Jeremy

We should all run around buck naked here in the US and then maybe the French would think we were more sensous. Geeez-give me a break! Just because you run around with your tits out you are supposodely more sensous?

yep

I agree. They aren't more sensuous at all, especially the Germans!! They are just used to women going topless. That's it. Going topless in Europe has absolutely nothing to do with sex, at least as far as they're concerned.

John

Relax! I'm a single parent and took my son and daughter to the island of Rhodes where we were about the only ones wearing a swimsuit on the beach. Honest, its no big deal to the kids if you don't make it a big deal! My kids just sort of chalked it up to one of their many experiences of European travel and culture.

NotaPuritan

Why is the human body such a source for shock & discomfort for some people here? Some of the attitudes being expresed are positively prehistoric - women should be allowed to wear as little as man do on the beach & those who suggest otherwise I truly pity for their sad, closed mind attitudes.

ohdear

Noone was saying the human body is a shock and a discomfort. Mr. Kane asked a question, he did not supply his reasons why, and in return he gets a ton of patronizing lectures on how to relax, etc. etc. <BR> <BR>Might I suggest we simply provide the facts: Mr.Kane , there will be many topless beaches, a few nude, and be done with it. Let Mr. Kane and his family decide for themselves what their reaction will be, or should be.

skipthelecture

Oh Dear is right. Bill asked how he could find out which beaches are topless, not whether YOU think he should take his daughter there. He asked for information, not lectures. <BR> <BR>Yeah, Notapuritan, you sound really open-minded: Anybody who doesnt share your viewpoint on this is 'sad' and 'prehistoric.'

Debbie

Bill-I thought I would share a humorous story about my teenage son when we went to Nice several years ago.We arrived in Nice to tour the south of France during spring break.My son was REALLY excited about seeing all these topless women that he had heard sunbath topless on the Riviera. (His friends had been the ones to enlighten him that they were all over the place!).Anyway,the weather was a little chillier than what we expected so the beaches were not full.My husband and son went walking one afternoon(daughter and I were shopping)when he reported back to me that the grossest sight was seen.(A bunch of Eastern block women went down to the beach,stripped down to their panties and bright pink bras,then removed their bras!)"Mom-it was nasty....their arms were swinging in the wind and you should have seen their mustaches on their faces when they turned their beach towels.....and their breasts were hanging down to their kneecaps!"

Debbi

(Sorry I clicked too soon!) Anyway,he bought some postcards for his friends to keep the illusion of the Riveria intact. Don't worry-its really not that big of deal over there! Have fun and be sure to go to Tavern Massena on Massena Blvd.(2 blocks from Mediterranean).Its the best wood oven pizza you will ever have-my kids still talk fondly about it.

Elaine

When in Rome...We've visited relatives many times in Italy and have stayed often with my brother-in-law in Spotorno, on the Italian northern coast. Many years ago our then 14 year-old-daughter went to the beach with family and friends and was asked by a school teacher in the group if she would be offended if she took off her top. (She said no because half the women on the beach were topless anyway!) I know she didn't think much about the nudity on the beaches there although she wouldn't have done it herself. <BR>I did see something on our trip two years ago that bothered me..and even my husband who grew up there thought this was not right. We went to see a model plane demonstration that was at a beach and where there were a lot of just specatators. There were also some swimmers there but not many because of all the motored plane activity. There was one family oblivious to all this with 2 little girls who were completely nude. They were probably 7 or 8 years old. I'm no prude but this really bothered me..maybe because with 3 daughters myself I would never in a million years have exposed them like that. <BR>You may observe anything there so be prepared!

Hans H

What's terrible about a child being nude? I really don't get it. In the summer, you see nude children playing in fountains in the centres of German cities and I can't imagine anyone being upset about it.

