Oh gawd, talk about projections.

The idea of the covering is threefold: firstly, it shows that the woman has reserved herself for her husband. It's a public display of commitment. Second, it makes all women equally attractive in a culture in which arranged marriage is often the norm, thereby preventing women who might be less pretty from being left on the shelf, as happens all too often in the West, especially in our shallow, trivial consumer age. Third, it preserves the allure of the female form as something that is to be coveted, thereby enhancing the sexual experience of both parties when it is not. The same thing is what makes a stripshow work, at least it used to. Anticipation heightens arousal.

Of course, if you prefer to wander around with your scrawny sacks swinging in the breeze and the missus's sagging dugs dangling down around her knees for public display then go for it. Don't be surprised if people point and laugh though...or perhaps throw up.

Anti: Don't be surprised if people point and laugh though...or perhaps throw up.

I suppose they would if you walked throw the local shopping mall, but on the appropriate beach? I don't think so. Although a few people, like yourself, apparently, Anti, are so two centuries ago, still. Some people do judge others by their appearance at the beach, but not many. It just shows their lack of respect for their fellow man & their lack of confidence in their own body image, doesn't it?

Have you crossed over & converted to Islam? You seem to be supporting the terrorists lately.

Jayb,

It only been in the blink of an eye, history-wise, that Westerners have covered up.

You carry on as if we've been letting it all hang out for eons.

When your parents were children ,it would have been almost unthinkable to leave the house without a hat. My mum was made to wear a hat, gloves and stockings when she left the house, once out of childhood. Her grandmother would have been getting around in long skirts and petticoats - legs hidden well away.

And don't hold up nudey beaches as the norm in Australia. On most "regular" beaches, you won't see a nipple.

"It only been in the blink of an eye, history-wise, that Westerners have covered up."

Should be "shed the coverings".

poirot: And don't hold up nudey beaches as the norm in Australia. On most "regular" beaches, you won't see a nipple.

I don't hold up nudist beaches as normal. They are not. On regular beaches you won't see a nipple normally, granted, but occasionally you will & nobody really cares or takes any notice.

Poirot: My mum was made to wear a hat, gloves and stockings when she left the house, once out of childhood. Her grandmother would have been getting around in long skirts and petticoats - legs hidden well away.

Yes, you are right. Well, up until the 60's, by the 70's that stuff had gone out the window. Isn't it great that that type of thinking has gone the way of the horse & cart. Unless you pine for the good old days.

As you suggesting that Muslims women in Australia will be going to the Northern end of Bondi in a Bikini in a few years. Yair right!

Jayb, all I'm doing is providing some balance.

As I said in an earlier post, some of the nicest, most welcoming, generous, friendly, happy people I know are Muslim. They have a strong sense of justice and fairness and obligation to others, even a person like me of a different race and background. I've never been asked by any Muslim what my religion is, they just don't care as long as I am a good person. Part of being a good person is accepting that others who don't look the same or act the same or speak the same are also good people if they act like good people.

This thread has been all about bigotry and vilification of an "out-group" by an "in-group". It's a kind of display behaviour, not unlike the hackle-raising and stiff-legged strutting of a dog confronted with a stranger intruding on its territory. Just like the dog, it's meant to show how big and scary the locals are, so the intruders won't even try to establish dominance. Also just like the dog, the whole pack runs to add to the display and gang up to drive the intruder away or force it to submit.

A genuinely human response would be to welcome the strangers into the group and make it stronger through incorporating the knowledge, energy, goods and genetic diversity that they bring. Even a temporary visit can impart valuable skills or needful things. The dog is only worried about having to share its food and its access to the bitches.

Would you prefer to be a dog or a human?