The recent news story (see link
HERE) of a Muslim woman wishing to take her daughters to a local public pool in Nebraska gave me a great idea. A few years ago, I recall a PBS documentary about everyday life in Iran (way before the recent crises between the US and that nation.) One of the more charming scenes was of two upper-middle class Iranian couples water skiing on a lake. Yes the women were in full Hijab (pardon any misspellings) AND were able to waterski! How? An ingenious company there produced quick-drying black nylon outfits and veils for women to wear swimming and for other recreational activities.
Why, I wonder couldn't people in the situation like this woman in Nebraska (not to mention others concerned with modesty - Orthodox Jews, Muslims, Mennonite, etc...) create a market for ultra-modest activewear? Long hiking skirts in ripstop fabric with plenty of cargo pockets, quick-drying, lightweight wrist and ankle-length bathing attire (not unlike a wetsuit but less buoyant), long split skirts with ankle ties for cycling, bicycle helmets with small built-in-veils in back... my idea stream for these items goes on and on.
Honestly, I'm not being sarcastic about this...I used to have a co-worker buddy who was orthodox Jewish. She used to fill me in, over lunches (Kosher, natch) about the ingenoius and creative ways that American Orthodox Jewish women could fulfill their modesty obligations while still feeling fashionable, living in a modern American city like Chicago.
For example, she stated (and I have seen it all over the country) that Orthodox women are obliged to have their heads covered. This was not such a problem when hats were worn everyday by both men and women. With the decline of the hat came...the rise of the wig! Thus some Orthodox women cut their natural hair very short and don a stylish wig - a sort of hair-hat, if you will.
For teenage girls wishing to be cool and casual like their gentile peers, the easiest solution was a long denim skirt for everyday wear. In fact, on casual fridays at work, she'd wear a long denim skirt with a longsleeve tshirt or sweatshirt, as opposed to the dresses she wore the rest of the week.
I admired the fact that she remained devoted to her faith and culture and yet wanted to be part of the group, and managed to assimilate without compromise.
I do understand that all faiths and cultures are different but I wonder if there is a true and genuine deisre to "be part of the community"on the part of an individual with specific dress/behavioral restrictions, as the aforementioned ACLU lawsuit states, that some solution can be created to satisify everyones needs without resorting to the eventual resentment that lawsuits cause. I think somewhere within this dilemma there is a great manufacturing and marketing industry waiting to happen.
