Swimming Modestly

[Perry]

The weather is warm, the kids are getting out of school, and summer's just around the corner. That can mean one thing: time for fundy preachers to start telling their church members what they have to wear at the beach/pool!

My fundy pastor hit on this Sunday. Shorts must be down below the knees (women should wear men's swimming shorts because women's are too short and immodest), and men can wear shorts if they're in the company of men but when in mixed company they would be better off wearing pants, because Gid takes no pleasure in the legs of a man, heyman? The top part of the body should be covered at all costs. That way, we can look different and stand out, making a Christian impression on the half-naked world.

I bought into this for a long time. I would ALWAYS wear a short-sleeved shirt when swimming at our pool at home. My family would mock me for it and try to tear my shirt off me while I was swimming, but I kept doing it because 1) I was self-conscious of my body and 2) the preacher said I should. Finally last year I realized that it was okay to swim without a shirt, and I have been enjoying it ever since (though I still feel awkward and naked when doing it around other people).

I know modesty is important and right, but you don't have to be completely covered from head to toe to be modest. That being said, were you ever required to wear certain clothes when swimming? Do you still go by those rules, or do you dress a little more casually than you did in your fundy days? At my church, several of us wear casual swimming clothes when swimming at my house, but of course abide by church clothing rules when swimming at a church outing or event.

[Scorpio]

Not 100% related but I remember whenever the warm weather hit, the pastor would always yell, I mean preach that we need to keep our eyes away from scantily clad women. Of course he always did because he could spot a scantily clad women from 500 yards away and immediatley start reciting a Psalm or a Proverb or a verse from Philemon to cure his lustful eyes. The rest of us of course were not holy enough.

[Lizzy F.]

Yeah, these sermons were deeply imbedded in my brain. I haven't owned a swimsuit or gone swimming in like 4 years. I still feel really naked when I'm not wearing a long skirt, so going swimming is still very far out of my comfort zone.

[pastor's wife]

My mom thankfully let us wear regular bathing suits, although they had to have a skirt on them, usually one of those silly tiny ones that mostly old ladies wore. My parents usually required us to wear dresses in normal activities, but we did not have to drape ourselves in regular clothes when swimming. Thank you, mom and dad.

I still do not like bikinis, but I will allow my daughter to wear a two-piece suit if it's tankini. I want to be a "peculiar people" because I show love and forgiveness to my enemies and that I put others people above myself, not that I wear a t-shirt when swimming.

[Shoes]

Perry Wrote:several of us wear casual swimming clothes when swimming at my house

What the heck are casual swimming clothes? Is it a singlet? Like a 1920’s style bathing suit. Dude, just wear a pair of swimming shorts, a bathing suit.

[Perry]

(05-23-2011 12:36 PM)Shoes Wrote:  Dude, just wear a pair of swimming shorts, a bathing suit.

That's what I meant by "casual swimming clothes": the clothing the average person would wear when swimming.

[Lindaleore]

I remember being the only 15-year-old at the pool wearing a 2x swim dress that I altered so it wouldn't billow like a circus tent in the water. GAH. Modest? Not really. Attention-drawing? You betcha. Awkward? More than words can say.

God bless whoever invented tankinis.

[RobMille]

I can no longer fathom what being in a church that thinks it's OK to tell people how/when they can go swimming is like.

[leaving]

I wish every man would wear at least a swimsuit shirt when swimming. Women have to cover their breasts in order to be modest even by the world's standards, and trust me, I wish guys would cover their chests too. I don't want to see you in just spandex underwear or a pair of shorts with no shirt. Yuck. LOL!

[M Go Blue]

I wear a shirt 95% of the time when I swim because, if I don't my back, shoulders and arms turn as red as a firetruck. If it's an incredibly sunny day I'll wear a hat, too. Being fair skinned really sucks sometimes.