Burkini? Big Deal! You Don’t Have to Be Muslim!!

I couldn’t find a head to toe picture of me in my bathing suit, but it’s more burkini than any classic tank, blouson, skirted, one or two-piece held up by skinny straps. Actually I do wear a two piece bathingsuit, but the top has a high neck, and the sleeves go past my elbow. Most of the time I wear it with a swim-skirt past my knees, that has sewn in shorts. The running joke is that I’m dressed up for a fancy outing. It really doesn’t look like a bathing suit. And I guess you may be surprised that I wear it to female only swimming time in our local pool.

No, I’m not some sort of overmodest repressed nut-case. And I’m not Muslim.

• I’m a religious Jew who adheres to the Jews Laws of Modesty, and wearing this sort of bathing suit, swimsuit as some call them now, means that I can walk around in public, from house to pool without a robe or having to change my clothes/cover up.
• Another reason is health. I’m high risk for skin cancer, and besides slathering sunscreen on my neck, face etc, the shirt covers me well.
• When I swim in our outdoor pool at night, I wear my swimming shorts and a top like this. At night the covering protects me from the cool breezes which used to make night swimming just too uncomfortable. At night I wear a heavy robe to go to and from my house and pool to both cover up and keep warm.
• The “modest swimsuit” also makes it possible to swim when there’s a male lifeguard and the rare occasion when I am at a “mixed swim.” The special swimsuit fabrics provide more modest cover up and better protection from the sun, than a wet T-shirt.