The Olympics, Swimsuits and My Nagging Need to Analyze
Swim suits…*sigh*.
Since we read a book called “The Public Undressing of America”, we’ve been convicted about the irony of modesty as it relates to swimsuits. It basically goes like this: if we view modesty in light of loving and protecting others by dressing in a way that makes it easier for them to keep from stumbling, (in addition to the command given to US to dress modestly), then protecting my brother doesn’t change if I’m at the pool or the beach.
And, if I would feel weird going to the neighbor’s house for dinner in a swimsuit, why doesn’t it feel weird near the water? Did his perception of the human body change because of the water? Just an honest question that MUST be answered.
But that’s really not the topic, per se. It’s the Olympics. Since we don’t watch much T.V., I hadn’t seen any of the Olympics until tonight at my parents’ house. I have just as deep a patriotic vein as anyone…I get all teary-eyed at the proud gold-medalist from the USA weeping through the Star Spangled Banner. So I try to, you know, like the Olympics, although my tendency to over-analyze everything compels me to think that they are just another reminder of how we worship athletics…but I digress, again.
We’re watching the diving competition. I don’t know, I had trouble. Am I weird? It bothered me. Yes, they are one-pieces. And to some would be considered “modest” swimsuits. But my children were taking it all in, and I couldn’t help this knot in my stomach.
Particularly when the diver turned around backward, bent down placing her hands on the board (I’m sure this has a name 
then slowly did a hand-stand while doing the splits in the air.
Is this normal for us to watch? Should we be viewing this part of a woman’s body, in this position, for this long?
My Dad turned the channel. I guess he, too, sensed that it didn’t feel right. Does it matter that it’s wrapped up in a red, white and blue suit, worn by an athlete that has devoted her entire life to this moment? Is this compromise, for me and my children to watch it and suppress the weird feelings? (By the way, hubby has gone on a trip so he wasn’t there.)
Touchy subject, I’m sure. I’m just sorting through my thoughts.
I’ll save the sprint-relay-team attire for another day.
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August 21, 2008 9:55 pm
This is something I struggle with too. I have two teens that are of course beautiful and I have taught them to be modest. But what is it about the magical water that causes our guards to be down? I end up sewing tops closed and requiring little swim skirts. But even for all my trying I still feel like I’m sending my little pure, spotless, lambs in for the slaughter. Let’s go back to when bathing suits covered everything and then some!!!
The divers are not near as bad as the volleyball players and runners!!!
To be honest I usually don’t get into sports, but I’ve really gotten onto the swimming races this time. One night one of the guy’s swim wear was so low…well I was a appalled.
But what has really been bad has been the volleyball players.
Now it’s been a LONG time since I’ve watched anything even close to this ( I like baseball and football) but when I saw the female runners, I honestly couldn’t believe what they were wearing. Where were the shorts and shirts?
Do you know the origins of the Olympics? If I remember correctly most of it, if not all of it was done in the n*de.
/ Not surprising.
Yes, I agree with you that being near water does not make it OK to be practically n*de. Would we walk around in a bra and underwear publicly?
Are we in each other’s heads, or something? I feel the same way…
Holly
I’ve never been into the olympics. If Mr. or Ms. “so and so” wins a particular medal, who cares! It’s never been my thing.
As for swimsuits in general, I have never given this topic much thought until VERY recently. It’s something that I will have to pray and meditate upon.
My daughters and I were watching and mt 14 year old commented about the same moment that you wrote about. I was thinking it but she verbalized it first. You are not alone.
And Kathy’s right. We couldn’t even watch the beach volleyball, the suits are beyond skimpy!
I agree that there’s a great dichotomy among Christians once the water comes into play. Before I was married, a woman I know thought my shorts were too short at mid-thigh (and they were!), but she thinks that a 1-piece suit at the pool is modest!
From the beginning, when we changed our standards of modesty to mean that the knee and above were covered and nothing tight or low-cut, that applied to swimming also. The few times my kids have gone swimming at a hotel pool with my parents, my 6 yo son has worn knee-length shorts and a T-shirt, and my younger daughters have worn nightgowns/dresses that hit below the knee with leggings underneath. There are, of course, sites that make modest swimsuits to sell as well.
We haven’t had a television in 6 years or more. I used to love to watch gymnastics and figure skating all the time, and the water sports at the Olympics, but I wouldn’t be comfortable with that now. I opened a news article about Michael Phelps and was quite shocked at how low his swim bottoms set on his hips; they were a couple inches below the jutting bones in front! Last I watched swimming was back in the days of full-body suits.
So, no, we personally would not watch people swim or do gymnastics or any other sport when wearing so little attire.
