Dear Avira,
On mixed swimming. Nobody here is condoning it at all. You see it as a development of MO. That is not true historically. (And according to Amirican’s post, it wasn’t true currently until this [Mine, not yours.] generation.) The fact is that mixed swimming happened a lot a hundred years ago. It’s in many biographies, recollections, and observer accounts. And they mention it off hand as if it was normal. I can’t tell you why it was normal for them. But it was. Of course, we can assume that all rabbonim were fire and brimstone against it, but there isn’t much talk about it. Maybe the rabbonim weren’t aware. Or it was done in places with little leadership. Or maybe it was much more innocent than what we think of it. I don’t really care. The fact is that it was done before MO became a separate group. And later it was an issue in all circles of NY orthodoxy, and the rabbonim reacted forcefully.