the double standard: why it frustrates me

Growing up in the Christian community has no doubt brought up the idea of modesty, the double standard and so many other things related to clothing and covering up.

There are two extreme sides to this issue: a very feministic/liberal view (wear what pleases you because you're dressing for yourself and not for attention) and a very conservative view (both girls and guys should wear shirts and shorts when swimming).

But then there is a fight to determine where the best middle ground is.

Is it appropriate to wear a bikini or not?

And if girls shouldn't wear bikinis, should guys have to wear shirts too?

Now, I'm still trying to figure out where my opinion lies.

Personally I don't wear a bikini but that's a personal choice I've made. I'm not going to say that my opinion is right or wrong for you because perhaps you have a different view on things, and that's fine. I think maybe there is a time and place to wear bikinis but generally I would say for me, I wouldn't find it appropriate. Swimwear in my opinion is a tricky thing because just because you wear a one piece doesn't mean that your bathing suit is more appropriate than a bikini. (Some people, I'm just like, you might as well wear a stinkin bikini because it'll cover more than what you're wearing right now).

What annoys me is the fact that in Christian culture, bikinis are banned and guys who are shirtless are deemed acceptable.

Nobody seems to think about that the fact that guys swim with their shirts off might cause girls to stumble as well and to be physically attracted to them more than normal.

Now I'm not diminishing the fact that guys struggle with this more than girls because girls were created differently than guys but I also don't think that takes away the fact that girls find guys attractive as well and some girls have a hard time with lusting just as much as guys do.

I do believe that girls struggle with lusting and the sins that have often been deemed "guy sins" are starting to become more prominent as girls struggle with them in today's culture more than ever before. This is not really discussed because it is like the secret sin that nobody wants to talk about...or it's appropriate as long as we talk about guys struggling with it. (Because that's somehow "culturally normal").

A girl would never be addicted to porn would she?

Now, that's getting off the topic a little bit, but it does relate to the fact that girls have struggles too and telling ONLY the girls that they can't wear bikinis and letting the guys wear whatever they want is stupid.

God forbid guys to be able to stand there looking all 100% attractive with no shirt on while girls look like a wet rag while they wear a t-shirt over their bikini.

I want to follow God's command and not cause guys to stumble and also to honor my body since it is a temple of the Holy Spirit. For me, I don't wear bikinis because I don't deem it appropriate.

However if someone has a solid relationship with Jesus  Christ and they want to wear a bikini that they feel is appropriate and covers themselves up the way they want too, then I think that is better than a girl wearing a one piece and complaining about how they have to do this because guys struggle and in the process are flaunting their body.

My main point in bringing this up is not to find a solution to the double standard because I don't think we will ever find something that will make everyone happy.

 I just wanna end by saying and making the point that we cannot diminish the fact that girls always have been struggling with similar things as guys it has just never been discussed before.

There are many girls who have fallen into lusting, porn and other sexual sins but they don't know how to get help.

What are your thoughts?