# Bikini Boob Ban In Bali
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [September 20, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484 "2008-09-20T21:35:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/1 "2008-09-20T21:35:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Bikini-clad tourists may have to cover up if a law is passed across Indonesia.
>
> The Bill is designed to define pornography and set a moral tone across the vast, mainly Muslim archipelago.
>
> Bali, which is mainly Hindu, is up in arms, fearing for its easy-going lifestyle and sensual charms.
>
> The Bill, which could be passed in weeks, criminalises all public acts and material capable of raising sexual desires or violating “community morality”, including poetry and music.
Source: [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24372160-5006301,00.html](http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24372160-5006301,00.html)
Just trying to keep my fellow Dopers abreast of things important to them.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/2 "2008-09-20T21:44:17Z")
But does it ban bikinis specifically?
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/3 "2008-09-20T21:50:24Z")
Bummer!
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### Author:  [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/4 "2008-09-20T21:52:19Z")
> [@Duckster](#):
>
> Source: [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24372160-5006301,00.html](http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24372160-5006301,00.html)
>
> Just trying to keep my fellow Dopers abreast of things important to them.
would you mind keeping me a pair of breasts? I prefer them that way
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/5 "2008-09-21T00:45:12Z")
This bill and the debate swirling around it has been going on for over a year, and the House of Representatives, after saying they would pass it, decided a few days ago to postpone a vote. So it’s not going to be a “Ramadhan present” after all.
There has been strong opposition to the bill by certain political parties as well as artists and musicians, and there will continue to be.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/6 "2008-09-21T07:30:37Z")
That kind of dress is already illegal in this part of Indonesia. When we go to the beach my wife swims in capri pants and one of my shirts. Most of the other women swim fully clothed including head scarves.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/7 "2008-09-21T08:49:42Z")
Can I add Ugandan [Miniskirt Madness](http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_7620000/newsid_7621800/7621823.stm) to the list?
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/8 "2008-09-21T10:22:26Z")
This just in: I’m not sure whether this is the latest update or not, but another message board I participate in just circulated an article in Indonesian saying they are going to vote on 23 September. So, there should be more news soon.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/9 "2008-09-21T10:26:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by **madmonk28:**
> When we go to the beach my wife swims in capri pants and one of my shirts. Most of the other women swim fully clothed including head scarves.
She needs [a burqini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqini). I’d like one myself, actually.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/10 "2008-09-21T10:51:18Z")
From my one trip through Indonesia, it seemed like each island was pretty separate from the rest of the islands, each with its own tribe of people ranging from aboriginal to fairly modern. I can’t imagine that most of the people are in enough of a position to care about the country’s “official” laws, let alone caring what some tourists do on _one_ island. While as, for Bali, that would probably kill the tourist trade dead and ruin their economy.
This seems rather stupid and unproductive overall.
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### Author:  [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/11 "2008-09-21T10:59:31Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#):
>
> While as, for Bali, that would probably kill the tourist trade dead and ruin their economy.
>
> This seems rather stupid and unproductive overall.
Remember H. L. Mencken’s definition of fundamentalism: the terrible fear that someone, somewhere, is having fun. And this is clearly fundamentalism applied, probably with a side order of old fashioned greed: I would not be surprised if the ban became an excuse to impose hefty fines on clueless tourists.
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/12 "2008-09-21T15:11:00Z")
Are they proposing banning bikinis on the beach? This is bizarre-how are you supposed to swim?
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/13 "2008-09-21T16:22:42Z")
Way, way back in the mists of time, (1987ish), after having spent a lot of time traveling this part of the world, we concocted a wild plan sitting around a beach bar with some friends!
We, (only one of four with any fashion sense, one colour blind), would become clothing importers. Clothing is very cheap in Indonesia and very expensive in Canada, how could this idea miss?:dubious:
Regular travel to a part of the world we all loved, and paid for by our, soon to be realised, tidy profits!
Well, we very much enjoyed returning to the islands each year for the three years we pursued it, but a money maker it was not. We all lost money, but not life changing kind of money.
Of course, we ended up with a whole line of clothes, unintentionally, instead of just the one great value that inspired us. It was the cornerstone of the fledgling business. That was a bikini. Yeah, we were having them made for us in Bali, and importing them into Canada.
The irony it burns.
