My mother told me about the first time she brought her (Alabama-based) grandmother to the beach.
Her grandmother hadn’t been to a beach in decades. She’d driven in from Alabama.
Imagine an old deeply religious woman, who grew up in the deeply conservative south, hobbling down a boardwalk and into the sand, probably with a bible in her purse.
And seeing:
Two piece bikinis.
She was nothing short of horrified. And spent the duration of their stay guffawing at the audacity of girls to wear such outfits.
In her time - these were the edge of normal, these outfits considered “wild”.
Two-piece bikinis were “unbecoming”, “pornographic”, “leaving nothing to the imagination”. By her words, you’d have thought the world was ending. That Satan had arrived and reincarnated himself as young girls in teenie weenie bikinis sent to tempt men into sin.
You can’t hold too much fault to older generations. They grew up in a fast-changing world. And sometimes that world becomes unrecognizable right in front of them.
In 1919 - wearing a two-piece bikini would have your neighbors gossiping about what kind of girl you are.
But things have changed quite a bit since 1919.
Women got the right to vote.
Women can serve in leadership and professional roles.
Women now have access to birth control and a louder voice in the world.
It’s been a good 100 years for women. You don’t have to be a hardcore feminist to salute them for that.
Image source Google
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