Freedom in the water

I recently read that the amount of ‘Islamic hotels’ is increasing in Turkey. No alcohol is served there and there are separate swimming pools for men and women. I don’t really have an opinion about that. I think there’s apparently a market for this sort of hotel, and if there are people who want to enjoy their holidays in that way, well go ahead and have a good time. That’s the live and let live Fréderike. But there’s also a Fréderike who sometimes says: “now this gives me creeps a bit”.

This morning I felt it again. I leafed through Zaman, Turkey’s biggest newspaper, mostly read by Muslims who take their religion seriously. And there I saw an ad for swimwear. You see a family on a beach. Dad in boxer shorts, son in boxer shorts. Daughter in a kind of boxers too, small sleeveless shirt above it. But then mummy! She’s standing next to her family in a rainsuit! Want to see? The suit is online too: on the site of Batmayan Mayo, click on ‘ürünler’, then click on ‘bayan’ underneath the woman in the picture, go right with your mouse and click on the lowest picture that appears. That woman is not going to swim, she’s going to bike in the rain! In the dark I guess, because there are white reflector stripes on the suit. I guess what gave me the creeps was the headline of the ad: ‘Suda özgürlük’. It means ‘freedom in the water’. Safety on a bike I would say! But can somebody give this woman some shoes? Barefoot biking in the rain is not a good idea.