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/14 "2008-09-21T16:27:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Are they proposing banning bikinis on the beach? This is bizarre-how are you supposed to swim?
[In a burqini.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10222750&postcount=9)
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/15 "2008-09-21T16:33:01Z")
Be boffins baffled?
Does the title remind anyone of [_Bops, Babes, Booze and Bovver_](http://www.amazon.com/Babes-Booze-Bovver-Nipple-Erectors/dp/B000067A5Q)?
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/16 "2008-09-22T02:06:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by **Sage Rat**
> I can’t imagine that most of the people are in enough of a position to care about the country’s “official” laws, let alone caring what some tourists do on _one_ island.
With all due respect, Sage Rat, the knowledge that you gained on your “one trip” doesn’t do Indonesia justice at all. There are so many historical and cultural issues to consider here, ranging from the long history of colonialism to the independence movement to Sukarno’s “pancasila” to secession movements in Aceh, Timor (which ultimately succeeded), and elsewhere. What it all adds up to is that Indonesia is remarkably self-aware as a nation despite the fact that it does indeed consist of a range of ethnic groups.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/17 "2008-09-22T02:15:22Z")
> [@Lars\_Aruns](#):
>
> Remember H. L. Mencken’s definition of fundamentalism: the terrible fear that someone, somewhere, is having fun.
Actually, it was Puritanism, not fundamentalism.
And it was “happy,” not “having fun.”
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/18 "2008-09-22T02:59:52Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> With all due respect, Sage Rat, the knowledge that you gained on your “one trip” doesn’t do Indonesia justice at all. There are so many historical and cultural issues to consider here, ranging from the long history of colonialism to the independence movement to Sukarno’s “pancasila” to secession movements in Aceh, Timor (which ultimately succeeded), and elsewhere. What it all adds up to is that Indonesia is remarkably self-aware as a nation despite the fact that it does indeed consist of a range of ethnic groups.
Maybe. It was a cruise that was mostly hitting tribes living on islands without plumbing, electricity, or even apparent metal forging capability beyond copper. Since we seemed to just be going from one end of the islands to other seeing what could be seen, I guessed it to be–if not representative–at least to indicate that there’s a significant population without particular access to outside communication.
About how prevalent is that, in truth?
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/19 "2008-09-22T03:43:28Z")
> [@](#):
>
> originally posted by **Sage Rat:**
> Maybe. It was a cruise that was mostly hitting tribes living on islands without plumbing, electricity, or even apparent metal forging capability beyond copper. Since we seemed to just be going from one end of the islands to other seeing what could be seen, I guessed it to be–if not representative–at least to indicate that there’s a significant population without particular access to outside communication.
>
> About how prevalent is that, in truth?
Most of Indonesia’s population has access to information through modern means such as TV. Heck, even villages without electricity hook up TVs to car batteries!
More than that, however, the vast majority of Indonesians do not live in such isolation. Are they poor, yes. Are they cut off from knowledge of the country, no. The bulk of the population lives on Java. Sure, there are remote villages that barely know they are part of Indonesia, but the number of people leading such lives is dwarfed by the number of people in urban areas\* or in villages that aren’t so remote. On your cruise you touched the elephant’s tail, but don’t make the mistake of thereby concluding that an elephant is a skinny, snakelike creature.
I don’t mean to suggest that Indonesia holds monolithic views about nationhood, religion, or anything else, however. There are definitely disagreements and, as I mentioned earlier, independence movements (I’m sure **madmonk28** , who resides in Aceh, could tell you all about that!). In fact Indonesian leaders have nightmares about the country splintering along ethnic and sectarian lines. That’s quite different from the characterization of people not caring about national laws or what happens elsewhere in the country.
- it appears that Indonesia’s population is roughly half and half urban and rural and moving towards urbanization, if we can believe [this website](http://www.makingcitieswork.org/files/pdf/southeast-asia/Indonesia.pdf).
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikini-boob-ban-in-bali/464484/20 "2008-09-26T02:25:47Z")
The latest: thanks to protests by artists and political parties, vote on the pornography bill has been postponed, yet again. AFAIK there are no immediate plans to reschedule the vote.
Common sense wins for the moment, but vigilance is required. Fortunately, there are a lot of people in Indonesia who think this bill is a very bad idea.