Bikinis & Religion

[stringbikinidude]

I'm not very religious, but was interested in reading this thread. It prompted me to remember when I was in 9th grade, I was in my final year of confirmation and one of the activities was a weekend camp. The class was small, maybe a dozen, and of course we segregated boys and girls. The teacher was a man, early 30s. I was the only boy that slept in bikini underwear...one kid the second night ditched the PJs and went with his tighty whities. The others were in PJs, but the TEACHER had conservative bikinis on. (And there's me, 9th grader, wearing string bikini briefs and a cropped Ocean Pacific T-shirt or whatever! )

Which church were you confirmed in? Was it a liberal or conservative church also? Thanks!

[Pennbikini]

I guess I would call it a middle-of-the-road Protestant denomination. Neither too liberal or conservative. Haven't been in years, not because I have any principled objection to the church or anything else, but just because I'm not really into it.

[NoOnesOnion87]

After a lot of thought and soul-searching I have decided to renounce wearing women's underwear. The book of Deuteronomy says that a man who wears women's clothing is an abomination to The Lord. It was a tough decision, seeing as how panties are the most comfortable underwear that I own. I don't want to throw them away, because its such a waste of good, quality underwear. If anyone wants them, please message me, I will be happy to send them to you.

[Undyman69]

After a lot of thought and soul-searching I have decided to renounce wearing women's underwear. The book of Deuteronomy says that a man who wears women's clothing is an abomination to The Lord. It was a tough decision, seeing as how some of the panties are the most comfortable underwear that I own. I don't want to throw them away, because its such a waste of good, quality underwear. If anyone wants them, please message me, I will be happy to send them to you.

That's an interesting choice NoOnesOnion87, I wish I could tell you to send them my way! It would be hard to explain to the Mrs. why I package of used panties showed up on the doorstep!

[Microbikiniman]

NOO, if you don't find any interest from any of the Forum members, here is an idea. If you have a Goodwill store in your area or any other organization that handles clothing for needy people, donate this underwear there. You can help women take a step along in a helpful manner. If you have any other clothing you no longer wear, add it in as well!

[NoOnesOnion87]

NOO, if you don't find any interest from any of the Forum members, here is an idea. If you have a Goodwill store in your area or any other organization that handles clothing for needy people, donate this underwear there. You can help women take a step along in a helpful manner. If you have any other clothing you no longer wear, add it in as well!

They don't re-sell used underwear. They go to be recycled as rags or other materials. The only underwear they re-sell are new with tags.
Of course I may be wrong in that but it has always been my understanding that Goodwill does not re-sell used underwear

[Microbikiniman]

NOO, if you don't find any interest from any of the Forum members, here is an idea. If you have a Goodwill store in your area or any other organization that handles clothing for needy people, donate this underwear there. You can help women take a step along in a helpful manner. If you have any other clothing you no longer wear, add it in as well!

They don't re-sell used underwear. They go to be recycled as rags or other materials. The only underwear they re-sell are new with tags.
Of course I may be wrong in that but it has always been my understanding that Goodwill does not re-sell used underwear

You've got a good point that I hadn't considered. If it winds up having to be recycled, that is still better than going to the landfill.

[OR-Tacoma]

This is a great thread.

Ultimately, each person has to decide for themselves what they want to wear.

However, societal formation has often times had a negative impact on us. We as humans fail to realize that a lot of the way we see the world was shaped by our parents and other forces when we are young. This can be both wonderful and detrimental in some ways, and work must be done to jump out of these neural ruts.

I would say I am a Christian Universalist and appreciate other traditions (Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, you name it). I was raised in a more conservative tradition; though, my entire family never felt comfortable in it and left later when I was a teenager. I have some friends that are far more conservative than I am who are some of the kindest and most empathetic people I have ever met, and I will never wear a thong with them in a hot tub or at a beach. I love God, always have and know that I am loved no matter what I wear, no matter what mistakes I make, thong or no thong, no matter what people think of me—period. (That is my perspective though I know and respect others with differing opinions.)

The following are my own thoughts, and I want people to be true to themselves, their own convictions and opinions: I think there is a lot of nuance around this and it’s going to be different for different situations. For me, I think the Bible is an important collection of sacred Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts, letters, history, and tradition. There is some beauty, mystery, weird, violent, and divine. People were writing these letters and texts based on what they knew at the time. There were also patriarchal powers that omitted texts from the desert mothers, and we may never have a balanced female perspective in the Bible because of that loss. I realize these were said and written in varying historical and geographic contexts meant for different audiences. For some of us, they are an important part of our history and tradition. However, all that being said, I personally do not take each item literally (except to (try) and love God and love one another). Often times these texts are misused (sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally), and they can be used to control and repress rather than liberate and point towards unconditional divine love.

Now, I have experienced and witnessed so many problems with religious authority, so many abuses of power, physical and sexual abuse by clergy, and so many folks in authority with sociopathic tendencies, that I think it’s hard for me to take the church seriously when their own house is not always in order. I’ve had a friend criticize people wearing thongs, and while he had some tremendously good sides, he also had some demons that were pretty horrific that made many people’s lives hell. So, I cannot take his perspective or authority on thongs or masculinity or other things seriously.

However, I think it’s important for each person to be empathetic, aware, mindful, and thoughtful. The world is nuanced, and each person has to decide for themselves what is right—and at the right time. Do they need to defer to their partner, or is this decision a personal boundary you are unwilling to compromise on? There’s also nuance in what to wear in certain contexts. I’m always going to wear a thong every day; though, I might not wear it as swimwear around an area full of families. There’s a time to read the room, and there’s a time to disregard the room and be true to yourself and be honest. There’s a time to listen to your gut , there’s a time to listen to the divine, and there’s a time to say, “I hear this old voice that feels so oppressive and makes me feel guilty; though, it no longer serves me and is no longer true to me.” Ultimately, I think we just need to discern that for ourselves while also being mindful of external cultural forces, and if there’s a need to jump out of those ruts, abandon our hard wiring, and be our true selves and be free. Some people may have a problem with us, what we are wearing, and in the end, that is their problem—not ours.

Part of me thinks if we were all accustomed to wearing skimpy underwear and swimwear, that if some one were thoroughly covered up, then it would be scandalous and considered wrong and against the norm (which is how it is in some Western cultures.) Sometimes I think we are so over sexualized and overly repressed that some things are conditioned into us. What ever happened to self control? We are humans and not a bunch of wild animals that need to be kept caged in.

Ultimately, I do not want people to live in shame, I want people to be free, I want people to be empathetic and kind to one another, and I want people to be free to wear a damn thong confidently.

Anyway, FWIW.