i had a discussion with a friend today about bathing suits. she spoke about her mom being offended when she didn’t wear a “one piece with a little skirt”, as her mom & she are people of size. i told her about my mom’s take on my choice of attire when swimming and feeling pressure to wear feminized clothing particularly in the summer time.
i think a lot of people in this culture get upset/skeptical when female-bodied/identified persons don’t expose certain areas of their bodies and believe that if we choose to keep ourselves covered up, its solely out of a lack of self-confidence. while many of us may choose not to wear “revealing” clothing out of the discomfort we have with our own bodies, i think it speaks volumes when people are put off by not having visual access to feminized bodies. its as if certain patches of our skin are covered up, we’re just insecure. if we choose to wear clothing typified as masculine when doing activities such as swimming in hot weather (i.e. t-shirt and shorts), our self-esteem is immediately labeled the cause. but i believe these concerns are partially based on a sense of entitlement to women’s/feminized/female bodies and being used to seeing those type of people in “revealing” clothing. we should be questioning whats wrong with the onlookers who question our sense of self, instead of questioning those who choose to stay “covered up”.
ceridwen.: a short rant: bathing suits: