gives someone else the right to say what you wear.
Sounds Republican to me..

It should not matter how you're dressed. What may be immodest for me might not be for someone else. In otherwords, it's not up to me (or anyone else for that matter) to determine how appropriate someone is dressed.

I think saggy pants are ridiculous; therefore I don't wear them
I think string bikinis look bad on most people; therefore I don't wear them.
Micro-minis are too small. Don't wear those either.
sheer fabrics show too much. Nope, that's not me.

I think you get the point. There's always going to be someone who you don't approve of. Unless you wear blinders in public you will see them. Ignore them or don't go out.

Modesty is a cultural term. It means nothing besides the social implications of the place you live in. What one culture calls modest might be considered prudish to another. Wear what you like! If you don't think it's immodest, it probably isn't. A wiser person would understand you come from another culture with different values and leave it at that.

the term does shift responsibilty for certain behaviors. Myself I cover up for the most part because it is a fact that a lot of people can't control their impulses.I prefer not to deal with that. just like I took responsibility for my birth control even though I think it should be a joint effort

Actually the utterly most modest way is naked. Even the religious should admit that is how you were created/born. If some god would have meant that you should wear some kind of dress, he/she surely would have created you with some clothes on. Don't you think?

For anyone to label me as "immodest" is ridiculous. It doesn't matter what I'm wearing.
Calling someone immodest is a value judgment, it's not a statement of fact in any way.
Do that to my face and you're not likely to appreciate the response you'd get. Your value judgments mean absolutely nothing to me. No one gets to tell me how I should dress, or conduct myself, so long as I'm not causing harm to anyone.
Personally, I feel the Australian government just wasted a whole lot of taxpayer money.
**My use of "you" and "you're" is general and not directed at anyone in particular.