I know, I let my little kids watch the Olympics and I felt really bad afterwards about the attire that they had seen. I wish I had just turned it off, too. No more!
I feel your pain … LITERALLY! I’m a Jamaican, so you already know that track is REALLY BIG in my neck of the woods, but I miss the days when I could pick up the newspaper and not have to blush. Nakedness and self-glorification abounds at these games…but the latter is another story.
Someone already said it, but I can tell you don’t watch much TV if you didn’t include the beach volleyball players in this post! Gee whiz!
I actually didn’t think of the divers, but when I was watching beach volleyball, I thought to myself, “If I were a professional volleyball player, I’d try to find a one piece and shorts to wear so my hiney wouldn’t be hanging out!”
The female swimmers have it more under control… many of them wear the suits with high tops and long legs… although if skimpy suits made them more aerodynamic, I’m sure they’d be wearing them!
The LZR suits that the swimmers are wearing are pretty modest. I think if I had $500 for a swimsuit I might get one myself.
My dd is a gymnast, so that is something I am concerned about. Should the time come where she gets that far, we might have her wear tan leggings underneath so that she’ll be covered. We’ll be having her wear shorts over her leotards for now.
I think the runners and volleyball players should attempt to cover up more… as well as the divers. It’s not going to really change the quality of the dives much by doing so.
You guys have already mentioned this, but I want to comment on the women’s beach volleyball attire. It is way too skimpy, but what about the double standard there. I expected to see the men’s volleyball team in equally skimpy Speedos. No, they are wearing loose-fitting shorts AND even shirts! Don’t get me wrong. I am so, so glad that they are covered! I just think it’s sad that the women don’t cover accordingly.
My thoughts EXACTLY. The whole thing. I had to check to make sure I wasn’t reading my own post.
Anyway, I’m gonna link to this article from my blog. Thanks for bringing this up!
As an FYI, the Phelps scene where you could see waaaay too much? I believe he did have a top on his swimsuit but had pulled it down by that point.
I grew up with 3 brothers and my dad and while I was encouraged to be modest, I thought very little of male n*dity. My brothers just never wore shirts!
A friend of mine said she never saw her brothers without shirts (of course she lived where it’s cooler) but it made me start thinking.
I haven’t really said much about it, but my dh has told me that his body is for me and he’s going to keep it covered around other people. That really makes me feel special!!!
And it makes me see males without shirts a totally different way (they walk through our neighborhood daily multiple times, trying to ‘tan’ on their way to a local gas station to buy snacks). They really are “advertising” in their own way … a startling conclusion for someone who considered it “normal” for so long! :[
Now when my brothers are around me and shirtless and with half of their underwear showing I just feel really disrespected.
We don’t have TV but have seen some of it at the in-law’s. It is uncomfortable to watch . . . . and in a way seems so pointless!
Ashley
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/Jonash2004
I’m sure everyone will attest to this…but isn’t it amazing how desensitization plays in to the issue of modesty?
I know when I’m away from the television for a longer period of time and then we watch it at someone’s house (usually family), I feel so much more uncomfortable than I used to remember feeling. Commercials, shows, whatever is on, really jumps out if I’m not used to seeing it.
Usually the others in the room don’t seem to think much of it.
And for my children, that’s a big deal. We obviously can’t shelter their eyes from everything around, but we can (and in my opinion, should) when we have the choice.
I’ve heard men tell of the profoundly destructive effect viewing certain images at young ages had on them. Not “pornography” as the world would see it, but “innocent” things like magazine advertisements. It matters what they see!
Why is it OK if it’s advertisements, or the Olympics, or the beach?
Bothersome.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who thinks this way!
We don’t have a TV hooked up (just a monitor and DVD/VCR) so we haven’t watched any of the Olympics.
My husband has kept up with the “news of it/medal count” online but we have tried to even be careful looking at the news.
I think it’s great that you question these things… I have said this very same thing about swimming and people look at me like I’m weird.
My kids are hilarious…. they call people naked if they aren’t wearing a shirt or if they aren’t dressed modestly and I didn’t even teach them this. We haven’t talked a lot about modesty yet.
But I have actually had to shush them a little so as not to embarrass anyone.
Once I even put on an OLD Roy Rogers movie for my boys and there were ladies in the OLD FASHIONED bathing suits. My son said “Mommy, they aren’t dressed nicely”.
It ought to say something about how we think BEFORE we are desensitized.
Chiming in with the beach volleyball comments!
I’ve had a lump in my throat ever since the Olympics started this year, with how much skin is being broadcast across the globe. It really upsets me for my husband to see that. He has a choice not to watch it, but it’s readily available for any person to flip on the TV and see.
