Neat article about an observant Muslim woman, an avid scuba-diver, who designed her own line of modest and (this is key) functional swimwear. Bonus: It's UV-protective!
When Shereen Sabet made the decision to become a more devout Muslim, she was ready to adhere to the religion's modest dress code: A woman must wear clothing to cover her entire body, except for her face, hands and feet, in public.
Then another thought entered her mind: "But wait a minute, I love to go swimming and snorkeling and I'm a certified scuba diver. Can I still do those things and abide by the dress code?"
I don't agree with devout Muslims that women — or anyone for that matter — should be made to abide by such a restrictive dress code. It certainly doesn't accord with my view of the dignity of the human person. But it's wonderful that people are finding ways to make the clothing less restrictive in function.
Hiking pants and swim caps didn't fare well, either, so Sabet, a microbiology scientist at Cal State Long Beach, decided to start a line of Halal swimwear, called Splashgear. The idea was to create swimsuits that would conform to the Muslim dress code, but also be comfortable and fashionable….
"I understand most people are accustomed to not seeing a lot of clothing on the beach or in the water," Sabet said. "We don't want to look like freaks or stick out like sore thumbs for being so covered up on the beach, but I wanted to help make water activity accessible to Muslim women."
That last point is key. Muslim women and girls live with serious dress code restrictions, sometimes by choice, sometimes by coercion. This doesn't have to mean that they must live with restrictions on their physical activity. To open up swimming to conservative religious communities like local (mostly Somali) Muslims, my local YMCA has experimented with women-only swim hours and swim lessons (generally early in the morning); they can do this, because they're a private organization, but most public pools and exercise facilities can't legally institute "separate but equal" hours. I often see women and girls in our pool wearing T-shirts and pants — soggy, awkward, restrictive, possibly unsafe and technically against the posted rules, although I've never seen a lifeguard order them out ("ONLY SWIMWEAR IS ALLOWED IN THE POOL").
bearing blog 