s/o burkinis...Do you feel uncomfortable when others

[Excelsior! Academy]

are not wearing one? I am not asking if you are uncomfortable in your beliefs or clothing choices, but rather does it bother you to be at the pool with others in bikinis or similar type of swimwear?

 

 

For example, we have several family members that believe women should never wear pants.  While we are respectful of their beliefs when we are around them, our girls (and me) do wear pants around them.  I always wonder if we are making them uncomfortable.  

[AK_Mom4]

Nope. I am not wearing one myself, but I am not at all bothered by others wearing bikinis.

Or Burkinis for that matter.

 

I'm not quite ready for a nude beach, but give me a few years to get used to it and I am sure that won't bother me either.

 

What other people wear is totally their business. Unless they have cute shoes, in which case I am likely to stare and make notes because I like cute shoes.

[redsquirrel]

No.  It wouldn't bother me in the least. I wouldn't change anything about what I wear. I wouldn't expect someone who wears more of a coverup at the beach to uncover or a woman wearing skirts to wear pants to make me 'comfortable'. It doesn't make me uncomfortable, but why would I expect it to go the other way?

[Guest]

Not really, but we live in an area where the swimwear tends to be more functional (lake or pool).

[J-rap]

I doesn't bother me what other swimmers choose to wear, but I admit I did feel rather conspicuous when I went to a beach in the Middle East some years ago.  My swimsuit -- even though it was nothing too showy -- seemed very skimpy in comparison to what most women were wearing!

 

I did find myself at a beach once where many of the women were topless.  After the initial shock, it didn't bother me.  It was in a different country and didn't seem like a big deal at all. 

[Amira]

I truly believe that most people whose clothing choices are in any way guided by their religious convictions are confident enough in their own decisions to allow others the same respect to choose theirs.

 

Notwithstanding my current country of residence.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Amira

[trulycrabby]

Bikinis, burkinis, it's all good.

[bettyandbob]

There is such a range in my area, I can't imagine being uncomfortable either way.

 

When I'm teaching I want people to be comfortable interacting closely with me so I add shorts to my swimsuit or wear a shorty wetsuit. I hope that's enough for my adult students and parents of children. They know covering is not part of my culture.

[Julie Smith]

For family and friends, when outdoors I wish that many of them would cover up more and have their children cover up more. This is because I know several who keep getting to much sun.

 

In an indoor or evening setting,I don't care.

[Valley Girl]

Would I feel uncomfortable if other people aren't wearing burkinis? Of course not. Maybe it's too early and I'm not quite understanding the question. Burkinis aren't the norm around here, so the fact that people aren't wearing them is a non-issue. If they were, that's entirely their business. Certainly I've see swimsuits that I wouldn't be caught dead in. But I keep my mouth shut because, while I'm certainly entitled to have an opinion, it's not my job to express it at least not publicly. I expect the same consideration from others.

[MercyA]

I wear only skirts in public (okay, aside from my swim culottes :) ), and I am not uncomfortable around women in pants. I wear a prayer covering, and I am not uncomfortable around women who don't.

 

I am a little uncomfortable around women in bikinis, because of how revealing they are. I am not comfortable with public nudity or anything that comes close to it (and that goes for men, too). That said--I would not say anything to anyone wearing a skimpy suit (unless they asked) or, I hope, treat them differently. 

[TheReader]

I've had reverse culture shock in the swimsuit department since moving back from Brazil, and moving to an area of Texas that's pretty "conservative Christian," of the type where girls have to wear cover-ups to swim, and only one-pieces are allowed, etc. 

 

When we first moved back, I bought a "US bikini" for the beach, pool, etc. This was still a bikini, but one made here, so it covered a lot more than my Brazilian one (which still wasn't a thong or anything, but they just have less fabric in the back than US ones do). I thought this would be sufficient.....until I went to the beach, pool, etc, and realized moms (at least around here) don't wear bikinis.  :sigh: 

 

Not only that, but, I had worn my bikini, with cover-up, to a Ladies' Retreat held by my (still new to me, at the time) church. And there was a pool, and we all went swimming -- no guys around, at all. Just women/teens. And as I sat there, realizing, "oh, this is a 'one-pieces only' church..." I contemplated what to do. And I asked one of the ladies near me, who suggested I would probably be more comfortable keeping my cover-up on. I understood her to mean everyone would be more comfortable, probably....so, I kept my cover-up on, swam anyway, and all was fine. 

