The issue for Muslim women is that they are not suppose to be seen dressed improperly by males other than their husbands. They are not suppose to display their bodies to other males. If you read the articles/websites that cmt posted it should become clear to you AnthonyGA.

The term "Muslim" is being used here to describe a religion as diverse as Christianity or Judaism when it comes to such things as dress codes. Just as Hassidic Jews in New York wear a type of dress noticeably different from their Reform and Conservative brethren, so do Wahhabi Muslim women follow a dress code noticeablly different from, say, Croatian Muslim women, many of whom haven't and don't now even wear headscarves, let alone full body covering in public.

It's up to the local community in Riccione to determine whether this idea will be accomodated or rejected. That said, I hope the community of Riccione considers this request very carefully, given that it will send a message about the degree to which public policy (and beaches, particularly below the high water mark, are very public) can be influenced not by what the democratic majority desires, but by the power of the highest bidder.

Would I patronize such a beach? No! I can't explain further, without sounding even more political than I fear I have already.

Whatever the reason for giving Muslim women their own private beach, the same principle still applies. There isn't enough coastline in the world to give every special-interest group its own parcel, and pandering to every demand for segregation is hardly conducive to world understanding and peace.

Also, as previously indicated, this type of extreme segregation of women is not required by Islam; it is practiced only by a small number of Muslims with extremely conservative ways, most of them Arab. I think it is simply a holdover from pre-Islamic policies towards the treatment of women in these cultures.

"There isn't enough coastline in the world to give every special-interest group its own parcel..." except in a theocracy and it appears that there is more than one religious group in the world these days which thinks theocracies are a wonderful idea.

I was under the impression that Italy was no longer a theocracy. But I suppose it can become one again, if the price is right.

If the government a tourist town decides to cater to the superstitions of some group for financial gain then I presume that if the decision is offensive to the voters of that town the legislators will soon be replaced.

On the other hand, AnthodyGA has a very valid point. After all, it was not too very long ago that Southern Baptists asserted that the separation of the races was mandated by the bible and that God ordained White supremacy. Their religious beliefs in that regard were enacted into laws enforcing segregation. I hope no one here would endorse catering to those religious beliefs.

Just because some group drapes their medieval primitivism with the mantle of religion doesn't make it any more acceptable.

On the other hand, AnthonyGA, wouldn't it be interesting if orthodox Jewish women, for whom modesty is also mandated, used that beach as well. I have this lovely notion of the two groups of women chatting, their kids playing together...

I have a lovelier vision of everyone being able to live together without building walls to separate them.

well I guess we can all agree that there are just two sexes and if that one part of beach is segretated only between the two it shouldn't be a problem. It is when religion and other causes get in the mix that it would be problematic, imho.

I'm against the idea, as I have always viewed beaches as a public area. I can see people damanding privacy from the opposite sex in traditionally "private" matters like toilets, but not in what should be a public area.

And to answer Anthony's question about what happens when there is an accident - I presume the women will be allowed to drown with dignity rather than be defiled by having a paramedic look at her. That's pretty much what happened in Saudi Arabia when there was a fire at a girls' school, the girls were allowed to die rather than be rescued because they did not have their head scarves on.

There are only two sexes, and there are only about three races, so it's only an additional step to start segregating by race again, too.

I've never understood why restrooms are segregated by sex. Indeed, there are quite a few unisex restrooms in Europe; and in Europe, one sex may use the other's restroom in the event of overcrowding or if one restroom is out of order … whereas Americans are afraid they'll be struck by lightning if they dare to attempt this.