In France, appearing topless on the beach is no longer fashionable
If in the 1960s removing the top of a swimsuit was a symbol of female emancipation, today fewer and fewer European women, especially young ones, sunbathe topless on the beach. In the mid-1990s, 43% of French women under 50 bared their breasts, while in 2017 only 22% did so.
François Kraus, a specialist at the Ifop institute that conducted the survey, explains that 50 years ago women bared their breasts on the beach to fight for sexual freedom. Today, emancipation has reached such a level that many women do not find it appropriate to appear topless on the beach, the expert believes. The fashion for bare breasts is also fading because more and more women are aware of the negative effects of excessive tanning on health.
However, as RFI notes, on the other side of the Pyrenees, going topless on the beach is still fashionable. In Spain, almost half of women bare their breasts on the beach, and one in four has been to a nudist beach at least once. 41% of women surveyed in Germany and a third of women in the Netherlands prefer to feel more free on the beach.
In the United States and Canada, only 11% of women bare their breasts. The legislation there is stricter than in Europe. An exception is New York, where since 1994 it has not been forbidden to walk topless.