Friday, September 07, 2007

Islamic Swimathon


I recently got back into exercise, and I feel great. And so to avoid boredom with doing a routine workout, I included swimming into my weekly schedule. On my first day in the pool, I noticed that all the women, and I am not exaggerating, were wearing spandex shorts under a half-sleeved bathing costume and one or two were in the full attire as the picture. I initially thought that it is related to one's lack of self-esteem when it comes to exposing the famous Arab hips and thighs. However, I was very wrong. There were even slim women present who were wearing the same outfit. I am facinated by the surge in trend of what they call 'Islamic bathing suite'. It is originally designed to allow Muslim women to participate in outdoor water activities. Yet, I do not understand why a woman needs to wear it in an indoors all-ladies swimming pool. One has to bear in mind that, Islamically, women should conceal in the presence of other women the area from the naval to the knee. Therefore, it baffles me why ladies in Kuwait feel the need to cover from neck to ankles when going into the swimming pool. I am not implying that they should all go topless, however, there is no harm in being in an ordinary bathing suite...it is just easier on the eyes.
Note: apology goes to eshda3wa & lady says for the technical hiccup

6 comments:

MiYaFuSHi said...

1- Probably cant be bothered shaving their legs

2- To get further along in the whoes more religious than who please marry us competition.

Babbler said...

eshda3wa:
I think women should not worry about any hair since they are in the company of other women...they're not there to pull.

lady says: I agree with you, excessive garments can hinder swimming, and weigh you down. I'm not sure about the nudity part though...:-)

miyafushi: the shaving issue! Well I tell you one thing, i don't miss my swimming session just for the sake of waxing..I couldn't give a hoot! I'm in the company of other women who share the same burden of depilatory chores...I'm sure they are understanding!
I think your no.2 point is valid

dishevelled said...

A few months ago I was in an all ladies gym. I wanted to go swimming one day so I got into my tankini. Just when I was about to take a shower I heard someone screaming "NOOO!" Apparently it was for me. In front of everyone I was told that I'm not allowed to wear that because it showed a little bit of my stomach. And well, swimming bottoms really don't cover me up that much so I wore really short shorts (swimming material) and they were a bit baggish, not the spandex one. They objected about that too.

Apparently, the older ladies in the gym complained about girls showing their bodies off. I'm supposed to wear a full piece suit. Shorts not important, but if I want to I should wear the spandex one. When I questioned about my short shorts, since not wearing any was ok, they said "tashaboh bilrijal"!!

People here never fail to amuse me =)

Babbler said...

dishevelled:
obviously the shorts your wear turns them on, otherwise why does it remind them of men?!

Anonymous said...

i think because in religion women are also supposed to cover from each pther laman il rokba or something like that we studied that in high school.

Babbler said...

Blue Dress:
We all studied that in high-school. If women were really trying to cover up Islamically, then they should only wear shorts to their knees. Because the '3awra' amongst women, is from the naval to the knee.
Read the post carefully.