Bikini barista debate missing the point

Published 8:37 pm Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Something’s been missing during the debate and back-and-forth over the bikini barista issue lately, a point that’s become lost in all the noise.

Lynnwood Councilman Loren Simmonds hit the nail on the head during last week’s council meeting, when the city updated its public nudity ordinance:

“I … want to send a message to young women that they don’t have to bare their breasts to be successful,” Simmonds said.

Although society has come a long way in its views toward women in the last 50 or so years, some things haven’t changed. Using young women in bikinis – or pasties or thongs or other skimpy lingerie – to sell coffee is just the latest trend in a long history of women being viewed as nothing more than objects to be ogled. And, unfortunately, some women have bought into this viewpoint in order to earn a living or hold someone’s attention.

Lynnwood’s new nudity ordinances are a start, but now is the time for all of us to step up and say that women deserve to be treated better than this.