[lbo-talk] I say banana, you say bikini (was: those exotic Iranians)

[ravi]

On Jun 29, 2009, at 4:40 PM, Dennis Claxton wrote:
> At 01:22 PM 6/29/2009, ravi wrote:
>
>> So, if my brown "third
>> world" woman mother has certain preferences, say when it comes to
>> bathing attire, that do not gel with what the West prefers, then she
>> is exoticising herself.
>
> Nobody, except you maybe, said anything about gelling with Western  
> preferences.
>

Wearing bikinis as bathing attire is a Western preference. People go  
bathing in the sea in Madras. They don't wear bikinis. They don't,  
AFAIK, yearn for the freedom to wear one.


> The question is what are the ramifications of legal codifications  
> surrounding e.g. clothing and sex/gender segregation.
>
> I don't get why people think it's unusual to ask such questions.

Indeed! There is no reason at all to question the motivation of  
questioners or characterise the act of questioning (as "exoticising",  
etc).

	--ravi