Debate - Raising your kids with religion

[paradise lost]

LOL at the swimsuits! My DD wears a full-body swimsuit because when she's in the pool i want herto stay warm long enough to have a good time swimming and not have to get out shivering after 10 minutes! We are in Scotland though...

One man's modesty is another's shame, that's just perception. DD is very modestly dressed in the pool i suppose but although i hate seeing breastless girls in bikinis i don't actually choose her suit on THAT basis, only on the practical basis of warmth. She does own suits others have bought her which are more bathing suit shaped than wetsuit shaped and i don't veto them, she just likes to be warm too i guess. I mean, i don't like her in pink but she is loving the pink right now and is happy to say so so i don't think i've crushed her inner sense of style...

There is a lot to be said for women covering up. As Brontide points out, rates of self-harm and eating disorders are MUCH lower in countries where most women are covered. Having said that the rates are way higher (though still lower than non-muslim population) among muslims living in western countries, whether they wear hijab/abaya etc. or not. This seems to be because in muslim countries where most women are covered it is well understood that how you look is not who you are, whereas in western countries this is not how society thinks and it is much harder for girls to grow up believing it when they are surrounded by western culture. In all honesty, even though i live in a western country the muslim women i know definitely have some of the healthiest attitudes to their bodies. I can remember complaining about my thighs once to a friend who laughed and said "Who thinks about their THIGHS!?". It's refreshing to be around that sort of indifference to the physical state when i'm otherwise bombarded by the usual rubbish from the media in this country.

Different attitudes, perceptions and beliefs widen the world and it's views. Imagine how dangerous it would be, how narrow and closed, if we all believed or were required to believe the same thing...

Bx