Up, Down, Right, Left, here, there Hashem is truly everywhere.....EXCEPT ON VACATION(right)
Well I hope you havent missed me too much over the last few days.
In this Edition I will discuss my opinion on Frum Girls On Vacation (FGOV).
Preface: I in no way am singling out any specific person that I know. If anyone reading this post takes offense to anything I write I truly apologize, but I am just going based off of stereotypes of what I, and most other people see on vacation. If you fit that description, then you can either take my advice or just completely ignore me.
OK where to start. There are many different types of FGOV's.
Group 1
I will first start with the "I am super religious but still want to go on vacation to a hot place with beaches, so im gonna go out and by new long sleeve shirts and skirts that reach the knees but will look good on a beach" girls. They usually dont have any guy friends with them.
Example
When you head to Miami beach for winter break and you see a group of 4 girls. All sitting on the beach with thier blue and white striped shirts with sleeves to thier wrists. And grey skirts flowing in the wind, and you watching just hoping maybe the wind will blow the skirt up a little more. These girls just want to get a nice vacation on a beach and need to work on thier tans, yet they will never remove this clothing that they have on. If you took a match and lit thier shirt on fire, they would still keep it on in the name of hashem. You can also notice these girls as the ones who will never go past thier ankles in the water. You may think its cuz its too cold but really they dont want thier clothing to get wet and maybe become tight or see through.
Heres my issue with these girls. If you are really too religious to be going into the water, and take a risk of people being able to see your clothes wet, or any part of your skin.
Why the hell are you going to a beach for vacation?
Solution
Just stay home. If all you want is a tan, go in your backyard or central Park for some sun. Why spend money to travel to a place with a beach if you cant really use it. Also, if you really are that religious then you shouldnt feel comfortable going to a beach to begin with. Yes maybe you are covering up and being Tznius, but is anybody else doing this. Miami beach is a topless beach and plenty of young good looking men like myself will be walking around in nothing but a bathing suit. Why put yourself in such a situation that will lead to maybe tempting yourself.
Group 2
This is the next group. The ones that walk around on vacation with a skirt on, and sleeves hovering around the elbow but by the time the trip is over the sleeves have become just a bit shorter to help with that tanline. This group usually is traveling with guys or meets up with them at some point.
Example 1
This is the girl that we have all grown to love have we not. The frum girl just waiting to go wild. Everytime shes with her friends wearing less clothing she just wishes she can be like them, but holds strong cuz she doesnt want her other more religious friends at home to find out. While on the trip with her friends she will wear a bathing suit under her outfit. If the time comes to actaully go into water then we have 2 options here.
1. Some decide to go with the Surfer shirt and long board shorts
2. Some decide to keep on the full outfit.
But once are out of the water they will make sure to get changed back into dry clothing as to not show off too much of thier body.
ISSUES:
In case number one, I dont mind that you want to stay covered, I respect that to a point.
BUT, when you put on those swim shirts, you dont realize how tight they get when you get out of the water. They show pretty much every curve of your body. So I am not sure what Tznius you think you are preventing, in fact it could even be worse then just wearing a tshirt.
For the girl who keeps her skirt and shirt on while going in the water, I have nothign against it except for the fact that I think you look like a retard. Why is someone going swimming or going to relax in a hot tub while wearing a long skirt and a long sleeve shirt. People are going to think you are an alien or something, and are allergic to water. May as well put on a pair of socks so I dont get turned on by your toes. Some people do have toe fetishes, just sayin.
Example 2 (same girls fo Group 2)
This example is when these group 2 girls are on a trip with just other girls. OR they are with guys and girls but have a separate time with just girls.
These girls decide that once the boys are not around and we are on a beach or pool with total strangers that hey Now I can just wear my bathing suit. I mean hey I have a great body, why should it stay hidden from the sun right.
Now please explain to me why its ok to turn on a stranger on a beach, who by the way may also be Jewish for all you know, but it is not ok to turn on your freinds? I mean cmon we are guys too, let us see the goods. Or is it that God doesnt exist on a beach when you are with your freinds.
I guess the questions comes down to this.
Why do you cover yourself up to begin with? Is it to be tzniut for yourself? is it to be tzniut in front of people that you know? Or should you be tzniut for Hashem becasue that is what you learned to do?.
If its for yourself i dont understnad how you can ever not be covered up, just because you are on a beach doesnt mean you dont need to watch the way you dress. If its for god, of course the same thing applies unless we go with the original idea of god only existing in non vacation places.
