Muslim Women All Body Swimsuits

[margo49]

I'm with Rabbit!
Also, as the SO always says "There is *one* religious authority in this family and it's *not* me".
Or, in my own words "No [insert your favourite negative word for "religious authority"] is going to tell *me* what to wear or not to wear on my head"

I saw a Religiously Observant Jewish woman biking in our fields this past autumn (fall). She was in a black, mid-calf full-cut skirt , a long-sleeved white hoody (also generously tailored), white rib-knit stockings , and a helmet with a bandana underneath! She was acoompanied by her bearded, side-locked husband who was wearing black track pants and a white hoody.
I also saw a woman running a marathon here in a below-the-knee black skirt made of some light-sport-synthetic. The skirt was cut so that it was very wide around the knee are and fit closer at the waist and quite narrow at the hem (think: aubergine/eggplant). Her top was not body-fitting and she covered her head with a scarf.

It can be done and it *will * be done

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well heck just look at all the old postcards and pictures of women around 1910, bicycling with long skirts and the then-typical "full body armor". They had metal cages around their chain drive and/or back wheel spokes so as not to let their long skirts get caught while riding. (Shades of Isadora Duncan...shudder...!)

[East Hill]

True, but those ladies weren't out to try to win any competitions! (and trust me, I don't think they did ).

East Hill

[Duck on Wheels]

I remember back when I was studying Anthro, I came across an article on food taboos. "Oh, those," I thought to myself, "Other, less rational people have those; I don't." So I'm gladly reading along, laughing quietly to myself about the silly taboos. Then I get to a picture of a table set for a Seder ... with a bottle of Coke . And there it was. A taboo I felt in the gut. And so totally meaningless. I'm not observant. I don't even believe, don't even know what it is I'm s'posed to believe in. But Coke at a seder, that just felt so wrong. All right, so maybe it's that I don't like coke in general, but I took it as a humbling experience: I too am a bearer of inexplicable, irrational taboos.

Jump forward a few decades to current debates in Europe as to whether the burka, the chador, maybe even hijab are women-oppressive garments, and to France deciding that girls will not be allowed to wear hijab in school. To even out the blow, and only after the blow was challenged, they also forbade religious jewelry of any kind (little cross on a chain, mogen david on a chain, etc.). It struck me right off that that was the wrong way to go about it. That just makes hijab even more of an identity item, an embattled one at that. And in France, of all places !?!? Why not popularize hijab as a fashion garment instead? It already is a fashion statement for Muslim women (check out how they color-coordinate hijab with dress, etc.!) So why not popularize it? Wouldn't that take the religion-political edge off?

So lo and behold, now somebody has come up with the idea of hijab as fashion, especially as sports fashion, for everywoman. http://www.thehijabshop.com/capsters/index.php
First these designer sport hijabs were presented as a solution for Muslim women who want to run, ride, swim, ski ... But now it turns out lots of women are ordering them. (Note the "out of stock" on every single model!) They're pretty, comfy, practical (keep your hair clean, neat, out of the way). Think buff-with-chin-strap or Finland-style-balaklava but loose and airy. And in cool colors, coordinated with other sports gear. Nike also makes some -- in pink! http://www.ohmpage.ca/2006/03/20/nik...-sports-hijab/

For more discussion on this new fashion/religion/identity statement (or is it?) see blog and debate responses at http://www.antoniabance.org.uk/2005/08/04/hijab/

[Mr. Bloom]

So lo and behold, now somebody has come up with the idea of hijab as fashion, especially as sports fashion, for everywoman. http://www.thehijabshop.com/capsters/index.php
First these designer sport hijabs were presented as a solution for Muslim women who want to run, ride, swim, ski ... But now it turns out lots of women are ordering them. (Note the "out of stock" on every single model!) They're pretty, comfy, practical (keep your hair clean, neat, out of the way). Think buff-with-chin-strap or Finland-style-balaklava but loose and airy. And in cool colors, coordinated with other sports gear. Nike also makes some -- in pink! http://www.ohmpage.ca/2006/03/20/nik...-sports-hijab/

Wow!!! A testimony to the potential versatility of the human spirit!

[Tuckervill]

Conservative modes of dress are not limited to Muslims, though. I have Pentecostal family members who have never cut their hair, wear only long skirts, and the men wear only long sleeved shirts. My own grandmother was over 80 before she cut her hair, but she had always worn it up, with a crown of ringlets around her face, so I never even knew she had long hair!

Many other Christian sects require modest dress, particularly from women. I can't think of any which require the face be covered (though I do know some who cover their heads). I think it's an interesting topic to ponder.

Karen

[Mr. Bloom]

Many other Christian sects require modest dress, particularly from women. I can't think of any which require the face be covered (though I do know some who cover their heads). I think it's an interesting topic to ponder.

One important distinction:

The quote I made from 1 Peter is directed as an encouragement to women and this is a choice for Pentecostals.

The quote from the Qur'an seems directed to the prophet as a mandate for women.

But, I think Grog's comment remains key in this discussion...that is, for some, cultural influences would make them uncomfortable any other way...

It's also very interesting to me that exercise would not be possible without some of the more innovative options shown on the website...

[margo49]

Hair covering is a mostly a religious identity statement and the particular kind of hair covering you choose is a political statement for your co-religionists (fine distinctions being usually lost on outsiders).
Women are endlessly inventive when it comes to personal decoration and what looks to some like an authoritarian stricture is simply (another) challenge

That said there are "pathologicals" like me who know that 70% of body-heat issues (hot or cold) can be solved by covering the head and therefore consistently wear hats from a physiological motivation.

[margo49]

I also look so much more cute, jaunty, smart and a whole list of other adjectives!