Seen Today at Local Pool

[festive1]

I really wonder how many of these women would wear these types of get ups if they weren't pressured by their culture...

This is an interesting question. My sister is a devout Muslim and wears all black and "nikab" by her own choice. Not only she believes it is must for Muslim women to dress in such a way, but any woman who does not conform to that dress code is a sinner and a "danger" to society. The common belief is that Muslim women wear this because they are forced to by either their family and/or their culture, and while this is partly true; I have noticed that most believe it is a requirement of faith to dress in a certain manner.

Was your sister raised Muslim? I'm guessing yes, as you say you are from Kuwait. How is that anything other than conforming to a cultural norm? Where is the choice in wearing a full body coverup, when failure to do so leads to being rejected or being thought of and treated as unfaithful to the belief system? And the judging of other women, including Muslim women, who do not cover themselves fully... Believing oneself better or more pious, I don't know, it seems like martyrdom.
I'm all for cultural plurality, but a society that pressures every member to conform to such rigid standards seems excessively controlling to me.
@Germans, the Anacostia and Potomac rivers are really disgusting. Dead fish, dirty water, just gross. It's either the pool or nothing. The pool we visited was nice, though the baby pool reeked of chlorine as you mention from all the little kids pissing in it. But they also had a regular swimming pool, diving pool, 3 water slides, a lazy river, and a big kid's pool (which we mainly hung out in). It was a public pool and cost about $15 for all of us, but one could also join a fancy private pool for about $800 a season if one was so inclined.