A shocked mum has turned to the internet for advice after fellow parents berated her for wearing a 'sexy' swimsuit to her child's swim class.
The woman posted in popular Reddit forum 'Am I the Asshole', asking if the tankini she wore to go swimming with her six-month-old son was inappropriate.
"For whatever reason, I am typically one of the only mums in the pool with my baby. Most other parents who come have the father in the pool while the mother watches," she explains.
The woman says there was a dad with his baby at the swim class who she greeted as they got into the pool.
"I asked him how old his son was and we made about 30 seconds of small talk before the class started," she recounts.
But she wasn't prepared for the snarkiness of the man's wife, who approached her at the end of class.
"You know, if you are going to continue to swim with husbands and fathers, you should really dress more modestly," the wife reportedly said.
"I was wearing a tankini," the mum writes. "You could see maybe three inches of my stomach. And not that it matters, but I am completely flat-chested with no butt, so it's not like my voluptuous curves were a distraction or anything."
She included a photo of the same tankini for sale on Amazon; a black tank top and high-waisted bottoms.
Caught off-guard, the mum says she simply said: "Thank you for your opinion," and left.
"Personally, I find this ridiculous and an insecurity problem," she notes. "However, I was telling another mum friend about it and she said that maybe I should reconsider my bathing suit moving forward [and] I should invest in a one-piece.
"She then continued that she would be uncomfortable with a swim class that had other women who were showing off too much skin to her husband and children."
The post racked up almost 900 comments with Reddit users leaping to the woman's defence, slamming not only the snarky parent at swim class, but also the woman's 'friend'.
"That tankini is absurdly modest," commented one person. "She really thinks her husband is going to lose control over a peek of your belly button? I think you should invest in something much sexier for next class."
Another agreed adding: "This isn't about swimsuits, it's about territoriality.
"These women see you in the pool with their husbands and feel jealous. Instead of getting in the pool themselves, they'd rather make it your problem. Don't let them. Wear what you're comfortable in."
"It's a baby swim class. For babies. Why is anyone bothered what type of swimwear you're in? All the parents in the pool will be paying attention to their babies, not what the other parents are wearing," another pointed out.
It's not the first time a woman's body has been policed at a swimming pool.
Earlier this year here in New Zealand, a group of Taupō mums protested the wearing of G-string togs at the local swimming pool.
