In Reply to: you know posted by dennisc on Monday, 31. December 2007 at 11:27 Bali Time:
When we first went to Bali in '83 it was common for the Balinese women, especially the more traditional older ones, to be topless when in their family compounds & village areas. This is still the case in less touristy areas where life is far, far different. When away from their villages they wore tops of some kind.
The point I was making is that over the decades Balinese have expressed to me that they very much dislike & find offensive beach & pool wear being worn in public places - & I concur, both from some small knowledge of their mores through living there & from personal preference.
The original poster wishes to not offend the Balinese inadvertently by dressing inappropriately. I responded to that & added a personal comment regarding what I (and many Balinese, not to mention posters here) find disrespectful & even offensive.
How a person looks is irrelevant - no one has control over their genes & that's not at issue. How a person chooses to dress in a Hindu state with a very strong religion-based culture is at issue.