Modest swimsuit designer speaks out on bikinis

I think that women should be able to wear whatever they are comfortable in. If that means BIkinis then so be it. I dont here people complaining about too much fabric...

The discussion is missing an important fact: women have always used sexuality as a tool to manipulate men. This is a power that women recognize, even unconsciously, at a very young age, as male sexual attraction to women is one of the most obvious and potent features of our species, and even young girls can't help but observe and process this at some level. While sexual manipulation is not in any way dignified, it is clear that ideas about dignity are overcome by a woman's need for power. Given the enormous peer pressures and insecurities women face in this culture, apparently any kind of power is a good thing, even if ultimately demeaning to women themselves. Thus, the unstoppable gravitation toward skimpier clothes and all kinds of shocking trends to over-sexualize young women's bodies that women seem to gleefully embrace.

Any effort to place feminine dignity above raw sexual power must first recognize this power as base manipulation, and reject the popular idea that it is somehow freedom and feminine liberation. This is no easy task in a culture that glorifies overt sexuality and rejects personal responsibility or restraint, and that demeans the institution of family.

To Chris B:

Even in Utah hardly anyone considers a sleeveless shirt immodest. They are even worn in church by many teenagers. It's the low-cut, cleavage showing shirts that many conservative people (in or out of Utah) consider immodest.

You need to get out more and start better understanding those you live around. A bit more etiquette concerning sports comments wouldn't hurt either.

It was the bikini that put Rose Marie Reid out of business. She refused to make them.

per ShmittyWitty...

Thanks. Its all about context & location.

to bigv56 6/19 Thank you & agreed.

to countrymom 6/19 Nothing like to look wise by stating the obvious is there?

"Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." - H.L. Mencken

Whats the difference between a woman showing off her body in a bikini and doing the ame in bra and panties? Other than the material, there really isn't a difference.

noun, plural mod·es·ties.
1. the quality of being modest; freedom from vanity, boastfulness, etc.
2. regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
3.simplicity; moderation.

Thank you to IKI,ILI,ILI for reminding us that modesty is more than what we wear. Attitude and how we present ourselves in ALL ways are parts of modesty. Using the definition from an online dictionary, the bikini fails all three definitions of modesty. BUT so does someone who is more covered up but boastful and vain about that fact. And, by this definition someone who brags is immodest, and someone who swears is immodest, and someone building or living in a McMansion is immodest. Flamboyant clothing or behavior? Immodest! A person with a modest and humble heart will present themselves in clothing, speech, and behavior with suitable regard for both themselves and others. And therein lies the key, a truly modest person is unselfish and considers much more than their own wants and desires. It is a virtue much misunderstood and maligned, but also much in need by the world to be truly happy.

As some have mentioned its funny to note that the woman giving the speech would be seen as immodest by a significant number of LDS due to her sleeveless attire— not to mention the fact that conservative Muslim would find her dressed immodestly without a hijab or burka. By the standards of women in the early 1900s the skirts worn by some the most 'modest' of American women today would be scandalous.

That brings up the questions: Should the 'modesty' of a more conservative group have any say over what one wears? My more conservative LDS friends would say 'yes' when talking about bikinis but 'no' when we're talking about burkas. And so it is with asserting morality— everyone draws their own lines in the sand and thinks everyone else should adopt them— all while rejecting the idea that they are in anyway subject to another's morality.

Good article. I agree bikinis are not very modest and leave little to the imagination. Science proves this according to the article, bikinis make men see women as objects. I would not feel comfortable wearing a speed-o for the same reason, it is too revealing. I'm glad to see someone pointing out that there are alternatives to bikinis.

@JP71
"I hear people now saying that's the man’s problem, but it’s actually biology's problem."

Actually the study noted hasn't been published in a journal, hasn't undergone peer review, and has sample size and statistical issues. Regardless, considering cultures in South America where less clothing is more normal and in Muslim nations where more clothing is more normal it would seem that it's not a matter of how much clothing but rather how much clothing relative to the cultural norm.

