IN DEFENSE OF "MUSLIM WOMEN'S SWIM TIME"

This past Sunday I went to the Princeton University pool to swim after church. I arrived a bit early, around 12:45. The pool wasn't supposed to open until 1pm. When I walked down into the basement of Dillon gym there was a sign on the door, "WOMEN ONLY SWIM, MEN KEEP OUT." Perplexed, I sat down on the steps outside the pool deck and waited for 1pm.

Not too long after I sat down, I was joined by a diminutive old man in a speedo who pulled a face when he saw the sign, and then sat down next to me. As we were sitting there---speculating to one another about why the pool was closed to men---two other guys in business suits (apparently touring the facility) walked past us into the pool area. Whereupon the lifeguard began yelling, telling them to clear out.

As the lifeguard ushered the two unsuspecting men off the pool deck, a lady in a one-piece suit with wild hair walked up and said, "what's all the commotion?" The old man and I shrugged. Then the lifeguard explained that the pool was closed so that female Muslim students could swim without revealing themselves to any men. This made perfect sense to me, and I was quite proud that Princeton had chosen to respect the wishes of their female Muslim students by setting aside this time. But just as I was about to respond to the lifeguard with this thought, the lady with the wild hair raised her voice and made the following comment; "You know what this is? I'll tell you what this is. This is the institutional perpetuation of the religious abuse of women!"

No lady, what this is... is in fact the freedom of religion and cultural sensitivity being carried out, it's meant to protect all of us from the tyranny of people like you.