The burqa presents an image of modesty: 'I am covered from head to toe, no sex here, go away.'

The bikini presents an image of a sex offering: 'Look at me, I'm hot, you know you want it, come and get it.'

 I agree with Ragdish as well and would add to it that you should be allowed to wear nothing if you want to. It is absolutely ridiculous how upset people get at nudity and extremely sexist that I can walk around topless but if my GF does she is breaking the law. Whatever your mother might have told you, looking at boobs doesn't make you go blind.

Looking at boobs can cause masturbation.

Now appropriateness and safety: How do you define what is appropriate and why is your definition better than someone else's? (Sound like another thread? ) 

With safety, I assume you mean like if I am driving and see some cute girl with her boobs out causing me to crash into the car in front of me. Half of the reason we are obsessed with nudity is because it is taboo. If it wasn't a rare sight we wouldn't be as obsessed with it. I've been to nudist colonies and after enough time a nude woman isn't any more distracting than an attractive woman in sexy clothes.

I wouldn't spray pesticide in a t-shirt either but that doesn't mean we should ban t-shirts. I'm not saying everyone should be forced to walk around nude, just that you should have that option without being thrown in jail for the night. If you don't want to fine. But why do you care if someone else wants to? I imagine most businesses would have some kind of dress code for their employees appropriate to their business and the image they want to project just like they do now. And many businesses might have a dress code for their customers just like some businesses on a beech have "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" signs or some upscale restaurants require formal dressing. So why do we need laws?

Sorry Beyond... I do NOT wish to see your moobs.

Don't ever worry about offending me. It is a really hard thing to do.

And yes, some people should not be naked. Some people should not wear spandex. And some people should not be seen in public. That doesn't mean we should pass a law. I would rather see an attractive person naked than an ugly person clothed. Maybe we should just pass a law that says ugly people have to wear burkas and everyone else can wear whatever they want.

It's an expression of where the power lies in society. In Islamic cultures, power comes from religious opression. In western cultures, power comes from the almighty dollar and sex sells. Males that run these power structures hijack female sexuality to maintain their power.

But I  still see a major difference between an actual law that forces severe retributions for the way that the women in the Middle East dress and our own culture. Outside of office dress codes at work (which do not seem to promote sex, in my opinion) no one is telling women how to dress. There doesn't seem to be actual laws that demand that women must dress provocatively as it is dictated by a "Holy" book. There are women in the U.S. that choose to dress very conservatively. Their are certain Christian religious groups, like the Pentecostals, where the women  always wear dresses and always keep their hair tied back, without makeup. These particular people live and interact in American society, without being told that they must dress in a risque style. Women may choose to wear their burkas, here in the US. But in the Middle East, women can NOT choose to dress provocatively.

However, if women actually choose to dress provocatively, or if they choose to wear their burkas, I don't see the issue. I have an issue with the Islamic countries, that do not give people the power of choice, I see a problem with the theocracies, that do not allow for anyone to step outside of their absolutist dogmas. But, so far as I know, we in the US are supposed to have the freedom of religion and the freedom from religion. Whatever lifestyle that people may choose is up to them and them alone.

If safety is an issue, billboards on highways should be banned first - since they are specifically designed to attract the attention of the people on the highway...

And if nudity was more commonly seen, it would be less distracting.

Even where I live, where I do see burqas from time to time, I find them more distracting that women displaying quite a lot of skin, because they still seem strange to me.

It strikes me as particularly bizarre to see dress like that during our summer, with temperatures into the 90's, often with high humidity, in amongst other women exposing quite a lot of skin in typical summer clothes.

Altho in many cases, as far as I can tell, many of the women I do see in burqas, should arguably keep wearing them, to hide some rather less than attractive bodies.

I should mention that I live in Brisbane, Australia, and have at least one new housing estate close to where I live where quite a number of immigrants/refugees seem to have settled.

Yes, but couldn't it be said that everything that EVERYONE wears, displays some sort of image or notion that they may want to convey ? Or, perhaps, the issue of comfort might come into play.

Take me for example. I am guy, that always dresses in all black, wears biker boots and jeans and t-shirts with certain metal bands advertised on them. I have long hair and a beard. Granted, alot of people may perceive me a certain way (comically enough, when they talk to me, I often am told "Your more intelligent than you appear" and I am never sure how to take that) but I dress the way that I do because of comfort and partly because of style. Is sexuality a prime motive for that ? I don't necessarily think so, but could be wrong. Did society somehow impose that particular look upon me, many many years ago, when I began to dress that way ? Hmm, that is something that I would have to think about before giving a definite answer to.

I really don't think that the wealthy woman below is really a hapless victim to a male hijacked capitalist power structure. She is merely exploiting her looks to take advantage of a capitalist power structure wherein sex does indeed sell. It is up to you to decide whether she is self-empowered or self-objectified. In contrast to an Islamic society, she is not being coerced by a law to dress this way.

And this very talented actress can freely break away from her sex selling image and don a totally asexual attire:

Yep, that's Salma Hayek as a bearded lady. An image that most men won't pay top dollar to masturbate to but nonetheless, a freedom that is only granted in a secular democratic society that does not have oppressive laws towards women.

BTW I'd still fantasize about fucking Salma Hayek if she is a bearded lady. But that's just me.

I think it is impossible to separate the way you dress from your social groups. We dress in certain attire to fit in with our various social cliques. If you hang out with bikers you are probably going to dress like a biker. If you show up in a biker bar as a male wearing a pink tutu, well your endeavor to fit in with the group might not work out so well.

I think once dressing habits are established they are very difficult for people to change simply because it is more comfortable (and easier) to stay with the familiar. My dressing habits were formed when I worked with and hung out with lawyers, I continue to wear business casual on a day to day basis because it is pretty much what I have always worn even though my current job does not require it. It is easier for me to give my ex a couple hundred bucks to go get me new clothes once a year and she knows what brands and sizes to get and I don't have to shop or try things on. 

So I don't think it was society as a whole that imposed your dress code so much as the social cliques you chose.

And Sandycane exactly what style of clothes can you not buy in America? I've seen everything from burkhas, to clothes made from garbage bags, to the good old American Daisy Dukes (my favorite).