Comments on: Derbyshire shocked to wake up and discover it is no longer 1914

By: hexy

hexy — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:14:08 +0000

I had a hell of a time finding a swimsuit that covered my tattoos last summer. Considering they’re on my hip and my lower back, it really shouldn’t have been difficult, but one pieces with boy legs are impossible to find.

By: Cara

Cara — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:05:26 +0000

You know, I do have to agree with Kerry on this one. When I went swimsuit shopping this year, all I could find were skimpy little bikinis or one pieces with . . . yeah, skirts, beads, belts, etc. I couldn’t even find tankinis that had any kind of bust support whatsoever. After several attempts failed, I ended up buying one online.

So yeah, it’d be nice to have some more options available. Yay, bikinis! But boo, few alternatives.

By: kerry

kerry — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:21:38 +0000

hmm. don’t support derbs’ viewpoint, here, but i DO want to know what happened to the one-piece female bathing suit. honestly, try to find one in a store: in my experience, they’re either boring (and expensive!) one-color suits for serious swimmers, or oddly embellished with belts, skirts, beads, and all manner of other trappings, including weird slits up the side or back. i really wish the one-piece felt like an acceptable alternative for summer wear. it’s both way more practical for actual swimming (vs. beach-sitting), and offers more coverage for those of us who might like that–for reasons that include modesty OR safety (skin cancer and all that). but sometimes it feels like wearing a one-piece is an admission that you are boring or unattractive–and of course the cutest suits on the shelves at the store are bikinis. i guess this comes back to the same perception (of bikinis as being for attractive women only / attractive women wearing only bikinis, not one-pieces) needing to be changed, and the fact that a woman should be able to wear the type of suit she prefers without being judged. but it would help if there were a larger number of one-piece options!

By: Sally

Sally — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:48:34 +0000

But seriously… taking women’s choices aside. There IS a pressure to always be exposed to show you are legally sexual. I mean, if an alien came to our planet, it would assume that women’s temperature is 10 degrees higher than a man’s. I mean, what other reason would it be that a man can wear a shirt that covers his arms on a date or when “dressing up” a woman must have arms exposed, while a guy can wear a suit? Otherwise you can’t be sexually desirable. The same thing for bikinis – sure they are a “free” choice, but it seems the mandatory to show you can be legally sexually active, otherwise, the one piece means you have closed shop and could be becoming the fat, which means that, legally, you can’t be sexually active. What choice is there in that?

By: Linoleum Blownaparte

Linoleum Blownaparte — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:56:32 +0000

As far as I’m concerned, women are either too covered up, or not covered up enough.

Or something.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:23:34 +0000

That Miss Manners post made my day.
@ThickRedGlasses: So true. I think most boy short long tankini combos are more modest than one pieces
And I am sooo sick of women who are not a certain size being shamed for weaing two pieces that expose the midrift (or bathing suits at all) and for wearing clothes that do not “flatter” them (in the cases I’m referring too, it means they are too revealing). Jackasses: The purpose is not to make YOU feel comfortable, but the wearer. If a woman who is size 22 feel comfortable in a bikini exposing her midriff then it is flattering b/c she feels comfortabe in it and does not have to dress to your aesthetic likenings. (Someone actually complained on youtube about a woman in a burlesque video not wearing “flattering” clothes b/c she was a larger size).
Flattering is too often code for cover up your damn rolls.

By: NicoleG

NicoleG — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:45:11 +0000

@ThickRedGlasses - Yeah, this guy doesn't seem to understand what "two piece" means, because he's so busy mourning one specific item that's gone out of fashion. I love cute tankinis myself, since I'm relatively thin but still uncomfortable about exposing my stomach. I hope I have the confidence one day to wear a true bikini to the beach like my friends of all sizes have, if only as a fuck you to people who think they should be "arrested" for it.

By: NicoleG

NicoleG — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:06:18 +0000

BMO = “Black Moving Object.” It’s apparently military slang for women in abayyas or chadors.

Wow. What an ironic digression from a rant about women who aren’t covered to his liking — some women are TOO modest! Luckily I keep a handy list of the exact things I’m allowed to wear for John Derbyshire to consider me a human being.

By: W. Kiernan

W. Kiernan — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:16:22 +0000

When I go to the beach I really really enjoy looking at pretty women wearing teenie-weenie bikinis. But I can’t imagine that the reason women go to the beach is for my girl-watching pleasure. They come for their own regalement, and what entertainment I get from ogling them is an accidental free benefit to me. And since it’s free, the principle “beggars can’t be choosers” applies. Besides that, if the rule “you must be beautiful to walk this shoreline” were actually enforced, I myself would never get to see the ocean at all.

By: mama mia

mama mia — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:18:13 +0000

Ah, thank you. BMO. It is so refreshing when racism is packaged in a convenient little acronym.