For a lot of the folk mocking Muslim women choosing to wear a burquini when bathing because it's so stoooopid and primitive, remember that not many generations ago, American women at the beach were expected to wear something just as non-revealing. Heck men in the US at public beaches were expected to wear tops until the 1920s.
For that matter, is saying that culturally compelling women to cover everything but their hands and face (to choose one combo of restrictive wear in some predominantly Muslim cultures) all that objectively more unreasonable than compelling them to cover their nipples and their genitals?
Granted, Western injunctions on women to wear clothing that is not considered legally "indecent" will result, in most cases of violation, in no more than fines or some minor jail time and a criminal record. That's certainly better than the horrifying cases where women have been killed or assaulted for indecency in some cultures (not just Muslim, even in modern times). But what is being punished is still founded on the same principle of women (and, to a lesser degree, men) being morally sinful, dishonorable, or sexually over-tempting if they show too much.
Originally shared by +Anne-Marie Clark:
Speaking of burkini wars…
The Annette Kellerman was a swimsuit designed by a gutsy female Australian swimmer, who didn't want to wear the poofy pantaloons women were supposed to wear for swimming. "In 1907, at the height of her popularity, Kellermann was arrested on Revere Beach, Massachusetts, for indecency – she was wearing one of her fitted one-piece costumes."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Kellermann
History In Pictures on Twitter: “Annette Kellerman promotes women’s right to wear a fitted one-piece bathing. She was arrested for indecency. “
Annette Kellerman promotes women’s right to wear a fitted one-piece bathing. She was arrested for indecency. Embedded image. 2:51 PM – 21 Aug 2016. 254 Retweets516 Likes. Reply to @HistoryInPix. Replies. The Dallas Denali. Aug 21. The Dallas Denali @Sunspots1. @HistoryInPix Starting to think …
Perhaps if parents focused on teaching their male children self-control (the essence of civil society) rather than filling their heads with anti-female religious psychobabble, this wouldn't be an issue.
+James Karaganis True — though, again, modesty / indecency taboos affect both genders (though with more impact on women).
I''m most impressed by the fact that "HistoryInPix" managed to get one right for a change. That Twitter feed is often filled with bullshit because whoever runs it doesn't bother to research what they're posting. They just pass along whatever "history-ish" looking things they come across verbatim.