Bikinis were made for the male gaze so isn't it about time we stopped wearing them

I'm sure the car guys' arses are similar wherever 😂 The point is they definitely aren't doing it attract women! They're empowered, by virtue of being male, to not give a shit about which of their body parts are publicly visible or even think about it.

'Empowerment' doesn't actually mean 'being sexy' ... as I'm sure you know.

@GarlicMile I've just spotted your post..I agree..Make up does sometimes make one look good, is appropriate for certain social situations.. but it seems your'e also agreeing with me in the sense that it's not just for you/me

But for other people too ..

As for your sexy neighbours, well I haven't seen them so I can't possibly comment. My neighbours are often hanging around cars with their trousers displaying arse crack. I doubt they've seen it on TikTok as a way to empower themselves and attract woman..I just think they're slobs that can't keep their pants up.

Maybe we could do a house swap and compare?

I would never wear a bikini, it's like walking around in your bra and pants. I wear swim shorts and a rash vest and to me it is so much more comfortable. I don't have to worry about anything showing, falling out or riding up my arse.

Ha ok. I take it you won't be holidaying in Egypt.
If so, please exercise your rights to do whatever the fuck you want.. and crowd fund to get you out of prison. ..

Woman can't just do whatever they want. Have you not got the memo yet??

I just checked again and this is definitely the Feminism Sex and Gender board.

Not seen a single trans woman (or allie) yet contributing to this thread.

This must be a bit topic surely.

Bikinis or swimsuits? I get stressed about my belly falling out. I'd be even more worried if I had testicles

Tell you what I’m going to do, I’m going to use the autonomy I have over my own body and I’m going to wear whatever the fuck I want. It’ll just so happen to be a bikini mostly and sometimes, shock horror I’ll go topless because that’s what I choose to do. I don’t give a fuck what you or any other person who wants to control what I wear thinks or says or whether you want to dress it up as feminism or not (clue: it’s not feminism to tell me what to wear). I also don’t care if I attract the ‘male gaze’ or not, plenty of men attract my gaze from time to time and they manage not to shrivel and die.

I always wear board shorts and a tankini top because I feel comfortable and look good in them at 63. My friend wears full length swim leggings because her legs were degloved in an accident and cannot get sun burnt. But basically wear what the fuck you want.

Well most of us wear a bra and pants under our clothes rather than a one piece and nobody knows, so I expect it isn’t entirely gaze lead behaviour.

I’d never wear a bikini because I am fat tummied and skinny legged and I have to pretend no one can see that in a black one piece or sit out.

In a really hot country (35+), wearing a bikini is just way more comfortable than a swimming costume. I will wear what I like!

Modest?

Well something in-between a burkha...and the images I posted earlier.

Modest is an awful word though. .almost as awful as moist

Ok fair enough. I still think your selling yourself short.

That concept "modest clothing" is exactly the question: what is modest? Where do you draw the line?

At my age, and the infrequency anyone looks in my direction? Then yes practically anyone!

@Merrymouse No. No one is. Well apart from the lunatics/exhibitionists that can't tell the difference between the beach and a high street. Where people actually live and are going about their daily business.

What makes someone think that it's ok to wander around 90 per cent naked when they're overseas? . They can't all be stupiid or blind to the fact that residents are wearing clothes.. So it must be arrogance but it's deeply embarrassing to see.

There is even a sign up in a place I visit often asking people to wear a sarong to cover up the bikini when in the village..they don't give a toss.

Maybe they think they are making a stand against oppression and 'covering up' but they're really not. It's about NOT walking around with your arse out. And the sign is for both men and woman. Just common decency

ETA: Quote fell off. You asked why we wear makeup, @Hadmysay (or @GreenFriedTomato, can't remember.)

I was going to say this is a very basic level of consciousness-raising to be attempting on FWR. But the general timbre of half the replies suggests not! Anyway:

I don't normally wear makeup. I do, though, really enjoy makeup as what you might call a creative pursuit. I love to see young women with fabulously applied makeup - and young men, though that all died out when they started thinking it turned them into women. Pity.