The woman who runs this modest swimsuit company is one brave woman.

Kudos to her.

(and this is coming from someone who is often made breathless admiring the form of the female body)

I would just like to point out that the research she cites is not the end all be all of the subject. It was ONE study, done in ONE location (and a location where the female form is hyper-sexualized at that), and it is a PSYCHOLOGICAL study, not a BIOLOGICAL one, so it says NOTHING of "biological facts." As with all academic research, the study suggest a few changes for other researchers to perform for a greater understanding: 1) Use actual women in bikinis rather than images. 2) Study how men's brains react to seeing their significant others and family members in bikinis.

I would also add that the female brain should be studied with regards to seeing the male form half naked. I am nearly certain that the results would be the same; females would objectify men, just the same.

Furthermore, the study should extend to other locations where the female form is NOT oversexualized. To say nothing of how Europeans view nudity, the study could be taken to Africa, where women routinely wear minimal clothing and are not sexualized for it. I am interested in seeing if the psychological observation in America is the same there.

I thought this presentation was fantastic. The young lady was intelligent and articulate in her assessment of the effect of clothing, namely swimsuits, on a girl/woman's body to the onlooker and herself. As a young woman who had not yet joined the church, I wore a bikini not because I was comfortable in it; but because I wanted peer approval. That was in the 70s. On joining the church I sought out more modest swimsuits but they were hard to find. This young lady's collection is very nice. Wear what flatters your body and you can run, swim, play beach sports, etc., without fear of getting a wedgie or having parts of your body unflatteringly hang out. A full bathing suit provides this; a bikini does not. Case in point with Olympic Beach Volleyball. No-one I know (males especially) would be able to tell you much about the game; they watch it to see the scantily clad girls bounce around without much left to the imagination. This speaker is trying to tell you that if you want to be taken seriously, dress with dignity and grace on or off the beach.

I worked at a pool for a number of years. It was disgusting to see the women who thought that a bikini was for for them. If you're fat and flabby, a two piece ain't for you. No one is attracted by a full on fleshy view. Call it whatever you want, modesty, decency, basic intelligence, seeing someone in a swimming suit meant for a person half their size is disturbing,. The fact remains, that regardless of whether a bikini is modest or not, bikinis on 99% of intelligent America look bad.

The funny thing about these discussions are the people who are promoting a change to modestry are the 'conservatives' and the ones promoting the status quo of women being objectified as a sex objects so men can get free titillation are the ones who are thinking of themselves as 'liberal' and are the same posters who frequently complain of the attitudes and views of conservatives.

The hard-wiring of the brain is a good argument. Men are mentally wired to follow an image. If my wife ask me to go get a can of yeast from the pantry, and if I am thinking of a blue yeast packet, I will not see the red yeast can for the life of me. My wife will come into the room and see the can and wonder how I can be so blind. But that's OK, I like her youthful figure.

Chris, this a new side of you that I didn't know existed...Not only are your sports picks fuzzy at best, you have put as much thought into picking swim wear. Hang in there though. You are entertaining.

I remember being in middle school and modesty would be talked about now and then. The majority of teenage males knew and openly admitted about how dress and appearance affect sexual attraction. The number of adults who would be as honest is dramatically lower.

True principles don't change with time, only people do.

Well.ok,

Modesty: "freedom from conceit or vanity" (Merriam-Webster)

Some people choose to live modest, humble, and meek lives. Others believe they are worth more than others, indulge their ego, and live in selfishness. Some women flaunt their bodies as objects to attract, some women, in denial, refuse responsibility by denying any possible harm (despite brain scans or men who will admit their own sexual interests), and few choose care and wisdom instead. They can choose one or the other, but in each case the relationship is in how someone views their self and how they choose to have that affect other people.

Note that woman and men are stimulated very different visually. The porn industry's entire income relies on that fact, while anti-religious or anti-moral critics often deny it, simply satisfy their conceit and moral decay.

