Jane Trask: Undies, undies, undies, TOGS!

Mums can wear small togs too, says Jane Trask. Photo / Getty Images

COMMENT

We have spent years battling to get acceptance for mothers to be able to breastfeed in public and so when I read the article titled "G-string debate splits Taupō swimmers, mum calls for ban at public spots", I was shocked.

Are we seriously now debating another part of women's bodies, which really has nothing to do with anyone else other than themselves?

The debate started last week after a Taupō resident posted her concerns on social media about potentially banning what she found to be offensive swimwear.

I'm not going to lie, when I read the article I was lying on a beach in Hawaii, you guessed it, sunbathing in my Brazilian swimwear.

Revealing underwear advertisement campaigns are accepted on billboards, in flyers and in magazines, as are males walking around with no shirts on.

Perhaps men should be told to cover up at local swimming spots as well? I might find a nipple offensive.

Naked children are accepted on our shorelines, so what really is wrong with a little female butt cheek?

My whānau spends a considerable amount of time at the beach or lake during the summer months. I live for sunshine; I love summer and everything that comes with being out in it.

Hello. I'm a mother, and I wear Brazilian bikinis. (I feel like I'm at an AA meeting for the first time, confessing to wearing skimpy swimwear.) I wear them because I find them comfortable.

I'm not debating that wearing more revealing togs should be for everyone, but it struck a chord when I saw women dragging other women down over something as minor as swimwear.

When the world has bigger fish to fry like the Australian bush fires, or potential threat of World War III, why are we talking about this?

I think there is a time and a place for a whole range of swimwear. While I wear my Brazilian bikini at the beach and lake for maximum sun-protected tanning, I choose more conservative togs when going to a public swimming pool.

My boys are growing up seeing that a mother's body is normal. That a mother's body has jiggly bits, scars, stretch marks, excess weight and skin imperfections.

I'm not about to tell another woman what to wear; rather I think it's about time and place and suitability of the clothing in question.

If I had a daughter, would I let her wear Brazilian togs?

I'd probably answer that question with the same reply as I tell my sons when they ask about getting tattoos or driving motorbikes. "Not until you are at least 25," is my standard answer for everything.

I guess age and appropriateness have something to do with this debate.

Models and media images portray unrealistic expectations of what women should look like in skimpy swimwear and instead of just using an average normal woman.

In my wider family, my parents, siblings and extended family have all seen me in my Brazilian bikini.

As a dancer and as a mother I am comfortable enough to wear these togs, in fact, I've been wearing them for the past 10 years and I didn't realise until reading this article that people still found the style such a new trend.

Perhaps it is in little old New Zealand. If you go to any popular beach in Australia, Europe, the United States or South America to name a few, these Brazilian style bikinis are more often than not, the norm. As are men wearing Speedos. Are they offensive too?

Carmen Hall wrote in her editorial "G-strings are for the bedroom, not the beach", that she was "worried about the impression it is making on young girls."

Behaviour and role modelling is important to me and yet wearing a Brazilian style bikini doesn't worry or concern me at all.

I see parents letting their young daughters under the age of 10 wear bikinis (which I think is far more inappropriate) and I worry more about the sun damage. My children spend their entire summer covered in wetsuits, rash vests and board shorts; they know that as children, my expectation of them is to be covered up to protect them from the sun.

Some women show more of their breasts in conservative bikini tops than the amount of skin showing in a Brazilian bikini bottom. They aren't trying to necessarily "show their breasts off" they have just chosen to wear what they have chosen to wear.

Women have enough self-doubt, body image issues and critical perceptions of themselves and what others think, so for women to attack each other for wearing less fabric than someone else, I think that is sad.

Behaviour for me is far more important and/or detrimental than merely wearing a slightly more revealing bikini. It comes down to personal preference, comfortableness and parental guidance.

I am still covered, nothing falls out, I'm merely tanning the outer areas of my bottom and I'm comfortable with that.

I don't think you can tell someone what they can and cannot wear; instead, I just hope that my boys continue to grow up respectful and not only thinking drop-dead gorgeous airbrushed models are wearing skimpy clothes and that their mum can feel enough body confidence to rock smaller togs that allow for more tanning.

I'm not saying that these Brazilian togs will suit everybody (no pun intended); I'm just as happy to rock a high-waisted full-coverage bikini or full piece togs, depending on the water activity.

When I'm surfing or wakeboarding, I'll wear a wet suit and a rash vest, but if I'm just hanging out with my children and my husband minding my own business on the beach, then I don't see why women can't make their own decisions about their swimwear.

I guess we just have to gauge the situation and the people and places we are with at the time. In the meantime, instead of focusing on what someone else is wearing, I recommend focusing on your family and the fun you are supposed to be having.

Not everyone will agree with me and I'm okay with that.

While there may be a time and a place for wearing Brazilian swimwear, there is definitely a place in my wardrobe. Because when I'm at the beach, it's all about family and our time together.