Missouri calls itself the “Show Me” state, but there’s only so much one woman was allowed to show at a water park.
Madelyn Sheaffer took her teenage daughter to Adventure Oasis Water Park in Independence, Mo., hoping to cool off and have fun. Instead, she was kicked out… because she was wearing a bikini. At a water park. Yes, this middle-aged mom was kicked out for wearing a bikini at a water park.
Why? Well, as she tells it, she was approached by park employees when she was in the pool and asked to put shorts on over her bikini. Sheaffer refused, citing that the park was full of other women and girls wearing bikinis the same size as hers. The employees called their supervisor, who reiterated the need for Sheaffer to cover up, this time adding that she needed to put on a shirt as well as shorts. Sheaffer refused again, and the police were called to escort her and her daughter out of the park.
Yes, a 42-year-old mother was escorted out of a water park for wearing a bikini. Yay, America.
Sheaffer is convinced that the reason she was asked to cover up was because of her age and “fuller figure”.
She said: “Just the fact that there were other girls wearing string bikinis – 15, 16, 18 years old – beautiful young bodies, and they are not being told to cover up. I mean, do I have to be 16 and look 100 percent perfect to wear a bikini? Or can I be comfortable in my own skin. Am I allowed to have a matured body?”
Amen to that, mom. Shouldn’t we be accepting of bodies of all shapes, sizes, and ages? Why should one person be asked to put shorts on while others aren’t? I really can’t see what the problem is here. Sheaffer was wearing a string bikini one that covered up everything. Are we that prudish? Or are we now picking and choosing who we want to see in swimsuits?
The thing that makes this story all the more upsetting is the fact that Madelyn recently lost 100 pounds and was excited to finally feel comfortable in a bikini. She’s proud of her body — as she should be; as anyone would be. I imagine being asked to cover up after all her hard work was a serious emotional blow for her. “I am very comfortable from where I once was to where I am today,” she said.
She was a paying customer doing what women have the right to do in the United States: Enjoy themselves, in public, wearing clothing of their choice. She didn’t break any laws, and I doubt she broke any rules, either, considering that wearing a string bikini at a water park is completely and utterly appropriate. This is discrimination, pure and simple, ageism, and sexism wrapped up in the guise of some sort of puritanical ideal of propriety.
Sheaffer also recently lost 100 pounds and says she was finally able to feel comfortable wearing a bathing suit, so that makes the bizarre actions of Adventure Oasis sting, even more, I imagine. I’m glad Shaffer has brought public attention to the way she was treated at the water park. The employees and management at Adventure Oasis need to learn that women’s bodies are not theirs to comment on, to judge, or to cover up.
Watch the video report below for more details:
Source: AWM
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