I'm so glad you said that! I was just thinking this other day (while I was shopping for a new suit because I somehow managed to give away my brand new one before I even had the tags off! ). I was frustrated with the one-piece suits, but they're the only "acceptable" suits for many Christians/organizations. I settled on a tankini top, regular bottoms, and board shorts (which weren't lined, hence the need for the regular bottoms). I would like to get a swim skirt, a REAL swim skirt, not the tiny ruffles they pass off as skirts, but they are quite pricey. Back to the OP: I, as others have said, do not think it's appropriate AT ALL to dress a young girl in any fashion that one would find immodest for a teen.
Faythe did have to get a one-piece to take on her mission trip to Belize. The difference was that with camp, it was the joint policy of the different youth pastors (men!) doing the planning. Our youth pastor (female) was on her side and was willing to go to bat for her. But this is the policy of the mission organization, and that's something that cannot be changed.
My boys wear regular swimming trunks when swimming. As far as girls, I think 3ish or under a bikini is okay. At that age I think running around in a diaper only is okay. I mean a 2 year old really doesn't understand modesty. I personally feel like issues of modesty and such that we force (for lack of a better word-not judging) on babies and toddlers long before they can grasp a concept are our own sexualization of children issues. I much prefer to enjoy those very, very few years our current culture will let them have of pure innocence. I think once potty trained-that's when I'd no longer be okay with a bikini, that when we personally started talking about privacy/modesty with our boys (around age 3). I personally would love to find a modest, affordable tankini for me! Like Krista's girls-for bathroom purposes-there is nothing so gross and cold as having to pull a wet one-piece back up after a bathroom break!!! LOL For now I 3 bathing suits I wear to public pools-one has a built in skirt, one I have a short wrap skirt that goes over it (that I wear in the pool) and one has matching boy shorts that go over it....for family owned pools I'll wear a one piece with nothing extra covering if it's not a large gathering. One of my favorite pictures of me a child is when I was about a year old in bikini, it was lime green (70's) with white piping and I was running across the yard, with a huge mischievous smile, my baby pot belly hanging out and my mom in her bell bottoms and long straight hair chasing after me I joke it's the only photo of me in a bikini anyone will ever see (though it's true!)
Like JosieB, we also introduce modesty once potty/toilet training is complete. But wearing a top while outside is still a must for sun protection here.
Children have parents for a reason. I agree that a 2 year old does not understand modesty. For this reason, as a parent, it is my job to teach my child about modesty from a young age. Although the 2 year old mind is innocent, sadly there are hundreds, if not thousands of minds that are not innocent and they prey on the innocents of children and the physical appearance of children whose parents think it is "cute" to dress the kids in clothing that once was worn only in the bedroom. The young innocent age is the best age for a pervert to use children as eye-candy or more. Take a look at child porn. It is alive and well and roaring like the devil himself. I prefer to teach my child about modesty at a young age. If she chooses to flash her body to the public as an adult, then that is her choice.
This summer has been the worst ever for swimsuits for my early blooming 11 yr old. She went up 2 cup sizes over the winter, and as some of you ladies know, there are NO cute swimsuits that cover an endowment like that.LOL I can't afford to spend the money for those special order suits and Kohls, Penneys, Target and Walmart just don't carry modest styles. I prefer halter tankinis with boyshorts, and even then she has to wear a t shirt because the poor girl just hangs out of her top. Unfortunately(LOL) I can't relate! Also, one pieces don't work for short torsoed people since the straps just slide right off. Boys are definately easier. My ds prefers his swim shirt, he says he doesn't want to get "sun" cancer.
This is cultural though. In many cultures young children are naked or wear very little. It isn't immodest or sexualized. The thousands of minds that prey on children will do so no matter how children are dressed. What we wear doesn't cause deviants to act. Their deviancy does.
I agree with you to a point. Perverts are perverts no matter what. However, I do not believe this is a license to allow my child to run around showing more than she should be revealing. Whether you agree or not, I do not believe in allowing my child to be eye-candy to those who are perverts. It is my job to PROTECT my child because some people ARE so twisted. As far as I am concerned, wild dogs have the potential to attack. For this reason I will not send my daughter to sit where they feed and ignorantly hope she doesn't get bit in the process.
True, but then we do not really know how many of those children are sexually abused or assaulted either because it may be considered acceptable or just ignored in their culture also. Just like guys will intensely watch the most provocative woman with the great figure on the beach, so will a child predator be more attracted to the scantiest-clad child.
I agree 100% and then some. This leads to the issue of sex slavery that is acceptable in other countries. It isn't uncommon for other cultures to have children as young as 3 years of age performing sexual favors for adults. I can't remember the country, but I was reading a disturbing article my sister received when working on her masters in psychology. It dealt with sex slaves, mainly children. I guess it isn't uncommon for the a few wealthy American's to travel to these countries on vacation so they can legally have little children and do it in public. YIKES!!!
Halters! I forgot about these. My mom made ours when I was growing up. They went down to our waist and we would were them with shorts to swim in. I do not think she did it for modesty reasons as much as she couldn't afford swimsuits for four daughters.
Modesty has nothing to do with child abuse. You can't avoid it by being modest. You don't invite it by wearing a two-piece suit. If someone is gawking at my child I leave. I'd do this whether they were wearing a snowsuit or a swim suit. We sexualize so many things in our culture. A baby must cover up so some stranger won't be turned on? We mustn't breastfeed in public because it makes some people think about sex? When my brother was invited into a stranger's car to help find a missing dog he was fully clothed. When my children were at the park playing and a stranger hid behind a tree gawking at them they were fully clothed. Clothing has nothing to do with it. All this is the same as saying a woman invites rape because of how she is dressed.
The reason I do not agree is because I do not believe sexual predators are born; I believe they are made! It is lack of modesty and acceptance that anybody can flash it and not turn a person on that has bred what has now become a society that is rich in porn and sex crimes. I might be a minority, but I believe that a two-piece DOES have the power to stimulate sexual desires in a person. The reasons people sexually assault children is broad, but I can't help thinking that if people practiced modesty, our world wouldn't be overly saturated in the lust and sexual sins that we see today. The Bible speaks of modesty for a reason. Sexual sins begin with baby steps and escalate.
I understand what you are saying and you are talking about people who have been desensitized by one means or another to the boundries of sex. Desensitization is key! It starts somewhere.
Yes, but we interpret that modestly in light of our culture. Modesty means different things in other cultures and other periods of time. I was at a splash pad recently and a mother was there dressed in a burka getting wet while watching her child. I'm sure she would consider a short sleeve shirt or pants highly immodest for getting wet. The Bible doesn't condemn two-piece suits. It speaks to modesty. I think modesty is about respecting yourself and not about protecting yourself from predators. Lust and sexual sin aren't because people are scantily clad. Muslim countries with woman fully covered have tons of sexual sin. Lust and sexual sins abound because people need Jesus.
Because child abuse is caused by the abuser acting. A child doesn't cause a predator to act. The predator makes a decision to act and a fully dressed child won't stop him.
My thoughts also. In our culture, we have come to the place where men are expected to be eunuchs while women and children walk around them scantily dressed and how dare they be aroused by what they see, yet didn't these women and children wear those clothes so that they would stand out, so they would be seen?
Yes, and having been one of those children, I can tell you from experience the less that a child wears or the more provocative, the more such a man would be encouraged, whether he abuses that particular child or another more accessible to him.
I agree! We live in a thoughtless world where people think they can dress as they please and have no responsibility for the thoughts they place in other people minds. Mind you, I said thoughts, not ACTIONS. I believe in cause and effect.
