Why do bikinis fit Conservative women so nicely?

By the title of this post you might be wondering why a blog dedicated to Apologetics and Traditionalism has to do with bikinis fitting. Don't worry, this post isn't about some diet or exercise regimen that a lot of Conservative women must be into these days while gearing up for summer, but rather a different type of fit all together. All Conservatives "know" that Liberals are all about being promiscuous and immodest, but what Conservatives don't realize is the striking inconsistency with their own position. If you stop and think about it, wearing a bikini is the epitome of immodesty and promiscuity, so why do Conservatives (in general) see nothing wrong with bikinis?

As always, the first place to start with is definitions. What many people don't know is that "Catholic" is not a synonym for "Conservative," and in fact true, orthodox Catholicism is not Conservative at all. That's because Conservatism is a secular philosophy that doesn't say anything in particular about faith or morals. Conservatism, as its name implies, is about conservation, namely resisting radical or sudden change. But resisting change of what? That's essence of the problem, there is no benchmark or reference point of what must be conserved: there's only a vague notion that what our parents and grandparents did can only be changed gradually and with caution. But once things have changed gradually and with caution, they become acceptable and effectively the new normal. The alert reader can readily see what this entails: this Conservative mentality can create situations where what is objectively immoral or heterodox from a Catholic perspective can end up being perfectly acceptable by society as long as this immorality and heterodoxy is introduced slowly and cautiously. This takes us right to the heart of bikini issue.

The truth is, bikinis were developed about 100 years ago as a form of pornography, this form of pornography was called “soft core” to flirt with the viewer into getting sexually excited about even more devious images beyond the magazine cover. At the time, and even up to about 30 years ago, everyone was well aware of the original purpose of a bikini, that of a semi-nude woman putting herself on display for money from sexually aroused males. This is more popular than ever today, as nude and semi-nude women are all over tv and magazines, proving the slogan “sex sells”. But this has become so widespread and accepted that people today see no problem with it, including Conservatives. Whether they are living in a Red State or a Blue State, Conservatives take it as a normal thing that wearing bikinis is the thing to do. This has even led to putting bikinis on children at younger and younger ages. And why should they not do that if they see their mother or older sister wearing one? The problem is, Conservatism has blinded most people who are otherwise generally decent people, and that's because Conservatism is a false ideology.

The sad news is, Conservatism has gotten to many good Catholic women, as wearing bikinis is seen as perfectly acceptable in their minds even in the midst of their pro-life activity and being active in their parish. If there is a parish or school event at the pool or beach, you can be guaranteed to see bikinis present. Thankfully, there are a lot of Catholic women who don't subscribe to Conservatism who see the problem clearly, and they've written posts about it (e.g. Here). But, sadly, I've come across some Catholic blogs where the female authors are still in debate about the issue in their own mind, revealing just how entrenched the error of Conservatism is.

As a Catholic, one must be opposed to bikinis, as they're a clear violation of modesty. The original intent of bikinis was plainly about exciting sexual lusts, particularly to make money. No informed individual can deny bikinis are associated with sexual overtones, be they fantasy or reality. This has turned into a general corrupting of morals overall. Some Catholics have pointed out the irony of how a bikini shows just as much if not less than normal women's undergarments, and yet seeing a woman in her underwear is considered lewd and unacceptable while wearing a bikini is not. This is nothing but a mental disorder. There is no acceptable social context in which a woman, especially a Catholic one, should ever wear a bikini. Not only does this strip her of dignity by reducing her to a piece of meat, it leads men into sin and the near occasion of sin. The Scriptures and Tradition are very clear that Christians are required to avoid scandalous behavior that would put others in the near occasion of sin. So any woman wearing a bikini who is aware of this is, in fact, committing sin herself. This is particularly why some Catholics have written articles about why women should keep their bikini pictures off of Facebook and similar sites.

It is plain to see that the acceptance of bikinis has led to more and more revealing casual dressing as well, which is just as serious and can be just as sinful. While there are cultural lines that can be difficult to judge at times, there is still a principle of modesty that exists in virtue of Natural Law and Christianity. Once a woman wears a bikini, she's totally destroyed any principled way to distinguish immodesty from modesty. In fairness, men should not be dressing in a provocative manner either, since they can lead females into sin as well. So a good case can be made that men should not be going shirtless. That said, men are far more visual than women and get sexually aroused a lot easier, so in this case addressing the issue of women in bikinis is far more crucial.