# Bikinis - immodest or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354 "2014-07-17T12:09:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![missyevelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5ac83/32.png) [@missyevelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missyevelyn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/1 "2014-07-17T12:09:38Z")
Started this thread after a few comments on a previous one. Why do some act as if bikinis are so immodest? I know some people that honestly freak out at them. It’s only like a one piece but with the middle cut out. No one is naked! This attitude also seems to be a very “American” one. In Europe, no one even cares; a lot of people on beaches are nude. They seem to have a very healthy view of the human body and sexuality. What do you guys think? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/2 "2014-07-17T12:16:52Z")
Who are you talking about? There are quite literally millions of Americans who wear bikinis, something for which I am ever thankful. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/3 "2014-07-17T12:17:36Z")
Are you at the beach? Modest Are you at a funeral? Immodest ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/4 "2014-07-17T12:21:32Z")
Define “immodest” without sounding like a nineteenth-century etiquette manual. For extra credit, explain why you care what other people think about how you dress to go swimming or sun-bathing. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/5 "2014-07-17T13:20:23Z")
In any situation where beachware is appropriate, I don’t believe bikinis are immodest. However, I’m of the opinion that modesty should be internal–in other words, if people have opinions about modesty, it should be about what they wear and what they do, rather than what other people are wearing or doing. Trying to impose one’s opinions on modesty on someone else is usually inappropriate, with the exception of parents trying to convince their nudist infants not to run around nekkid. Someone who thinks a particular type of beachware is inappropriate should probably stay away from the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/6 "2014-07-17T13:43:16Z")
It’s not modest. If a short skirt and plunging neckline are not modest then a bikini sure isn’t. It is APPROPRIATE at the beach or pool. I’ve seen one pieces that leave less to the imagination and some people have attributes that are harder to be modest about then others. But who says you have to be modest all the time? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/7 "2014-07-17T13:50:14Z")
Modesty is relative to social mores and completely arbitrary in nature. In a heterogeneous society like our own, there will be differing values of what is modest and what is immodest, and most people don’t question their own standards. I suspect that there are also judgments against revealing clothing by those who can’t “get away” with wearing it. Nothing like denying something to other people because you, yourself, can’t benefit from it. A century and a half ago in Tahiti, a bikini would have been unremarkable except that the breasts were covered and the fabric was closely tailored. Walk into an orthodox church or temple wearing a bikini, and the parishioners would be scandalized. Personally, I don’t find bikinis immodest where swimwear is appropriate, because bikinis were popular before I was born. I do find thong bikinis to be immodest, but that’s most likely because thongs weren’t popular until I was a late teenager, and my values regarding modesty were set. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/8 "2014-07-17T14:24:15Z")
This is a funny topic for me, because when I was a kid my mind was always confused by the fact that swimwear is essentially water-friendly underwear. Yet it’s OK to wear what’s essentially underwear on the beach, and not anywhere else. Then you combine that with how some people view bikinis as sexualized, and it was a tough proposition to get me to stop wearing a stodgy one piece swimsuit as a teenager. For a while there I was also weirded out about wearing a bikini in front of family. It felt like I was making the equivalent of bedroom eyes at them. Eeew! I got over that too. Like **Aquadementia** says, I don’t think they’re modest. But nobody said we have to be modest 100% of the time. Might as well be able to let loose somewhere! [Anyway, this ice cream advert sums it up pretty well.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Lx2ihpGbc) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/9 "2014-07-17T14:38:08Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > It’s not modest. > If a short skirt and plunging neckline are not modest then a bikini sure isn’t. > > It is APPROPRIATE at the beach or pool. > I’ve seen one pieces that leave less to the imagination and some people have attributes that are harder to be modest about then others. That seems to be the best answer. Modesty is about dressing/acting in a way to avoid sexual attention. I don’t think you can pull off “modest” when dressed in what is essentially underwear. But that doesn’t mean it’s inappropriate for the beach, pool or sunbathing either. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/10 "2014-07-17T14:40:33Z")
