Muslim women who dress modestly...

[TreatTreat]

If you're at the beach and you want to paddle in the sea, are you able to roll up your trousers? Genuinely wondering as I saw a muslim family on the beach today having great fun. The kids were paddling in the sea. The women weren't but this question sprung in my head.

Tbf I’m not sure that dressing scantily is good either so I agree with you there. My main issue is with niqabs. I see loads of women wearing them locally whereas 10 years ago not so much. I just wondered why women felt the need to cover their faces. To me it seems to be a reversion back to a time when women were chattels, unable to work or mix with people outside their immediate community.

In a previous life I worked there (both the Republic of Srpska and BiH) helping the governments rebuild their civil services. The women I worked with were not second class citizens by any stretch of the imagination, some heading up departments. Of course it's not perfect and unfortunately women all over the world and from all religions still suffer from what is reported by your department of state, not least the USA and the UK.

I know the OP did not start this thread as "muslim bashing" and it's a shame that it has turned into that. Many religions have dress standards for both men and women. Many orthodox Jewish women chose to wear sleeves no shorter than elbow length and dresses/skirts to the knee. Some will cover their hair or wear wigs. I have some very good friends who are Mormon, they have similar styles of conservative dress - they would not wear a sleeveless vest style top or very short shorts, however hot it was outside. At the beach they would wear 3/4 length loose trousers and a floaty linen top or similar.

I say that from experience as just this week a lady posted whether she was unreasonable to wear a thong bikini to a pool work event as her partner was not happy about it.

So many other similar posts that reoccur on here; it has given me the impression that the general consensus is men like their women not to dress too revealing and I reiterate what is defined as "revealing" is subjective for men as well as women...

Also, another example close to me is a friend who is non - Muslim but her boyfriend will point out her clothing if he sees it is revealing and asks her to please change!

My partner has never asked me to change an outfit, even more I started wearing a headscarf and I would wear shirt bodycon dresses, low neck tops etc.

“Their women”? Excuse me? Women are not the possession of men, it’s the 21st century.

You just sound like you know some rubbish men, to be honest.

Yes - these women follow patriarchal faiths. Christianity, Judaism and Islam are literally patriarchal. These women are making “choices” within those confines.

I'm not sure OP is genuine. Is she actually suggesting she hasn't seen a modest person in the sea before?? It's common sense religion aside its nothing fascinating or "curiosity". OP clearly needs to get out more.

Lots of mums would be in the water to supervise kids nearby.

Yeah as far as I'm concerned men can fuck off telling women what to wear.

And for all the women that choose to wear hijab etc there are millions that have no say in it whatsoever, I dare say the vast majority don't have a say. So, I think it's disingenuous of people to bang on about "my choice" when there are clearly so many without it.

Well my man is MY man and I am his woman, yes that is how I say it if I want to.

Is that all you could pick out from my post, you sound very smart and open-minded

Agree with your last paragraph inparticular. People should mind their own business!

I’ve never seen a Muslim woman in the sea, and I’ve spent time in a number of Muslim countries. I’ve not seen anyone dressed that way on UK beaches either.

I think OP is expressing genuine interest in another culture, and a desire to learn. That’s perfectly normal and OK.

@Thatslife234 Not sure I'm understanding the point of your post? We should ignore women being treated as second class citizens and mind our own business?

@yellowbird I don't believe you for a second. I've travelled to Turkey & I've seen people dress modestly in England too in the sea and even at a Spa. Perhaps you need to get out more along with OP.

I was agreeing with you when you said its "disingenuous" to think women have a choice. Indeed it is...it's a far more complex issue like you say!

My style has become more conservative as I get older. That's my choice, so Muslim women should be afforded the same respect.

A dd worked for a while in a strictly Muslim area of Indonesia, where one or two of her female colleagues said they’d like to learn to swim. So she tried to teach them (in the sea) but of course they were always still clad from head to foot.

Why are you accusing me of lying? Why are you being so aggro and telling everyone to get out more? Just because you happen to have seen a certain thing at a certain place that doesn’t mean anyone who hasn’t has lived some kind of sheltered life. I’ve actually travelled and worked all around the world - including many Muslim countries - just because I haven’t been to the exact same beach resort in Turkey as you doesn’t make me inferior.