 

But after that trip, I promptly went back to the store and bought a "US swimsuit" (a tankini that has coverage like a one-piece), and now I wear that when we'll be around people who worry about these things, and I keep the bikinis for when we're at the beach on our own, not around people we know. 

 

In other words, I've definitely been on the receiving end of making people uncomfortable in my (to them) less modest swimwear, even though it was, at the time, more modest than what I was used to wearing. 

 

(note: I think it goes without saying, you can wear whatever you want around me, it won't make me uncomfortable. But for the record, no, how other people are dressed doesn't make me uncomfortable except for situations when their dress is grossly out of context to the situation at hand.)

[Alicia64]

Elizabeth Smart -- remember, who was abducted in her home -- was paraded around in plain site with a burka on and a face covering.

 

I think religious-wear is fine, but I don't think masks on the face should be allowed in society. We need to see who were interacting with.

 

Alley

[Guest]

No.

 

The one time I felt at all uncomfortable around a modesty issue (irt someone that wasn't me) was at a CrossFit gym where a woman was wearing just underwear shaped and sized bottoms ... Like low cut brief NOT boy shorts and a bra top! ... And she was going up and down the climbing rope. With her business rubbing the rope....and every person in the place was watching her...

 

It was lewd and also just gross. I felt really uncomfortable and so badly wanted her to stop.

 

But no as long as you're not essentially rubbing your business right up against things in public (do it in a place where everyone present actually wants to see it!), I do not care ever what you are wearing.

Edited August 23, 2016 by OKBud

[Bluegoat]

I don't really care about any style of clothing.  Though I make asthetic judgements about some.

 

I kind of dislike it when bathing suits have a lot of public hair poking out.  Not very logical but it bugs me.

 

ETA - all kinds of bathing suits are pretty common here, including Muslim ones.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Bluegoat

[Ravin]

I 100% don't care. For all I care everyone can walk around covered head to toe in an Afghani burka, or completely in the nude with a towel for putting on things before they sit, and anything in between is just fine. I pretty much see artificially structured cultural messages sent by clothing as completely arbitrary. I go along with them for the sake of communication and to not get arrested. But I really don't care about them.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I wear swim shorts and a rash guard because 2 minutes of sun and I'm crispy. I get eyed like I'm some sort of prude or nut. My girls wear something similar and my son too. Kids have asked them if we're in a " cult". 😆. Evidently covering or uncovering will annoy someone.

[Valley Girl]

I wear swim shorts and a rash guard because 2 minutes of sun and I'm crispy. I get eyed like I'm some sort of prude or nut. My girls wear something similar and my son too. Kids have asked them if we're in a " cult". 😆. Evidently covering or uncovering will annoy someone.

 

That anti-melanoma cult has a pretty big following, you know. So you're in good company.

[TranquilMind]

I don't know about burkini wearers, but plenty of posters here are quite open about being uncomfortable being around "less modest" women, who lead everyone astray with their visual bounty  :)

 

So I'm sure many "more modest" people do feel discomfort. 

 

(I have modestly in quotation marks, because whilst I believe it's a virtue, I don't think it has anything to do with one's swimwear.)

 

I don't know anyone who thinks that less modest women lead others astray.  If those others are led astray, it is because of their own failings, not because a woman is wearing a certain bathing suit. 

 

That said, I'm modest because I'm older now, and hey, who wants to see that?  ;)  But that's for me.  Others can do what they want.   Like my mom always said, "I had it when I needed it.".

 

[bettyandbob]

I wear swim shorts and a rash guard because 2 minutes of sun and I'm crispy. I get eyed like I'm some sort of prude or nut. My girls wear something similar and my son too. Kids have asked them if we're in a " cult". 😆. Evidently covering or uncovering will annoy someone.

When I go to the beach I wear a regular Land's End mom type suit. My dd wears shorts and a tach guard and has been since she was 14 or 15. She inherited her father's skin, which has two possible colors -- blinding white and deep red.

[SKL]

Mostly I don't look at other people at the beach.  I do think there are many swimsuits that are just wrong.  :P  But it's not my business.

 

When I was a teen, it used to bother me more.  I think at certain age ranges it's harder to just live and let live.  Not that I would have said anything, but I would have had opinions.  :P

 

I tend to dress my kids on the conservative side as far as mainstream Western preferences go.  There are times when I feel like a girl is showing too much skin for her own good.  But again, not my business.  My own kids and I are my business.