My condo management board has just decided that there shall be no thong swimsuits allowed at the pool. Aside from 1st Amendment rights (ACLU members feel free to chime in), it seems to me that this sensd the wrong message to nubile young things…I can’t see why a woman cannot wear these (admittedly small) bathing suits an maintain a a sense of decorum around the pool. Also, the old geezers might enjoy the show as well.
Is in the power of a private organization to ban such attire?
Please help me convince our board that the pool should be “thong-friendly” this summer!
This is in a privately owned area?
[leer]They should be required.[/leer]
Well, some restaurants and bars have dress codes. How is this different?
I think private organisations have the right to ban any attire. Swimming pools can ban wearing too much clothing - eg t-shirts - as fibres can clog the filters.
The issue for me on this would be: with a thong swimsuit, is a woman/man likely to expose their anus/vagina? If so, then unless your condo allows nude bathing, I can see why they’re banning them. If not, then it’s probaby a bit unfair.
The other week I was at a waterpark here and there were some (models I think) wearing thong bikinis. It looked inappropriate. It’s a very active, water-slide place and even normal bikinis often come off or get twisted about with the water jets. Quite apart from the fact that this is a Muslim country where topless bathing is forbidden even on private hotel beaches - I thought wearing a thong at a public water park was pushing the boundaries a bit too far.
I don’t think it’s limited to private companies. The city of Virginia Beach has banned thong wearing, crochet bikinis, etc., for years.
Noooo!
Okay, if it is a private pool then I have to support that they (the members, community council, whomever) have the right to define activity or dress codes accordingly.
That said…
<slight hijack>
Actually, this just struck me as so funny. I really do not understand why “we” as Americans (generalization alert!) are so damn wrapped up about issues like this.
My wife and I just returned from our honeymoon in Turkey. She purchased, among other swimsuits, for this trip a thong bikini. Mrs. MeanJoe can get away with it! She ended up wearing it the entire time we were at the pool or beach. She even sunbathed topless!! :eek: Not ONCE did a man walk by and leer, no children walked by and became sexual deviants by seeing her thonged backside or topless self. Can you imagine, NO ONE CARED!!
(I know, this must come as a shock to some Puritanical Evangelical Types!)
Now that we are home, (Land of the Free, Home of the Brave and all that flag waving stuff) she wants to maintain her nice suntan but won’t do it in her thong for fear of what the neighbors might say.
Sorry, but the more exposure I’ve received to the world outside the U.S. of A, the more I realize - we have some SERIOUS hang-ups in this country.
MeanJoe (Who still loves the Good Ole’ U.S. of A, thankyouverymuch!)
I don’t see how this could be a first amendment issue. I think you would be hard pressed to prove that wearing a thong expresses any type of speech.
Yeah, but the more important point is that there’s no government action involved here. If it were a town ordinance or state law prohibiting thongs, you’d have a different story. (I haven’t studied the First Amendment yet, but I do know it’s limited to government action.)
This comes down to a private contract issue: if the parties agreed to be subject to the homeowners’ association, and the rules they determine aren’t unconscionable, then the residents are subject to them.
I definitely think thong swimsuits should be banned. We should all be swimming naked, dammit!
Dr. Lao:
You don’t know much about the First Amendment, then.
The First Amendment protects ALL forms of self-expression, including not only what we say but also what we wear, how we decorate our homes and what bumper stickers we put on our cars.
That said, if a private organization wants to set standards for its own private property, there are no First Amendment implications.
It doesn’t seem like you have a legal issue. But isn’t the association supposed to represent you, as a tenant? Couldn’t you get your fellow thong-loving tenants to go to the meetings and write letters to the association? Here’s the thing - if there are more tenants who disapprove of thongs than there are who like them, you’d be pretty hard-pressed to get the rule changed. Or, if you absolutely can’t get through the day without seeing a young woman’s ass, maybe you could just go to a strip club.
—The issue for me on this would be: with a thong swimsuit, is a woman/man likely to expose their anus/vagina?—
This unslightly problem can be remedied by the simple application of AssSpackle ™, the industrial butt crack sealant.
You’re facing a political situation, not one where you can turn to cops or courts.
Are you one of the owners? Do you have a right to speak/vote at meetings?
You have two choices. Run for election to this management boards, on a platform to change this policy. Or, amemnd the organization’s charter, so important issues have to be voted on by the ownership as a whole, and not simply small subset of them.
Either way, no more thongs this summer. Maybe next year.
They tried this in Miami a while back; there was actually a city ordinance legislating what width the back of a woman’s swimsuit had to be. The result, according to friends who live there,was that the cops had an absolute blast walking around and measuring pretty women’s rear ends with rulers and tape measures.
There was a recent thread in IMHO, “What is your Dream Job?”
I think I just found it.
Am I the only male on this board that doesn’t find thongs attractive??
Well … I wouldn’t find a thong very attractive on Madelyn Albright, if that’s what’cha mean.
I say we organize a protest. Let’s get several dozen nubile young women to wear thong swimsuits at ralph’s pool. Then when the management says they aren’t allowed to wear thongs, they’ll comply by taking them off.
Honestly, I find nakedness to be absolutely disgusting. Actually, I find the human form - or any fleshly body - to be disgusting. I wear long-sleeve shirts and pants year round. I live in The South.