No Sluts at the Beach
There's a place, far away, where young ladies don't speak publicly about their contraception needs.
I'm not saying it's a good place. I'm just saying that it's an interesting counter-point to the kinds of things we hear said about women (from both sides) and about what people have said about women, in this country. Especially this week.
From The National, the English-language daily in Abu Dhabi:
Wearing long trousers, a long-sleeved shirt and a hijab, Hala Jarabaa sat on a beach towel and soaked up the sun.
She could not swim at the Corniche public beach because there were men there, but she still fondly remembers the days when Abu Dhabi had a ladies-only beach in Ras Al Akhdar.
"When we were children we would go there," said the 24-year-old Palestinian.
That beach closed more than five years ago and the area is now a maze of construction. But many women in Abu Dhabi wish the municipality would open another ladies-only beach - or designate ladies-only days on a secluded section of the coast.
"I would come to every ladies' day," said Mona Mohammed, 26, a Yemeni university student born and raised in Abu Dhabi.
There used to be women-only hotels in most major American cities, and for years women have complained that they can't meet for a drink at a bar without getting unwanted attention.
In conservative Abu Dhabi, young women miss the old Ladies Only beach. But if you switched some of the names around, would you know if the following quotation came from a Muslim woman in the Persian Gulf, a middle-aged feminist academic, or a conservative American soccer mom?
Jehan Erfan, an Abu Dhabi resident from Egypt, said a new ladies' beach was "a very good idea". "We were just talking about how we have gained weight and are shy to wear our swimsuits," joked Ms Erfan, 40. "We like some privacy, so it would be great to have a ladies' beach or maybe ladies-only days."
Ms Jarabaa said a ladies' beach would allow her to enjoy the water.
"We are free in it," she said. "We can take off our clothes and wear swimming gear."
A ladies' beach would need all-female workers and be out of the way of male eyes. Authorities would also need to find a way to keep men on jet skis from passing nearby, for example, Ms Mohammed said.
However, a few women were less eager for a ladies-only beach.
Anju Johari, 52, from India, said sharing the shore with men did not bother her.
Chris Penuel, 42, from England, said she liked to go to the beach with her husband. "It doesn't affect me one way or another to have men on the beach," she said.
But she added that she understood why other women felt differently.
"I can see why some women would want a ladies-only beach, not just for religious reasons."
I'm really not sure what conclusions to draw from this. But I think it's interesting that a women-only beach in a conservative Muslim emirate seems like a liberating thing.
- Comment (19)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments:
Dec '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
I can't understand where Rush Limbaugh got the idea that a certain word was okay to use. Maybe the poor capitalization confused him.
Sep '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
God Bless America
May '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
It's funny you mention it. Earlier today, Rush was talking about Obama's upcoming address to a feminist women-only university, and I thought about how much liberals hated separation of the sexes when it took place in Catholic schools.
Every married person I know enjoys a "girls' night out" or "man cave" from time to time. The sexes are complementary. That doesn't mean we want to be around each other all the time.
Jan '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
You mean, all those cable reality shows that depict women as trash are ... for real?
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Personally, I want no part of a beach without jet skis.
Jul '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
So.... then no sex on the beach?
Oct '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
This reminds me of America in the early 20th century. At the beaches they'd have those booths they'd roll into the water a distance and the women would go in one door, change, and then come out the other end wearing a modest swimsuit.
Jul '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Authorities would also need to find a way to keep men on jet skis from passing nearby, for example, Ms Mohammed said.
Channeling Sesame Street:
It strikes me that barring half the folks from somewhere is a somewhat tortured path to liberation. I'll also note that in Jim Crow days segregated utilities/services were sometimes labeled "colored only" as if a privilege was bestowed.
Please excuse me, I have to put my daughter to bed. Then I'll be, um, free for the rest of the evening.
Dec '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Rob,
Since, you have brought it up I'll take a swing at it. First, Rush should not have used the words he did. However, he should not have apologized. It is ridiculous to assert that this particular linguistic overshoot is agregious enough to require it.
The truth of Ms Fluke's statement before Congress revolved around not the fact of Ms. Fluke's licentiousness but much more likely the fact that she is probably a Lesbian and is in no need whatsoever of birth control measures as her personality, I'm sure, is adequate to the task.
