German public pool bans the burqini, what do you think?

In Iran it's trousers.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/767E/production/_89943303_spongebob_makani_.jpg

Quote:

The story of an Iranian goalkeeper suspended for, reportedly, wearing trousers with a motif similar to the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants raised eyebrows around the world - but the case highlights some of the tensions at play in the country.

According to a committee in charge of policing the morality of Iran's football federation, Sosha Makani's outfit was deemed inappropriate and against Islamic values.

However, committee chief Mahboub Afrasiabi said it was only rumours that Makani was suspended because of the style of his trousers and that the matter would be dealt with after Ramadan.

The issue of Makani's "SpongeBob SquarePants" comes at a time when social media users in Iran have been voicing anger at what they see as the systematic targeting of public figures by the conservative establishment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36501635

0 Replies

This is the notice at the pool's door

Religion, btw, is a more private thing in Germany, especially for civil servants. In that town, about 2/3 of the population is Christian (2/3 Roman Catholic, 1/3 belong to the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Bavaria). The First Mayor, a civil servant, elected for six, is a member of Christian Social Party. One can guess that most members of this party follow Christian ideas, but the membership says nothing about an individual religious affiliation.
Thus, this Mirror headline Burkinis banned at public pool as Christian mayor calls Muslims' swimsuits 'incomprehensible' is misleading.

0 Replies

I can see, for various reasons of modesty, situations where clothes would be frowned upon for being too revealing. Not so terribly long ago the one piece swimsuit was considered the "safe" norm and any kind of two piece was really bordering on the risqué. Forcing someone to wear a garment that shows more than they are comfortable with would not seem to be morally justified.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

I'm happy that I mustn't wear a bathing cap anymore, what had to be done in any pool here decades ago. [One of the reasons that I'm bold Wink

]

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

Mistated my post above. I meant to post, " Forcing someone to wear a garment that shows less than they are comfortable with would not seem to be morally justified. "

Walter: Okay, but what if somebody has a religious conviction that they must wear a cap on their head at all times, so they use a bathing cap to cover that cap. Is it okay to kick them out of a taxpayer supported pool over that?

1 Reply

So long as the swimwear does not do harm to the pool I consider it a private matter.

1 Reply

@Robert Gentel,

I am from Australia and the burquini is banned at most public pools here too. The reason is because the more clothing a person wears in the pool, the more chance of contamination to that pool. Im not sure why this is so though this is what a pool attendant told me at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, which is run by the state thus would be very mindful about "science vs discrimination". We are a very multicultural country with very little discrimination so I would find it very hard to believe anyone would legislate this without good reason.

0 Replies

Seems to me skin cells coming off your body, small sores the person might not be aware of and so much more would indicate that the less clothing you have on the more the possibility of contamination.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

That wasn't the discussion in this case

That it isn't about hygiene was discussed already years ago - it's a totally local thing, regulated by bylaws of the municipality/district as owners.
And for some reason (or none), nearly all have "proper swimsuits" in their regulations.

Similar with public saunas: most have regulations that you must use them naked.

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

I think it is the discussion, actually. As I posted before, "normal" swimwear of decades past looks a lot more like that Burkini than do today's styles. So if religious restrictions require a patron of the taxpayer funded pool to adopt the swimwear styles that were considered normal in the past, whether the Burkini or the bathing cap covering a yarmulke, how can restrictions against them not be anti-religious expression?

http://www.victoriana.com/library/Beach/image/1900swimsuit.jpg

1 Reply

@Blickers,

You can be correct. I read it differently in the only sources (newspapers and other media) from there, and watched a bit in the regional tv-shows (podcast). (I'm 400 km away from that place, additionally, we've other regulations in my state/district/town though they are very similar to those in Bavaria: regulaions are done locally.)

0 Replies

@Blickers,

Blickers wrote:

Walter: Okay, but what if somebody has a religious conviction that they must wear a cap on their head at all times, so they use a bathing cap to cover that cap. Is it okay to kick them out of a taxpayer supported pool over that?

You can wear a cap - until several years ago, you had to wear one.

0 Replies

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

So long as the swimwear does not do harm to the pool I consider it a private matter.

It certainly is.
But unfortunately, a lot is regulated here in Germany with (by-)laws, especially when the place is owned and/or run by the municipality.

0 Replies

@dlowan,

The action (by-law from 1971, revised twice since then) might be unreasonable and counterproductive.

I think, many other of our municipal bylaws in most states are it is well.
And I think, too, that such happens/happened not only there but at other places as well (the discussion had been already been in the early 2000's in nearby Regensburg, where it had bee regulated differently).

I have watched now (today) reports in both local tv-stations (public broadcaster and a small regional tv-station).
Opinions were only by persons from Regensburg, not by locals. I could imagine that there's more and/or something different behind this story. (That town got some prices for integration work, handling refugees .... as well as there had been a lot of 'contra': they got one of the largest accomodation for asylum seekers in Bavaria)

0 Replies

@roger,

Quote:

Did you perhaps mean Bikini? As in Bikini Atoll?

Silly me, a slip in of the tongue. In written arabic (uzbeki) we emblazon, "what's the farq", which translates as difference in german.

1 Reply

@Miss L Toad,

Yeah, and there's a place in Thailand called Phucket, but of course it isn't pronounced the way it looks.

2 Replies

@roger,

Phuket, foiled again.

0 Replies

@roger,

Actually it's pronounced as it looks .... but not, if you are a native English speaker Wink

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

I get my information from Australia. Not clear on what language they're using down there.

1 Reply

@roger,

A lady in our neighbourhood is from Phuket Province.

0 Replies

German public pool bans the burqini, what do you think?

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know