A shimmy, a shake and a whole lot of groovin'

With threats of torrential rains and thunder showers looming overhead, I got my first taste of a street parade with the Geneva Lake Parade ... four hours of shimmyin', shakin' and groovin' people parading around town at a snail's pace, displaying all kinds of incredibly sculpted, waxed and tanned bodies; flabby, saggy, bulgy but proud bodies; impossibly high heels; feathers; lingerie ... you name it. It was a good show, though surely nothing like the ones in Zurich, Berlin or Rio de Janeiro, and the crowds were out in full force lest they miss part of the action.

Summer in Geneva is interesting, particularly with a notable change in the city's demographics, aka the arrival of hundreds of Middle-Eastern summer residents, the vast majority of who don beautiful head scarfs, if not the full only-see-your-eyes burkas. A friend of mine recently recommended a book that looks absolutely fascinating, entitled "Who speaks for Islam: What a billion Muslims really think", and talking a good bit about gender perspectives in the two cultures. To cite just one thought-provoking quote that he threw out there:

"While Westerners still often see the veil as a symbol of womens' inferior status in the Muslim world, Western womens' perceived lack of modesty signals their degraded cultural status in the West. In both cases, the assumption is that women are either covering or uncovering to please or obey men. For example, a woman that Gallup interviewed in Malaysia says she feels sorry for the women in the West because they don't love themselves enough and feel they must give in to men's sexual desires"

If this quote - and perspective - struck me at the time, it hit me all the more as we were watching the first of the twenty-four discos-on-wheels parade by, carrying women (and men) who were as scantily clad as possible ... not so often in the "this is how we dress for the festivities" Rio de Janeiro kind of way, but rather more in the "I really need attention to make myself feel beautiful and this party is the perfect way to do it" kind of way. And funny enough, my very first thought as I watched them go by was what Geneva's Muslim summer residents in particular must be thinking at the sight of such a public skin fest. Would they find it disgusting? Pitiful? Fascinating? What a shock it must have been to anyone who happened to be coming into town yesterday without a clue about the event....

All that said, I it was a great time ... especially for anyone keen on dance, drink and people watching ... after my first street parade, I'm already looking into the "biggies" to see how I can rally the troops for a rally up to the Zurich or Berlin renditions. If I might leave you with just one more thought for the day though ... check out these Ghostbuster beer-meisters and their hot bods (look closely, the pic is not so good)! The parade organiser's were smart enough to make every third "float" a bar-on-wheels ... no more missing out on the action or battling to recuperate your four inches of viewing territory ....