"Cheeky" swimsuits. Just why?

[disappearingfish]

I get it for posing on the beach, but why do swimwear makers cut the bums off suits otherwise aimed at the "proper swimming" market. I do not want to see bare arses at 0630 under the bad lighting of my local council swimming.

This, for example. Who buys this? www.arenasport.com/en_uk/006660-women-s-swimsuit-arena-mesh-panels-power-back.html

@NatashaDancing I often get stopped in the street by other women and complimented and asked about my outfits. I love strong simple silhouettes, volume and bold colours. Tilda Swinton once stopped me in Marylebone High St! I would absolutely hate to wear anything that prompted men to leer at me.

The critical thinking should be applied to understand that there are many different reasons why women choose to wear certain clothing......so if that posters argument is that women are easily led by men then they clearly haven't applied any critical thinking. They're just throwing out that old lazy line.

The shock factor.....hmm no that wouldn't be one of the reasons at all for a regular everyday woman.

Trying to look sexually attractive.......well I would say that many are trying to look 'good' or feel body confident, which doesn't necessarily mean trying to look 'sexually attractive'.

What we wear might send out signals or lead people to make assumptions but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're the right ones, or that we intended people to think those things.

Also people could reach different conclusions, I certainly don't divide the way women dress into categories saying well she's dressing for the male gaze but that lady is dressing for the female gaze.

So you could have one person wearing a certain outfit for whatever reason they chose it, and then all the different opinions from lots of different people, and the truth is that you know nothing about why they chose it and the generalisation you might reach could be way off.

I would think I'd died and gone to heaven if that happened to me!

I really did @NatashaDancing - to me she is the ultimate style icon!

Well none of that answers the question. And I acknowledged generalisations are a factor.

What we wear might send out signals or lead people to make assumptions but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're the right ones, or that we intended people to think those things.

It's rather naive not to consider what clothing is saying. If it didn't say something we wouldn't wear black at funerals , white at weddings , or in the business world smart clothes to meet a new client/ important client, or perhaps if working with children, clothes that make you look approachable, or in other work situations one might want clothes that send exactly the opposite message.

I expect the above comment will generate responses along the lines of "you're blaming women for being raped because of what they wear". I'm not.

It's not up to me to apply critical thinking for others though is it?? I'm just saying if people are throwing out lazy lines then they're not applying critical thinking. They just heard the lazy line somewhere and throw it out like it's fact.

Of course for funerals, weddings, business etc. a certain dress code is expected, and clothing stores etc will target that market, work wear, wedding guest etc recognising that there are certain situations where people are expected to wear a certain type of clothes.

But outside of work or events etc there is no dress code, people tend to have their own style and wear whatever they like or want for various reasons and that's perfectly fine. And many of us don't really care what random people might think of our style as long as we like it.

I am very, very uncomfortable with dividing women into two camps: those who dress for the male gaze and those who dress for the female gaze. Men leer no matter what women wear, usually. They aren't prompted by anything.

You're not being asked to do critical thinking for others.

Clothes send out messages in all sorts of situations - not just those few examples. Another example is clothes to indicate your tribe - hippy, punk, goth, country set, football casual, Sloane Ranger, grunge, eco- warrior and so on and so on. None of those are work or specific situation related.

Well you said "none of that answers the question" and your question was "What critical thinking is being used in deciding to wear a swimsuit which exposes your buttocks?"

Are you deliberately being obtuse? because I didn't think that was a genuine question!!

Deciding what style of clothes you like wearing doesn't require critical thinking. Not everything does.

Yes I often wear gym clothes and someone might assume I'm off to the gym, I often dress in hippy pants and someone might assume I am a hippy........so what??

Other people will think I just like gym wear or being really comfy in harem pants!

Other people might think I love to show off my body in sexualised gym clothes.
Others might think I'm proud of my hard work.
Others might think I have no style if I wear gym clothes as normal clothes.

What difference does it make😂I don't care what random people think about what I'm wearing or where they think I'm going or what assumptions they make about me. It literally doesn't matter 🤔

If I'd seen your dress I either would have not paid any attention or liked it or not liked it. That's it

As has been said on here repeatedly clothing choices do send messages to the world whether the wearer likes it or not. Fine if you don’t care about that but don’t get mad when others point it out.

The messages that they send are not universal though.

To use the swimsuit example some might judge it as being inappropriate and decide lots of things about the woman.

Others will think she looks fab and think she must be body confident and she must work hard and fair play to her for that.

So basically the same item of clothing can give out different messages!

Of course, but you have to accept that a significant number of people will have a different opinion on an outfit as this thread demonstrates.

"People who dress conservatively dress for themselves".

It's not mutually exclusive and this does not apply to only modest clothing.

Hate the game, not the player 🙂

"People who dress conservatively dress for themselves".

They are still sending external signals. They may think the choice is entirely 100% theirs but external influences and/or signalling something almost certainly come into to some degree.

In some cases the external influences and signalling will be imposed against the wishes of the wearer.

As has been said on here repeatedly clothing choices do send messages to the world whether the wearer likes it or not. Fine if you don’t care about that but don’t get mad when others point it out.

That is true.

Oh and I absolutely hate the expression "modest clothing"

Anais Nin said that we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.

Of course anyone is free to show themselves up as the kind of person who thinks a woman's clothes are a sign of her moral character. People are free to be backward-thinking, regressive, misogynistic and unintelligent. It doesn't mean they are right.

@SurprisedWithAHorse Do you have a daughter ?

Although I wouldn't wear it myself in public, I'd buy something a similar style for wearing in private. The almost shorts-cut at the front and your arse hanging out is a really flattering fit if you have nice boobs and bum, but with a bit of a tummy. I would totally wear lingerie like that. (lots of people asking why it's so revealing the back and conservative at the front)

I was in the south of France over the summer, and while hardly anyone was topless on the beach (only 3 or 4 40+ ladies), loads of people were virtually bottomless! It makes no difference to me, though.

Yes. That's just one reason why I'm not raising her to think how women dress is a sign of their moral character. Nor that it's somehow her fault if a man is a prick over her clothing. Or that a slightly visible bum at the swimming pool is what she needs to fight over in this world, even if it is a nice easy option with a load of established misogynistic waffle to help it go down.

What a ridiculous question. If I didn't have a daughter, that still would not make you right.

You're quoting a pornographer. There's a degree of truth in it but your denial that clothes send signals and are chosen to send signals is tiresome.

As for misogyny I've not said anything about "moral character". That is your own spin.

I didn't say I was a fan of her writing but she was right on this point, which even you concede.

The fact that you think a woman is somehow morally lacking if she dresses in a way you dislike means nothing more than the fact that you judge women on what they wear and think other people should do the same. That they must expect it, and the answer is not to challenge how people judge and perceive women, but to shame and insult women for other people's perceptions.

That attitude is many things, but feminist, intelligent, progressive, compassionate and admirable are not among them.

I don’t think anyone has said anything about moral character but I may have missed it.

Of course we see everything through our own preconceptions and attitudes etc, that’s just being human. But that quote also applies to those on here who have called women who don’t like sexually aggressive clothing to “bitter” and “insecure”.

If the clothes send different 'signals' to different people then it's not really the clothes is it???

Do you consider that swimsuit to be 'sexually aggressive'? 😂or what types of clothing would you consider to be so?