Monday, October 05, 2009

Bikinis for Adults Only?

Snohomish County City Council Chairman Mike Cooper is trying to find a way to get rid of the bikini huts in Everett, Washington.
“I’m going to stop talking about bikini huts and start talking about nearly naked,” Cooper said last week. “Our code allows them to wear bikinis. There are some people who think we ought to do something about bikinis. We can’t.”

Currently, a business in Snohomish County is considered adults-only if 25 percent or more of its business comes from adult entertainment or products. In theory, that wouldn’t apply to coffee stands, even if patrons are attracted for other reasons.Cooper equated that with an “unenforced R-rating.”“I would say they’re marketing other things besides coffee, so we’ll take out the 25 percent loophole,” he said.
Let me get this straight. Even if there is no nudity, no sex for money exchanges, the mere fact that women are wearing bikinis when serving coffee constitutes adult entertainment?

This is insane on a number of levels. Does this make a public beach "adult entertainment' since some women are wearing bikinis? What about drugstores which sell condoms, or convenience stores which carry Playboy magazine? It appears that the removal of the 25% loophole would prohibit anyone under 18 from entering a Walgreens or a 7-11.

Little Johnny, you can't go to the pool today because a lot of the people there are "nearly naked".

The Everett City Council already passed an ordinance prohibiting women from baring their breasts in public -no word on how this new law affects breastfeeding mothers. If these people could ban the wearing of bikinis, they would do it.

Once again, authorities pick on the easy targets - women, children, small business owners, and the poor.

And what about male nipples? Men have breasts, too, and women find men's chests attractive. Let's put birkas on women and men just to be on the safe side.

It's endlessly fascinating to see people tripping all over themselves on sexual issues, and utterly dangerous to personal freedom when politicians blindly flail at windmills to impress upon the voters that they are heroic soldiers in the culture wars.

Women in Everett need to push back against this unconstitutional government interference in their personal lives. To show solidarity with the bikini baristas, everyone should wear a swimsuit to work one day. OK, it's a little chilly in Washington state this time of year, and businesses have dress codes, but it would be splendid if banks, malls, office buildings and grocery stores were filled with people in their bathing suits.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Next thing is that they want women covered from head to toe. God forbid they see someone topless at a beach, their head would explode.