Girl's Camp

My blogging friend Sarah posted about her excursion to a water park in Israel that has separate hours for men and women.

She writes:

The park has separate hours for men and women, so we could all walk around in our bathing suits, disturbing neither our religious sensibilities nor any "body image" issues. I know it sounds quite Victorian to a lot of people to have separate swimming hours, but you know what? It was so comfortable. There were women and girls in all manner of swimwear: some in bikinis, some in one-piece suits, some with a t-shirt over the bathing suit, some in dressrobes or swimdresses that almost completely covered them. And no one cared. It couldn't have mattered less to anyone. You don't have to be religious at all to sense how much easier it is for women to completely relax when there are no men around, especially when they are in bathing suits. You'd be surprised by how many non-religious women take advantage of women's hours at beaches and pools.

Coincidentally, I had been thinking about writing a similar post, about all girls camps, since visiting OYD at Camp Sternberg this past Sunday.

Although this was OYD's fourth year at the camp, it was the first time we had a visiting day (camp sessions had been only three weeks until this year). MHW and I came away very impressed and very pleased with our decision to send OYD to an all girls camp.

I don't think you can compare how much less stressful it is for a 14-year-old girl to go to a girls camp rather than a coed camp. Instead of worrying about how their hair looks and getting dolled up every night to impress the awkward, goofy, hormone laden 14-year-old boys, the girls can just relax and have fun.

And, I don't mean this in any religious sense at all (that is a parallel discussion, not for now). I just think girls, any girls, are better off at this age not having to deal with coed relationships that they can't really understand or process. Bottom line: I think the girls at all-girls camps are happier and much more relaxed.