And finally if it for your friends, that us guys cant see you like that, cmon does that really make any sense. If some christian mcchristiansan can see you in a bathing suit then so can Menachem mendel.
So to sum up my view on the issue even though I could prob rant on about this stuff forever.
In no way am i telling you FGOV's out there how you should act becasue after all who am I that you should be lsitening to. But all I want is for you all to take a few moments and really think about why you dress the way you do on vacations. And this goes both ways.
If you do it truly for religious reasons and dont want to show anything I respect that. And if you truly believe that you can show skin I respect that as well.
But for you inbetweeners that I beleive are confused with who they think they should be. Think about it. Just becasue my friends at home would look down on me for wearing a bathing suit, is that really a reason to not do so, even though you would feel comfortable in one. Or Just becasue you are with friends who are wearing less, is that a reason to wear less to jsut fit in.
Im all about not being fake and staying true to who you are. Obviously finding out who you really are is a long and rough journey that some of us may never fully accomplish, but at least we can try and put in some effort.
And obviosuly I hope you all know what my true opinion is.
The less clothing the better!!!!!!!!
Gotta love my Jewish Girls Gone Wild.
AC
WOW,
ReplyDeletethis is one controvercial post....
therefore i'm not even going to open my mouth, except to say that honestly, im a little disappointed.
Everyone is entitled to wear/do what they want (for religious reasons or others) and others that dont know them are in no place to throw judgement around.
That being said, i still like u.
ok avi, first of all i really like both of your touching messages at the end of this post. especially the whole part about girls wearing less.
ReplyDeletenow for the meat of your post.
with group 1, i dont see what your issue is. because they are no taking off their clothes they shouldnt go out and enjoy the beach and nature and all the wonders of the world that God has created? i don't agree with your reasoning at all. including the part of not tempting yourself, now you sound like all the charedi rabbis who tell guys and girls to walk on opposite sides of the street because other wise you might come to tempt yourself. come on, get real and have more faith in people.
for group 2, example 1- there is something to be said about trying. that people want to cover up but that they want to enjoy the water as well. in this case i would like to take the positive view point of they are trying to do the "right" thing and lets give them credit for that. and who cares if they look stupid, if they don't care why should you?
now for group 2, example 2- i agree with you, it makes no sense no matter how you look at it.
well keep the posts coming, they are fun to respond to
To respond to these 2 posts and some messages I have recieved personally.
ReplyDeleteLike I stated in the actual post, what I write here is not to actually tell you how to act. Cuz to agree with you all, who am I? Why am I better than you.
Trust me Im not. We all pick and choose, and if someone wanted to examine me they could obviosuly find some faults in things that I do.
You have to realize that yes MOST of the things that I right are my true opinion, However a lot of things are being exxagerrated here for comedic affect.
JoSF - if you read what I wrote about Group 2 example 1, I wrote exactly what you said. I do respect them I just thnk it looks wierd. That is in no way me telling them to do that. If thats what you feel comfortable doing, please go ahead and do that, all im saying is dont be surprised if people are talking about them looking wierd.
And with group 1. You are right noone should be withheld the pleasures of the world such as a beach. But Im saying maybe try to go to a private beach or one where you know there are not going to be topless women. And no i am not like a charedi rabbi, but how can you say that girls who never hang out with men, who go into a beach situation in Miami will not be tempted to look at things or try things that they will regret later. Im not saying that those acts are inherintly wrong themselves. I just think that those girls themselves think it is wrong and therefore should not do this. Obviously I dont find anything wrong with it, which is why i always go to the beach.
And again as long as people feel comfotable doing what they are doing, go ahead and continue, dont let me stop you.
no need to get defensive AC, i'm just bringing another view to the topic
ReplyDeletethis post will not win you any friends! jokes. but really avi!? leave the fgov out of it! they are confused enough!
ReplyDeleteMaybe they don't feel comfortable enough to disrobe for you because you are asking them to "turn you on" and "show you the goods." Why don't you just let them enjoy their vacation and have a good time?
ReplyDeleteCohen, if you're going to get defensive when people give you shit for writing crazy stuff, you shouldn't write it in the first place.
Either own that shit or loosen up.
Also, proofread.
Yes Abbie road, start getting FGOV to stick. It will be legendary.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mark I agree with you in the fact that I should not get angry at the comments, I realised that later that they also have the rights to thier opinions.
The only I dont like is for people to misinterpret what I write.
Im not actually asking them to turn me on and show them the goods for me, that was written as a comedic factor.
Also proofreading is overrated.