Bikini cover-up request builds rift

Dear Carolyn: My husband and I are family therapists and are the people others come to for advice – but we are stumped.

We bought a houseboat so we could build family ties and memories with our adult children and grandchildren. Sounds great, right? Maybe not so much.

My husband’s 45-year-old stepdaughter, “Sherri,” is a bodybuilder, and her major source of identity is her body image. She shows up each time on our boat wearing a string bikini so skimpy that the fabric barely (pun intended) covers essentials. Dreading a repeat, my husband called Sherri, told her we loved her and looked forward to her upcoming visit, and requested she wear a cover-up over her bikini because we were uncomfortable with so much body exposure.

An hour later, Sherri’s husband phoned to say my husband had no right to tell his 45-year-old stepdaughter how to dress, and they would not be coming.

How do we address appropriate attire on our boat? Do we have the right to a “no bikini” dress code? – Not Fashion Police

No, you don’t have a right to “tell his … stepdaughter how to dress,” but you do have a right to ask someone to cover up in your presence and in your home when you’re uncomfortable. So the “how do we address …” answer is just as you handled it: The closest one to Sherri (your husband) uses kind words to express discomfort (vs. pass judgment) privately.

The alternative answer was to decide you’d rather be uncomfortable than risk offense. Also valid.

The corollary to both is that you have to live with the consequences of your choice. While a mature person would have apologized for being the source of any discomfort, felt stung, agreed nevertheless to wear a cover-up, hung up and then done any ranting about you in confidence to his/her spouse, a mature person also doesn’t mistake drink coasters for weekend-with- family-wear.