When I wear makeup, it's either because I just felt like doing it or when I'm entering a social situation in which face paint is coded as 'making the effort' - so, as a courtesy.

It's never to attract men, though makeup does make people look more attractive. It gives the appearance of smoother, healthier skin and highlights the features. People of both sexes have used cosmetics for this purpose since prehistory. They've also used makeup to convey tribal affiliations, social positioning and beliefs - and still do.

Fashion/style is a vast, complex topic that fascinates me. It can be a personally individual choice made without regard to society, but rarely is. Of course there's a feminist conversation to be had, as there is about every aspect of social behaviour, but it's nowhere near a simple dichotomy.

Also: bikinis? Meh. Some people are more devoted to an all-over tan than others, and it is true that sun on bare skin feels good.

The comment about men being 'empowered' to walk around with their buttocks on show made me laugh. You should come and check out the guys across the road from me, always fixing their cars with their jeans riding down 😂 Now, that is empowerment! They're free to let their arses shine out, never giving it a moment's thought.

Depends if everyone else is wearing swimwear in these situations.

The argument that women shouldn’t wear clothes that might attract the male gaze would seem to lead to ‘modest swimwear’, not a one piece.

It doesn’t sound very feminist.

Ok . On a slightly different note but still on topic.
Do you any of you think it's reasonable to go on holiday and come off the beach and then walk around the town centre in your bikini? Prance down the high street, enter supermarkets, get on local buses with your arse out? Wearing a bikini?
I've seen it from Cyprus to Indonesia .
Empowered women. Just enjoying a bit of sun on their skin, living free ,and why not! It's everyone else's problem if they're prudes right?

@Merrymouse the OP just wanted to start a discussion and run. The TikTokker asked why some women appear on public beaches in bikinis smaller than underwear which he, the TikTokker, believes he would get in trouble if he saw.
Clearly, when a woman has chosen to appear in a public place in her bikini, that's different to a man entering a changing room restricted to women, where women expect privacy from men.
However the question is not so much about permission to view, but: are their there styles of clothing which are un-feminist due to their visual effect (regardless of design intent).

Edited spelling.

I think I look better with makeup, so I wear it. I am quite dark skinned, and I love coloured lippy to brighten my face up, always have, since being 16.
I still wear it in the house, maybe it's a vanity thing, and if it is, I aint gonna change now.😁

Best wear a tent at the beach. Huh?

Maybe you're responding to 'women shouldn't wear bikinis' and I'm talking about how women's revealing clothing is dictated by men.

Wasn't having a pop redtooth..

This is the second type of post I’ve seen recently that has a kind of victim blame-y / women only have themselves to blame / modesty is best / western women are sluts / men are so morally weak and pathetic that they can’t resist the female form etc vibe.

I can only speak for myself, not other women, but on a holiday beach I’ll wear swimwear very similar to my husband on bottom half but add a bikini top as I have breasts and he doesn’t ( well, not like mine). I dont like swimsuits as I feel hot and sweaty round the middle. I don’t give a toss what anyone else thinks - it’s not their concern.

In those regimes where the female form is regarded as so intrinsically evil, shocking, disgusting or tempting that the possessor must shroud herself to her discomfort and ill health ( lack of exposure for vitamin D) not to mention lack of freedom of
movement and practicality, for fear of arousing men or tempting them, it seems to me that it would be far simpler and more just if males were to be severely restricted in their movement and sight lines. After all it is their sight, thoughts and actions that are the issue, not the women’s’ bodies.

Green fried tomato. You are wrong. I feel great. But I am realistic too. If a man wants to perv, it’s not over a lady in her 50s. And women enjoy looking at nice male abs don’t they?

Another woman thinking because she is in her 50"s she's unattractive and invisible.

Do you really feel that?

Huh?