of modesty & tudungs

earlier i was at the pool for my weekly tan. i felt so weird when i reached there cos there was this muslim family beside all the tanning decks. and amongst the family was this tudung-clad woman. there she was, seated amongst her family, half enjoying the sun and half chatting away happily while her kids frolicked in the wading pool.

and there i was - in my swimming trunks, nothing obscene or suggestive, but i was so suddenly aware of my relative nakedness compared to her fully covered body. for that moment, i did not know how to react. and it was such a weird feeling and contrasting scene cos on all the tanning decks, as usual, were gay men. and some of them wore rather skimpy trunks - eg those with rings by the sides :-)

or was it just me, a non-muslim but highly conscious of muslim values and the respect i give to women who don the tudung who chose to protect their modesty in the name of islam, that made me feel so self-conscious? for that moment, i couldn't make out as to whether my relative nakedness (or for that matter, all the men at the pool) would be seen as an outraged to her modesty or that her presence amongst men in swimming trunks, had made us felt outraged instead.

then again, what is modesty after all? all in the mind, i guess...