To ask if you have a problem with the burkini?

[Mvslimah]

Honest answers please

would you give a woman (maybe Muslim maybe Jewish) a wide berth if you saw them wearing a burkini or modest (Ie fully covered) swimsuit at a pool?

if you see a woman wearing one do you give it a second thought or is it just a meh, who cares?

tia

I think they are a brilliant creation. If it gives women the opportunity to enjoy water when they wouldn't otherwise feel comfortable to do so, that's a positive.

I think your comment is rather disgusting, modesty can mean one thing to you and a totally different thing to me. It's not your place to make judgements, who an earth are you to make rules on what is acceptable in society.

Wouldn't care good uv protection to be honest. I prefer people cover up more vs flab hanging out.

No need to start sexualising parts of body that have never been even considered sexual.

And yet I'm not allowed to go topless in the sauna but my ex-bf is. It's as if the UK isn't the model of sexual equality and freedom that some posters think it is.

youre going to have to take my word for it, at the beach or pool it’s just the same, you don’t feel anymore hot or cool, they don’t keep you warm in a nippy pool either.

do you feel sorry for little kids in sun safe suits? (Sounds arsey but don’t mean it to, genuine question, it’s what mine wear but nothing to do with modesty but their skin, they are very fair and I don’t want them to burn, so in heat they are head to toe covered with swim hats too)

Each and every one of us subscribes to our cultural expectations of modesty. That's why fewer women go topless than men. Why most of us don't go bra less to the office, even its more comfortable, or expose our genitals to give them an airing when we're hot and sweaty.
Each and every one of us makes decisions about the parts of our bodies we're comfortable showing and those we'd rather conceal. Most of our comfort in this is based on what our culture has taught us is fitting for women of our age, shape and environment we are in.
The OP is no different from anyone else in this.

Using the term 'modesty' in relation to female is the sneering as it implies the existence of 'immodest' clothing, as decided by you. I find it extremely insulting. I don't care at all if you want to hide your body or your hair, I do care about being attacked with ridiculously outdated terms that women fought hard to remove from this society. You didn't answer, do you consider me immodest if I wear a swimsuit or bikini? Don't cover my hair? Wear a knee-length skirt or leggings? What does it mean if I do dress immodestly - that I am trying to attract male attention? How will you explain to your children that I don't dress modestly? Will you tell them I am inferior? a slut? or just that I'm going to hell? I spend no time at all wondering what men will think if they see me, I would suggest that those women deliberately covering themselves to avoid the 'male gaze' obsess about it significantly more than the average western woman!

Thinking about it, I don't think the attendees at my local pool reflect the area I live in & I'm sad to hear concerns about being challenged over wearing a style of swimsuit might be one barrier. If a full length swimmers allow women to enjoy the water & get some exercise then they should feel fully empowered to wear them.

I can't decide if someone must be massively self-obsessed, or have extremely low self esteem to think another woman wearing a 'modest' swimsuit in their eyeline is somehow a comment on their modesty - I mean... What?

I really don't like this to be honest you sound like you have a superiority complex . I cover up sometimes because it makes me feel comfortable i don't feel better than other womenor assume men will all want to lust over me. My daughter can wear what she wants when she approaches adulthood, it's her body and choicd . I think the onus should be on men to lower their gaze? Why would showing ones ankle or hair excite men so much ?

We have an outdoor pool so the sun (well sometimes) is an issue, skirted swim suits are common, several ladies wear suits which and knee length and short sleeves, a few wear full length sleeves and trousers though I've never seen a burkini. The only rule is the clothes must be made for swimming (you can't wear normal clothes) and it should be close fitting enough so the material doesn't disturb swimmers in the next lane (there was a trailing skirt incident) it's a busy pool for lane swimming. Through the winter I wear a wetsuit as they don't heat it!

Very accustomed to it in Dubai. Last time I was at the Atlantis water park, I saw one I really wanted.

I have to wear a rash vest and shorts as I burn so easily as I’ve got into my 40s and I’ve had comments from friends about “you just be too hot” “why don’t you wear something pretty at the pool”

ruining my family’s rare holiday in the sun if I get burnt and laid up with sunstroke is too much of risk. It’s nobody else’s business. Wear what you want to.

I live in a Muslim majority country and women wear everything from teeny weeny bikinis to burkinis (or an 'ensemble plage') here. Decathlon sell tons of them. I frequently wear swim leggings and a long sleeve rash vest myself as it is so hot it avoids constant suncream, and it is much better from a UV perspective. Less boiling than bare skin as well.

I'm sorry if someone has been unpleasant. Given most British people don't shower before they get in the pool 'unhygienic' seems very off the mark. Please wear whatever you feel comfortable to swim in and enjoy the water.

@GCAcademic

I wear swimwear for me not the male gaze!

I notice but I think nothing at all. Good for them if that makes them comfortable? I don't believe every woman in one has been made to wear it by a male! Some, yes but not most.

Good for you, but that wasn’t really the point.

Because it goes against the values of most people in this country such as freedom, liberty, equality and tolerance.

You're joking right?

I would go swimming only if i could wear one of these as no way would I wear a swimming costume now!

well if tolerance, freedom and tolerance are such strong British values then I can’t fathom why my wearing basically leggings, a rash vest and a swim skirt would offend you.

thats your inference that a woman’s body is offensive and that’s much more in line with Victorian sensibilities than Islamic values. Islamically we’re told to guard our private parts, that’s all, this is for both men and women. I think you’re deluded if you think that exposure to body parts desexualises them? Women need to cover their breasts here don’t they, men don’t though? A lot of the anti breastfeeding in public sentiment comes from the hypersexualisation of women’s breasts.

how would you know what happens in Muslim communities if you aren’t Muslim?

....what man?! The "man" is God. 😂

I could not care less what other people are wearing. I am too busy wondering how my thighs got so big.

How? You’ve just inferred that based on some false sense of judgement because I dress (according to some) modestly. I say according to some because I wear trousers but to an orthodox Jewish lady that wouldn’t be modest, and I wear makeup up which to some isn’t very modest either.

my daughter and son will know modesty is important in our faith, but modesty is so much more than clothes, it’s how you talk, how you act and actually how you even look at the other sex. Lowering the gaze is far more important and is referenced first way before guarding your private parts

dont let them get away with it, report them

@Mvslimah

Out of interest OP, how would you/your husband view a woman wearing a bikini?

I wouldn't care. In my gym you can see women in bikini thongs and women in burkinis, so I'm used to everything 😄

Wooooaaah, I feel like this has perhaps uncovered a misconception here. My dressing a certain way has nothing to do with you, ie you are not ‘less than’ or ‘worse than’ or anything implying inferior because you dress a different way and conversely I am not greater or superior morally or spiritually for not dressing how you do.

modesty islamically is only a small part what you wear, it’s how you speak, how you act, how you think, how you behave, how you look (the physical act of looking at someone) and then how you dress. You cannot slut shame anyone or shame anyone for dressing more ‘revealing’ and then claim to be modest because it’s contradictory.

no I don’t consider you immodest, a slut or going to hell for dressing a certain way (that’s really not my call to make ). I can feel real animosity in your words towards how you think Muslims think