CRISIS IN EUROPE - France falls out of love with topless sunbathing

[dapaterson]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/22/topless-bathing-france

For some it's the stuff of naff Côte d'Azur postcards. For others it's a symbol of the feminist struggle in France. Topless sunbathing was once the summer battleground of French post-1968 society – educated middle classes insisted that peeling off was a women's right, while family groups claimed exposed nipples would scare children.

For decades, France has prided itself on being the world capital of seaside semi-nudity. Now the nation is facing a bikini-top backlash. A younger generation of women are covering up, citing new feminist priorities, skin cancer fears and a rebellion against the cult of the fetished body beautiful.

 

[Jungle]

And there it is: the beginning of the apocalypse...

 

[Shec]

I imagine this means France is in for a very long drought:

http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/threads/87862.0.html

 

[OldSolduer]

This news saddens me

 

[PMedMoe]

What is it with the sudden "naked" theme on the forum*?

Women in India plowing naked

Go to work naked day

Topless sunbathing

:



*Edit to reflect George's correction. 

 

[George Wallace]

What is it with the sudden "naked" theme?

Women in India plowing naked

Go to work naked day

Topless sunbathing

:

Ummmm......

End to topless sunbathing.

Seems the French are bucking the trend.




Burkas all around.

 

[ruckmarch]

Good riddance I say. Apart from the south of France, there aren't many other places to "take it all off" over there anyway if you been there a lot like some of us.

There are some new players in the game now, Croatia being one of them, voted as having the best beach in Europe now for a couple of years in a row. Then there are the oldies Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Litchenstein

 

[Blackadder1916]

. . .A younger generation of women are covering up, citing new feminist priorities, skin cancer fears and a rebellion against the cult of the fetished body beautiful.

That's the problem with the "younger generation" - no sense of tradition.  If 'young' French women are going to be covering up on the Cote d'Azur, will scandalized American tourists (got to point the finger at someone!) now be reduced to gawking at more mature (elderly?) medemoiselles mesdames who have been baring it for decades.  While the reality of topless French beaches never quite reached the fantasy that some hoped for, the "scenery" always seemed to be better than their German counterparts.

 

[Antoine]

Thanks for the news,

Then, this year I am going to save some money and instead of visiting the French southern beaches, I am going to visit Kits beach at 20 minutes from my home.

By the way, Canada has the "most acclaimed clothing-optional beaches in the world(1)".

(1): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreck_Beach

 

[ruckmarch]

Thanks for the news,

Then, this year I am going to save some money and instead of visiting the French southern beaches, I am going to visit Kits beach at 20 minutes from my home.

By the way, Canada has the "most acclaimed clothing-optional beaches in the world(1)".

(1): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreck_Beach

Yeah...but it's Canada, not as exotic as some of the places mentioned above  ;D

 

[Antoine]

Agree with you 

But I am from France, so I find anglophones more exotic than francophones  In addition, you can find quite an exotic crowd in the area of Wreck Beach.

Outside Vancouver, there are couple of islands of , let say , "special" communities such as some that never came back from the seventies ;D

Worth a guided tour!

 

[ruckmarch]

Agree with you 

But I am from France, so I find anglophones more exotic than francophones  In addition, you can find quite an exotic crowd in the area of Wreck Beach.

Outside Vancouver, there are couple of islands of , let say , "special" communities such as some that never came back from the seventies ;D

Worth a guided tour!

Think I'll pass on that.