How first burkini in SI swimsuit edition is shaping gender debate

For decades, the swimsuits in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue have been receding from view. Ever since Cheryl Tiegs infamously wore a sheer mesh bathing suit in the 1978 edition, models have bared increasingly more skin each year. Sometimes the “bikinis” are merely illusionary body paint on naked bodies.

This time, Sports Illustrated has gone in the complete opposite direction.

Somali-American model Halima Aden, a Muslim, appears inside the magazine in a colorful hijab and a neck-to-toe neon-blue burkini. It’s intended as a bold statement.

“Whether you feel your most beautiful and confident in a burkini or a bikini, YOU ARE WORTHY,” proclaimed SI Swimsuit editor MJ Day last week.

But in some quarters the photoshoot has sparked more controversy than the flesh-to-fabric ratio of Kate Upton’s cover photos.

Though her inclusion helps break down stereotypes of Muslims as