And I didn’t say I’d never seen anyone dress modestly. I said I hadn’t seen anyone dressed that way IN THE SEA. In the Muslim countries I’ve been to you didn’t see women swimming in the sea. And on the beaches I go to in the UK you don’t see it either.

And don’t have any idea what your second paragraph is about, I didn’t say anything of the sort.

Us attempting to impose our world view could also be seen as treating them like second class citizens though - it's difficult because while there are likely some women trapped in a life they hate, there are others who live great lives and have careers/jobs, families, and so on, just like the rest of us. Clothing doesn't necessarily indicate a level of happiness. As stated, I am an atheist, however I also don't believe that living a faith based life is inherently bad if it's your choice and you are not suffering in any way because of it.

It is now possible to buy 'full coverage' swimwear, which is much safer and easier to swim in. I appreciate that might not have been the case at the time, but for anyone going forward who finds themselves wanting to swim or wanting to help a lady who needs to be covered (for whatever reason).

@Morgenrot25 I'm pretty sure the majority of women world wide want respect, equality, fair treatment and to go about their business without harassment regardless of what they wear - we're a long way from that in the western world, but there is an obvious disparity between how women are treated in the west and the islamic world and if they had a voice, I'm sure most women would vote for freedom. But hey we can blindly accept gender apartheid and say we're respecting women's choice, but we know from reports around the world - that most women do not have a choice in a lot of things including what they wear.

It was over 20 years ago now, and TBH I doubt they’d have wanted to wear anything very close fitting - it’d be seen as ‘immodest’. Possibly attitudes will have changed by now. But not long before dd went to work there (shortly after the tsunami) a local imam had said that the disaster was the punishment of Allah for ungodly things like the cinema and swimming pool.

There’s a common misconception — usually shaped by the media — that Muslim women are oppressed because they cover up. But for many of us, wearing a hijab or dressing modestly is an empowered, conscious choice. It's about spiritual identity, self-respect, and connection to faith — not about being controlled.

Ironically, in societies that claim to value freedom, a Muslim woman’s choice to dress modestly is sometimes criticized — even though that very choice is a form of autonomy. True freedom is being able to choose how to present ourselves without being judged or pressured to conform to someone else's standard.

and last note, people need to separate what some oppressive governments or cultures do in the name of religion from what the religion actually teaches. Islam, at its core, values dignity, free will, and intention. And many Muslim women across the world speak out strongly — and proudly — about why they choose to cover. I mean we dont all need to be on onlyfans to be #feminist and #empoweringwomen. I dont understand why its such an issue for quite a lot of people on how Muslim women dress! Nobody is forcing you to wear it so why DOES it actually bother people?
Pointing at Iran and Afghanistan to blame Islam because aparantly the are all oppressed, but are you looking at your own country? Rising crime, broken families, loneliness, exploitation — every society has issues. Let’s be honest about that before using other countries to bash an entire religion. Think how women dress in the UK is the least of our worries

I also don't like the niqab at all; this is actually more cultural and more of a beauty / status thing - sometimes.

In my culture ( I am Kurdish) the niqab is never worn and is met with a lot of disapproval.

However, I have noticed that a lot of Arab women wear it, I actually asked a young arab lady why she willing chose to wear it, and she said it is a power thing; it means she is so beautiful, no one deserves to see her and it offers protection from the 'bad eye' which I thought was rather silly but there you go, that's one perspective!

Generally, the niqab is just taking modesty to the extreme and completely unnecessary, I also don't understand it.

So beautiful she thinks she's irresistible.😃 Yeah, I think men will be capable of containing themselves, love.

So true of the revelaing clothes, thongs, high leg swimsuits, makeup, botox etc.

Mostly made for the male gaze dressed up as empowerment.

I totally agree there are men like this from all cultures/ nationalities/ religions. But it doesn’t follow that it is obvious or natural that the majority of men have opinions about what their partners wear or how “revealing” it is.

Surely this concern where it exists in men is a form of misogyny/ control? Rooted in the idea that women are possessions etc.

Im a woman and its never occurred to me for one second to consider or care whether my male partner was dressed in a “revealing” manner or not. Why would it be an issue the other way around if not for patriarchy?