This is part and parcel of the homosexual agenda which is massively fueling the democratic party. The democrats are the party of perversity, parasitism, and corruption. In ages past corruption would have been the leader. Not anymore. Perversity lifts the absurd anti-moral order's banner high and leads the charge. Parasitism, the public employee unions, follows in behind. Finally, the corrupters of all, Obama's Chicago mafia, only lead from the rear.
We need to understand their game plan. Rush wasted an apology on someone who was nothing but a perverse spoiled child. She should apologize not him!!!
Regards,
Jim
May '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Rob, As I guess you implied, there was also a time long ago when young ladies here didn't talk about their contraception needs. In the space-time continueum it is much farther away than Abu Dhabi.
Edited on March 6, 2012 at 2:46amJan '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
In a hundred years someone will republish this work and replace the word $L*T with the word slave, ooops wrong book; $L*T will be replaced with cougar.
Jul '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Darn Right!
A motorcycle with fewer worries= awesome.
Feb '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Rob Long:
I'm really not sure what conclusions to draw from this. But I think it's interesting that a women-only beach in a conservative Muslim emirate seems like a liberating thing. · · 4 hours ago
Girls-only math classes, too.
Apr '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
It's a Dutch thing, I think, from the 17th century. It then took a long time to get to the UK, and possibly slightly longer to get to the US (although I bet not much). I've always kind of wondered why other people didn't imitate them more quickly, since playing in the sea is such intuitively good fun.
Feb '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
James Gawron: Rob,
Since, you have brought it up I'll take a swing at it. First, Rush should not have used the words he did. However, he should not have apologized. It is ridiculous to assert that this particular linguistic overshoot is agregious enough to require it.
The truth of Ms Fluke's statement before Congress revolved around not the fact of Ms. Fluke's licentiousness but much more likely the fact that she is probably a Lesbian and is in no need whatsoever of birth control measures as her personality, I'm sure, is adequate to the task.
This is part and parcel of the homosexual agenda which is massively fueling the democratic party. The democrats are the party of perversity, parasitism, and corruption. .....
I listened to Fluke's "testimony". There was PLENTY to attack and criticize without that kind of name-calling, especially since she didn't make an argument based on unfettered sex. Why would you want to distract from the compelling substance by making false accusations and labeling likely to turn off people we're trying to persuade?
Mar '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Over 20 years ago, when I was in high school, I went to a beach with a girlfriend, dressed in a long skirt and long-sleeved shirt, for religious reasons. We were taunted for being overdressed. Today, modest swimwear in styles appropriate for Jewish, Muslim, and Christian women is available on the internet. I'm not sure what kind of response I'd get if I wore my modest swimsuit (skirt with knee-length pants underneath) in the US, but here in Israel it's commonplace.
I'm curious to know if people in the US have seen women attired in modest swimwear at beaches?
I, for one, find segregated gyms liberating, but enjoy being at the beach with my family (which, happily, includes men and boys).
Dec '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
SettlerMom: Over 20 years ago, when I was in high school, I went to a beach with a girlfriend, dressed in a long skirt and long-sleeved shirt, for religious reasons. We were taunted for being overdressed. Today, modest swimwear in styles appropriate for Jewish, Muslim, and Christian women is available on the internet. I'm not sure what kind of response I'd get if I wore my modest swimsuit (skirt with knee-length pants underneath) in the US, but here in Israel it's commonplace.
I'm curious to know if people in the US have seen women attired in modest swimwear at beaches?
I, for one, find segregated gyms liberating, but enjoy being at the beach with my family (which, happily, includes men and boys).
I think in the USA, nobody minds sharing a beach or a city street with women dressed in religiously-required modest attire. It only becomes an issue if someone insists on gender segregation to accommodate their religious sensibilities, ignoring the sensibilities of everyone else.
By the way, my wife works out at Curves - a national chain of women-only circuit training mini-gyms. So that's popular here as well.
Aug '10
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
PROUD SIUT?
Is that a suit that's mixed up out of pride?
Feb '11
Re: No Sluts at the Beach
Rob,
Such arrangements can be liberating everywhere as long as they're one option among many and they're an accommodation rather than persecution. It's liberating because gender has an impact on how we live our lives and interact with others that is far more fundamental and pervasive than other characteristics like race, religion, nationality, language, etc.