Blue Mountains City Council in hot water over ‘patriarchal’ thong, G-string ban
One of Australia’s most successful lingerie models has joined the chorus of voices condemning a NSW council’s swimming pool G-string ban.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
One of Australia’s most successful lingerie models has joined the chorus of voices condemning a NSW council’s swimming pool G-string ban, while the council behind the controversial policy appears at odds with others around Sydney.
Playboy cover girl Gabrielle Epstein, no stranger to a two-piece swimsuit herself, said the Blue Mountains City Council’s decision to ban women from wearing thongs and G-string bikini bottoms “feels like unnecessary control over personal choices”.
The model suggested management consider creating “adult-only and family-friendly areas”, rather than “infringing on individual freedoms”.
“While I can’t view this from a family perspective as I don’t have children … I believe policing women’s swimwear is a slippery slope and walks a fine line between maintaining public comfort and respecting personal freedoms,” Ms Epstein said.
“Targeting specific items of women’s clothing feels like unnecessary control over personal choices and perpetuates the idea that women’s bodies need to be “managed” in public spaces, reinforcing harmful stereotypes.
“Public spaces should foster respect and inclusivity without legislating personal choices. Policing what women wear reinforces outdated double standards and shifts the focus away from promoting respectful behaviour toward all women, regardless of their attire.”
Debate over the swimwear policy at several council-run pools in the Blue Mountains has blown up online, where local residents and female commentators labelled it “disgusting” and “absolutely ridiculous” before a post justifying the move mysteriously vanished.
The Facebook post by Blue Mountains Leisure Centres, which manages the area’s five pools as an extension of the local council, was deleted less than 20 minutes after The Daily Telegraph contacted Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill, who refused to back down on the ban as the local MP prepares to confront him over the issue.
The Daily Telegraph contacted multiple Sydney councils and council-run leisure centres after the mayor suggested the policy was standard for many councils, but could not identify another local government with a restriction on thongs.
The Hills Shire’s Waves Fitness and Aquatic Centre in Baulkham Hills confirmed they do not have a dress code for swimwear, while the Northern Beaches Council’s pools are thong-friendly - beyond a request for G-string wearers to sit on a towel in the sauna or spa.
Randwick City Council “don’t have such a rule” at Des Renford Leisure Centre, a spokesman confirmed, while a City of Sydney spokeswoman said restrictions on “approved swimwear” at its swimming pools are “not prescriptive about swimwear styles”.
“Restrictions focus on safety when swimming,” she said.
Mayor Greenhill declined to comment on the backlash but said the policy – which applies at Glenbrook Swim Centre, Lawson Swim Centre, Springwood Aquatic and Fitness Centre, Blackheath Pool and Katoomba Aquatic and Fitness Centre – was longstanding and shared by many councils.
Weighing in on the debate from outside the Blue Mountains, Australian curve model Jess King posted on Instagram to condemn the decision.
“Such a ban implies that the human body – specifically the bum, (which we all have!!) – is inherently inappropriate or sexualised, reinforcing shame rather than promoting acceptance,” she wrote.
Comments on the now-deleted post, meanwhile, included criticism of both the Blue Mountains City Council and the people who complained about female patrons’ clothing before a poster outlining the rules was placed at the entrances to the pools.
“As a Blue Mountains local I’m outraged, this is so disgusting,” Mackenzie Hollow wrote.
“Fashion changes and community standards are inconsistent. So long as practicality and safety are … considered it shouldn’t be any one (sic) else’s business what I’m comfortable swimming in,” Kylie van Riel added.
Joanna Woutersz said the rule reflected a “nanny state gone mad”, while Lailani Ikamui said the policy was “absolutely ridiculous”.
The Blue Mountains Women’s Health and Resource Centre’s “Ending Violence, Improving Equality” group said dress codes had “long been used to uphold patriarchy and enforce gender stereotypes”, sharing memes referencing the “biased” nature of the ban.
Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle said she was aware of the controversy which had “blown up” across social media, but said informal conversations with councillors indicated the wider backlash “doesn’t reflect” views within the local community.
She said the matter was the council’s responsibility, but at least one constituent had raised the issue with her in person to suggest the policy needed to be updated to more modern standards.
“I am meeting with the mayor this week to discuss a whole range of issues, including more important matters,” Ms Doyle said.
“There’s a real divide in people’s opinion on this … we’ve got council meetings coming up and I’m sure the community will be consulted.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Blue Mountains City Council in hot water over ‘patriarchal’ thong, G-string ban
New housing authority to assess more than 40,000 homes
The Minns government’s new Housing Delivery Authority has been bombarded with applications in just three weeks, with the potential for 40,000 new homes.
‘Sack them all’: Outrage as council endorses 40pc rate hike
The Northern Beaches Council has voted to seek permission to slug residents with a 40 per cent rates rise, hours after about 200 furious locals rallied outside its chambers to voice their disgust at the proposal.