Define “bikini.” There are bikinis that I’d feel comfortable having my daughter be seen in. There are bikinis that make me feel like I should tuck dollar bills into the waistband. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/11 "2014-07-17T14:41:20Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > This is a funny topic for me, because when I was a kid my mind was always confused by the fact that swimwear is essentially water-friendly underwear. Yet it’s OK to wear what’s essentially underwear on the beach, and not anywhere else. I reckoned that that’s the reason why swimsuits come in so many bright colours and interesting patterns. It’s our way of saying, “look, these are clearly not underwear, because why would underwear be so amazingly conspicuous?” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/12 "2014-07-17T14:53:30Z")
It’s about cultural acceptance and what is considered appropriateness of dress. Even in the same US county, it can be OK in one place and not another – like in a beach town, it’s OK to walk in the streets in a bikini, but ten miles inland in a farm town, it’s not. In India, women go to the beach in their sari, and in Arabia, they don’t go at all. In Brazil, a bikini can be worn as formal evening wear, a hundred miles from the beach. The local culture dictates, and without specifying local customs, it is a meaningless question… ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/13 "2014-07-17T15:11:56Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In Brazil, a bikini can be worn as formal evening wear, a hundred miles from the beach. Ok, I’d like a cite for that. Like at something like a wedding reception in the heart of Brazil where the men might be wearing tuxes, would women be thinking: “evening gown or bikini? I just can’t decide!” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/14 "2014-07-17T15:22:27Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In Brazil, a bikini can be worn as formal evening wear, a hundred miles from the beach. Please cite. As in time, place, pictures, etc. EDIT: Ninja’d. Although maybe we’re asking for different things. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/15 "2014-07-17T15:28:35Z")
as long as there is a place to stick a flower then it is formal evening wear. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/16 "2014-07-17T15:28:58Z")
Look, if the purpose of clothes is to hide your sexy bits, the purpose of a bikini is to display them as prominently as possible. It’s 2 pieces of very thin fabric and nothing else. Anyone wearing a bikini is showing off (or making us all look at) their body. Calling it “immodest” is a value judgement. Sure, on a beach where people are showing off their mates or searching for new mates, it’s considered “acceptable” to strut around in bikinis. But the fact remains, it is what it is. Anyone you feel uncomfortable wearing underwear around, you shouldn’t wear your bikini around them because it’s the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/17 "2014-07-17T15:51:13Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In India, women go to the beach in their sari, and in Arabia, they don’t go at all. In Brazil, a bikini can be worn as formal evening wear, a hundred miles from the beach. The local culture dictates, and without specifying local customs, it is a meaningless question… A few weeks back, my family went to a water park in San Antonio, on a day when there happened to be a lot of Muslim women present. Many were in the water wearing “wwimsuits” that covered their entire bodies, as well as scarves that covered their heads and most of their faces. This must be fairly common today, because the outfits were drip dry, and clearly MADE for the very purpose of letting traditionally modest Muslim women swim while reaminign covered. Every society has a different idea of what’s appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/18 "2014-07-17T15:56:00Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > as long as there is a place to stick a flower then it is formal evening wear. How about behind the ear? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/19 "2014-07-17T15:57:22Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Please cite. As in time, place, pictures, etc. > > EDIT: Ninja’d. Although maybe we’re asking for different things. Here’s one instance though it doesn’t look like Brazil. Spoilered for faint of heart bosses. [http://dianmardiana74.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/amusing\_wedding\_pictures\_23.jpg](http://dianmardiana74.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/amusing_wedding_pictures_23.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354/20 "2014-07-17T15:58:56Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Ok, I’d like a cite for that. Like at something like a wedding reception in the heart of Brazil where the men might be wearing tuxes, would women be thinking: “evening gown or bikini? I just can’t decide!” You’ve never been to Brazil, have you? I don’t have to cite anything I’ve seen with my own eyes, but in all fairness to you, you don’t have to believe it, either… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bikinis-immodest-or-not/693354.md?page=2)