Well,ok. Men and women react differently to the human form.
Men and women have totally different ways of thinking feeling and visualizing life.
Women are more emotional and men are more physical.
Men are more sexually stimulated by what they can see.
Women are sexually stimulated by words and feelings.
A wife wants to hear that her man loves her.
Men wants to see her without clothing.
No matter what kinds of experiments and weird raising people try to do this is the way we ware wired.

Can someone please tell me why it's immodest for a women to wear a swimsuit exposing their belly, but not for a man?

Let me relate the modesty-in-swimwear issue to the modesty-in-prom-dancing issue. Many high schools today have banned the overtly sexual dance moves that none of us want our 17-year-olds participating in. Turns out even other 17-years-olds are uncomfortable watching such a thing. In my opinion, certain things are best left to the privacy of the bedroom – that includes the exposure of so much of a woman’s body via the bikini.

The protectors of public morality are a funny lot. In the summer of '61 my family drove from SoCal to Oklahoma to visit family. At a public pool in Okemah, my Mother was chastised for allowing my then 3 year old sister to come to the pool in a Bikini. Evidently, this townswoman thought my three year old sister could single handedly corrupt all the youth in the pool by her mere bikinied presence in the pool. In this Baptist-centric community prehaps this woman's greater fear was that unsupervised dancing would break out through part of Oklahoma. A bikini,IMHO, was a re-herring threat to local social order. In the back of this woman's mind, prehaps the Grandchildren of slaves would want to be able to vote next. It must have been hard to live in the South as the last gasps of Jim Crow was being breathed. Yes, the times they are/were a'changing.

@Chris B

You’re missing her point. It’s not here opinion that bikinis cause men to think of women as objects it’s a scientific fact. I hear people now saying that's the man’s problem, but it’s actually biology's problem. It's the way the brain is hard wired. This woman is simple reporting facts and telling women that if you want to be taken seriously don't dress in a bikini.

98%of women shouldn't go near a bikini because all it does is reveal their flaws,cellulite and other flab. I just wonder what they are thinking. The pregnant women in bikini look is way north of hideous. Not only can you be modest by wearing a less revealing swimsuit, you can also quit scaring the public.

Chris, you missed the research. The research provides objective results. You are complaining that modesty is a subjective matter but you failed to mention the objective results of the Princeton study proving that the more scantily clad a women is the less brain activity registers in the medial pre-frontal cortex of men. You can't dispute that.

Chris, I have 4 young daughters. I can tell you likely have no daughters considering your opposition to modesty.

"bikinis were the talk of Kanab city when the city council banned the two-piece attire from community swimming pools "

And here I thought that all the comments would be about government intrusion in our lives.

I guess "modesty" trumps government overreach.

Chris, did you listen to the video, specifically the research she quoted? Instead of trying to define modesty for you, this woman is trying to teach you, and others, that clothes do have an impact, whether you and 99% of the rational adults want to admit it or not.

I feel a simple modesty issue in women's dress today is the exposure of cleavage. Swimwear is one thing, but in the workplace, it can be very distracting. I'm afraid some women use it as the new power tie.

I went to the website expecting to see some drab swimming suits these are actually quite beautiful. looking at the swimsuits I think the same areas of any man's brain will light up as with the two piece swimsuit though. If getting men not to focus on women's beauty and womanly charms is her goal she has failed. To succeed in this 100 percent or close she pretty much would have to do what the Moslems do.

Thanks goodness someone has finally gotten a clue!

I'll point out the lady giving the lecture is wearing a sleeveless dress.

In other words, a dress that most in Utah would consider "immodest"

The problem with saying a one piece is "modest" and a bikini "immodest" is who made you the judge of modest/immodest?

In many places in the world a "modest" one piece would be considered a very "immodest" thing to wear.

Why don't we label "modest" only as those clothes that nearly cover a woman head to toe?

Point is, a bikini is fine.

Everyone has their own definition of "immodest" and 99% of rational adults know that a bikini is simply a swimming suit and there is nothing wrong with a nice looking woman wearing a bikini.