Lack of toplessness on beaches

[PYDIMW]

I saw a few topless women in Lanzarote last year. Made sure to keep my phone in my pocket, of course and just enjoyed the view as I was passing through! 😁

[familleplage]

Originally Posted by PYDIMW

I saw a few topless women in Lanzarote last year. Made sure to keep my phone in my pocket, of course and just enjoyed the view as I was passing through! 😁

maybe you saw a friend of mine ? or better said, my lover ? she was there

[PYDIMW]

Haha! That’s brilliant! Well she certainly brightened up my strolls along the coastal path into the town every day if so. So, thank you! 😁

[kel245ed]

I went to three different beaches in France early June. When I was in the south of France in the 1990s I always encountered many topless women, and they were perfectly comfortable on the beach like that. Times have changed.

The good news is, that I saw topless women on all three beaches I visited. About half of the women wear bikinis, and I guess about 1 or 2% are sunbathing topless, mostly women over 40. Also the women over 40 in their bikinis, when they leave the beach they change in public, you might be able to see some bare breasts. They just change, not covering much. Young women come to the beach with their bikinis already under their clothes, and when they leave, they just put on a skirt and a shirt over their wet bathing suits.
I do not have a feeling that this behaviour comes from shame. Practically all young women wear bikinis with tops that cover the full breast, and really, really, small bikini bottoms. They do not bother at all, if you are looking, or even taking a picture. Also interesting is, that when you are in the city center, you see much more cleavage than you will see at the beach. It seems to be just a matter of following fashion.

And I believe that sunbathing with bare breasts, still feels liberating for a lot of women, also the young women. I noticed plenty of women in bathing suits, that loosen the straps of their swimsuits (not just the bikini tops, also the swimsuits) and pull down the swimsuits a bit, and then a bit more, so that you see breasts but just not (or almost) the nipple. I sat next to three – I think – Algerian young women with two fully covered (like in a burkini) and one with a bathing suit. The woman in the bathing suit pulled it down again and again, in a way that she was almost topless. The fully covered women did not seem to care. They were chatting with a lot of laughter. And they pulled up the coverage of their trouser so that their legs would get some sun. I also saw a different woman in burkini with next to her a friend in a really small bikini. Really small, also the top was very small.

In numbers, there are still less women sunbathing topless on a public then there were – even in 2005 for example. But to me it seems to be a matter of fashion. You hear about people discussing fear of being exposed on the internet, or harassed, or influence of Islam. I don’t believe any of that. Women are still comfortable being partly nude, and if more women in their proximity would get topless, they would probably follow suit. Now it is 1% or 2%. For social acceptance of toplessness I guess you would maybe need 15%, not even 20%. If the attention is not on one body, most women do not seem to mind.

I believe it’s not just beach culture that is influencing behaviour. In the 80s and 90s you would see topless women in TV series, advertising (in Europe). And later toplessness would be part of theatre, dance, etc. That trend has reversed. Now (social) media shows you to be exposed, but just not to be topless (no nipples). What you start to see now, is that you read more articles from influencers that it can be healthy to be topfree if you use enough suntan on the sensible spots. And that it should be women’s choice what they wear on the beach. I think if more influencers (women, not men) promote the idea of having freedom to be topless, for one or two years, beach culture might change towards more topless.

A long post perhaps, but my experience in the 90s, has shaped my interest to see topless women, and especially when they don’t mind and everything is casual. That you can read a book on the beach, just looking around a bit, and be happy with the sun, the sand and all those wonderful different breasts that you can see.