I was at a friend’s house last night for a get together. Towards the end of the meeting she flipped on the “games” and the women’s diving had just begun. There is a young single guy who boards with their family and he came in to the room to chat right when the diver was taking position to do the handstand on the board. I was so embarrassed to be in the same room with him while she was sticking her barely-covered rear in the air…..
P
Thank you for posting on this topic (found you from a link on Ladies Against Feminism). We need to keep fresh in our hearts and minds the things that are pure, right, good, lovely, excellent, praiseworthy, that encourage our love for God and for our neighbor.
Blessings!
I looked around the net and found quite a few more people shocked/upset by the outlandish display of immodesty in the “games”.
One comment I read, that I’m always
thinking to myself was, “Is it just religiosity that defines a level of modesty? Should there be no expectation that an athlete in the limelight might have a certain standard of coverage under the umbrella of professionalism?”
I don’t think modesty should be limited just to the believer; I think obviously a Christian and non-Christian would have different motivations for modesty, but once upon a time, it was just the right, natural thing to do to cover up your body.
(Hmmmm….”they have become like brute beasts…” Doesn’t the Bible talk about the inability of people to even conceive what is natural?)
After studying Greek history, I am all set with the Olympics. And the fact that they are in China…where no Bibles are allowed and Christians are severely persecuted makes me not want to watch that much more. In my opinion, America should have boycotted the Olympics in China. But that has nothing to do with modesty!That would be another reason we do not watch it.
I am not anti-China, as in boycott anything to do with them. We have some very dear friends that are missionaries over there and they tell us a lot and it has caused a soft place in my heart for China’s people. I can tell you there is a great work being done there. There are many, many Christians there. Yes, their government is wicked but America’s isn’t far behind at the rate we’re going. The people need to be saved and educated then perhaps, if it be God’s will, things may be different for them one day.
There are missionaries there laboring, let’s be sure to pray for them.
Back to modesty, there should be a code. I wonder if the nudity was this bad in the 2000 or 2004 games?
I’m going to be the dissenter here on the subject of the swimsuits for the actual swimmers. I’m referring strictly to the racing. Swimming is strictly about being the fastest to cover the distance, and what swimmers wear is designed for only that purpose, to help the swimmer go faster. Frankly, with the men wearing the full-body suits now, it can almost be hard from the overhead view to tell whether swimmers in the pool are male or female!
Certainly the suits are tight. Again, the purpose is to help the swimmer be the fastest. Neither male nor female swimmers present themselves or are being presented in a sexual way; they come on the deck in warmup suits and then put those back on after the race and shower.
Yes, I think someone could view a swimmer sexually after watching her (or even him)- however, someone who’s bent on viewing a woman in that way can do that whether that woman is wearing the skimpy bikini of beach volleyball or the covering-all clothing of a fencer, or anything in between.
Kathy,
Thanks for admonishing us to pray!
Since I haven’t watched it, I haven’t thought much about the “missions” aspect.
I am certainly not anti China as in not supporting the missionaries and Christians. I am against the persecution that takes place in China against their people and Christians. We should hesitate to support their economy by hosting the Olympics there, but of course we should be praying for them as well. Just thought I would clarify
boy are you thinking what i am! i don’t have a tv but after reading a blog from a non christian whose dh was ogling the girls on the volleyball team i looked at the picture. i was shocked!!!!!
i want that book you read very much but alas the budget isn’t right for it right now lol
Funny you posted this, I actually STOPPED watching the Olympics because it seems that the idea was to dress all of the girls as if they were in a porn or stripping.
I was shocked at the beach volleyball outfits. Are you telling me they are UNABLE to play to the same level without having nearly nothing on. I played volleyball, you dig, you dive you fall. You mean I should have worn a thong and a bra and THEN I would have made Olympic gold.
It was the same, only the girls. I think it is very sad in this day of EMPOWERMENT for Women that the women athletes have to dress like strippers to get anyone to pay attention to their achivements. Don’t see the guys saying, yeah I am a great runner, but I will be a better runner with more fans in a thong.
I can’t even take my kids to go swimming because it seems that EVERYONE feels they are a gift that they must unwrap for us all to see…whether they have a beautiful body or not.
Sad.
Many Blessings
Ace
Do I agree with how you feel. I think the women’s volleyball was the worst! They claim that the sand is the problem. However, has anyone noticed that the male outdoor volleyball players were wearing long shorts and full tee shirts. How come it’s not a problem for them. Also, the gold medalists come out holding hands and when they win a game, they fall on top of each other in the sand. How can this be anything other than “making a scene” or should I say ‘OBSCENE’! It’s way overboard and it is offensive! Believe me – we are in the minority, I’m sure!