Have you ever been to a topless beach?
Perhaps this is a better question: have you ever been to a topless beach so that you could sunbathe topless yourself?
Chances are – especially if you’re reading this in the US — is that you haven’t experienced the joys of European Sunbathing (as it’s known in Las Vegas). Unless you count that one time in Cancun where nobody knew who you were and you only did it on a dare from your drunk sorority sister.
The Risks of Sunbathing Topless:
And Other Funny Stories from the Road
But, as they say — when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Or France, whichever works.
And as France is the topless beach capital of the world (or Europe, at least), it ends up that FEWER AND FEWER WOMEN ARE SUNBATHING TOPLESS, paparazzi photos of celebrities be damned.
But there are three specific reasons that women have decided not to bare their ta-tas to the world:
- Increased awareness about skin cancer
- Perception that “topless sunbathing” = “whore”
- The rise of breast activism groups, such as FREE THE NIPPLE making it seem that covering ones breasts are more a protest than actually letting them hang free at the beach.
How common is topless sunbathing around the world these days?
- On the French Riviera, just 2% of those women under 35 said that they do it.
- 33% of Germans and Austrians get naked at the beach
- In Great Britain, 16% said that they would go topless at the beach