At the Beach

Job 31:1, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?”

Did you ever wonder why Baywatch at one time was the most watched show in the world? Or do you know why? Many men would tune in each week to watch “the action” at the beach. Trust me it was not the acting or the incredible drama they were tuning in for, but the women in bathing suits.

Utilizing women in bathing suits or bikinis has been a ploy of marketers for quite some time now. They use them for selling cars, motorcycles, beer, and just about anything else marketers deem fit for men. If it were not effective then marketers would not be using them anymore, but they continue on.

How many of us have enjoyed a day at the beach? We go with our families or friends and enjoy the sun, sand and water. If not the beach then at the local pool, where you can enjoy the sun and water without the worry of cleaning sand out of every inch of your body for the next week. Have you ever been there with your husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend and start wondering if they are looking a little too long at the opposite sex? Did you start to compare yourself to the body of another?

Why bring any of this up? It just hit me the other day when someone had family pictures on the web. The boys had regular swim trunks on and no shirt and the girls wore regular bathing suits, not bikinis. For some reason it made me think that we have made being half-naked acceptable as long as it is by the water.

I am just thinking out loud and wondering why we make a big deal out of mini-skirts, very short shorts, and a variety of other non-conservative clothes, but when it comes to the water, we do not mind showing off those exact body parts that we say need to be covered during our regular daily lives.

Instead, we just say that a regular bathing suit is alright, but a bikini is too much. When in reality in order to wear the typical bathing suit, you are wearing about half as much as you do on a typical day. Bathing suits covered a majority of the body until the mid-1920’s, and even then it was still covering much more then the average bathing suit does today.

What is the answer? All I know is that most bathing suits today, in particularly among women, leave little to the imagination. No one wants to look at a man in a speedo, that is just, well, eeeeeeewwwwwww, but those are the same for men.

How are we helping each other to protect our eyes and thought life?

1 Timothy 2:9, “Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense. . .”