Martin

The very wide range of societal attitudes about acceptable degrees of nudity has always struck me as peculiar, considering all humans are essentially the same. <BR> <BR>There seems to be an assumption on this thread that Americans are the most prudish people in the world. Hardly! American attitudes toward amount of flesh shown at the beach are all over the map, with a fair number seeking out official and unofficial nude beaches. Most American don't blink at the sight of a well-filled skimpy bikini. <BR> <BR>Some of the most prudish attitudes exist in places where you would least expect it, such as on some conservative Polynesian islands (e.g., Tonga). Likewise, many residents of islands in the Carribean become quite indignant when European or American women wear skimpy suits (especially so if tourists take off their tops). I won't even get started on Islamic cultures. <BR> <BR>Also, it's silly to say that Europeans don't consider bare breasts to have a sexual connotation. Of course they do, just as Americans understand that small bikini tops are a sexual thing. The issue is where the majority of the people draw the line between playfully sexy and indecent. In America, a couple square inches of cloth make all the difference for some reason. In France, bare breasts are ok on any beach, while exposed male genitals are inappropriate except in designated nude areas. I'll bet that in Arabia, the most modest American bathing suit would be considered obscene on a woman. <BR> <BR>Bill should take his daughter to any beach that is not specifically "nude", and they will both get quickly accustomed to the bare breasts. The great thing about travel is the opportunity to experience different attitudes, even if they cause raised eyebrows at first.

Hans H

Martin: You're certainly correct that a beautiful topless woman is sexual. But a beautiful woman is always sexual and I honestly think that a beautiful woman dressed up for the evening can be more sexual than half-nude. In case that people haven't got a perfect body, they will certainly look more sexual if they dress up for the evening (which applies of course both for males and females). <BR> <BR>And even a bikini can make the difference between still giving a man something to phantasize about and the bare facts which might be less flattering than the male imagination. In my experience, the typical male stares more at passing clothed women while sitting in a street cafe than at the same women being topless on a beach. <BR> <BR>I don't think that the typical American is prudish in the sense that they avoid sexual themes, rather the opposite. I just can't understand why for example Baywatch showing a woman jogging on the beach, clad in a minimum of bikini with the camera practically entering the cleevage, and the whole thing in slow-motion for two minutes, is okay and showing a normal woman walking nude through a room is indecent. In my opinion, many Americans equal the topless beaches with increased sexuality since such beaches are the "forbidden fruits" and so they phantasize about it. But if they in fact see a topless beach, the reality isn't half as sexual as they imagined it to be.

dreamer

I guess you forgot how to spell "phantazize"??? <BR> <BR>fantasize is the correct spelling!!!

porno

If any child is nude, just be on alert for any pedophiles!!!! <BR>They may be lurking somewhere... <BR> <BR>

Clairobscur

Elaine : <BR> <BR>Seeing nude children on the beachs is fairly common here, and nobody cares.... <BR> <BR>So, don't worry about the girls/parents, there wasn't anything wrong with them. <BR> <BR>And certainly there's something sexual in topless women, and guys enjoy them. <BR> <BR>However, some years ago, a sociologist made a whole study about topless women on the beachs. Of course, the results of this interesting survey have been widely displayed in the newspapers... <BR> <BR>I remember only that he came to the conclusion that topless women were much less stared at, people tended to sit at a greater distance, less men talked to them, etc...So it seems it's a good way to attract male attention but only from a distance... <BR> <BR>

Ursula

Dreamer: <BR> <BR>Why do you blame Hans for his misspelling?? Are you aware that for some of the fodorites English is not the first language? According to Hans' address, he must be working at Bonn's University and is a native German speaking person and this is true for myself, too. This just for your information. I do not want go grab all the time a dictionary. <BR> <BR>PS: I hope I didn't misspell anything. <BR> <BR>And about going topless on the beaches and even in some public park areas here in Zurich and elsewhere, it's the most normal thing. People do not even look. Here in Zurich, we have beaches on the lake, with "nude" sections.

Elaine

I've read the replies since my statement regarding the nude girls. I probably shouldn't elaborate but will. I think if I had gone to a 'nude beach' I wouldn't have batted an eye but this wasn't..it was in front of a couple of hundred fully clothed spectators. And to Hans, very young children are one thing but by the time a child is 7 or 8 a little modesty - and a suit bottom - I think are in order. That's just my opinion and I'm sticking to it! <BR>

nobra

OK. You don't have to go to Europe. I live in New York (on Long Island) and guess what, there's a very large minority of girls here who go topless at the beach. Its OK. No one bothers them and they don't bother anyone. (By the way, when I was in Europe, I went topless because that's the societal norm. I wouldn't do it here because it is not accepted YET)

Alex

Bill asked a simple question and got sermons. Just be aware that the "clothing optional" beaches of St. Tropez (perhaps the most carefree area of the French Riveria) are within centimeters of the "topless" beaches.They're contiguous. There is no way to take your child to one and shield her from the sights of the others. It's my observation, not always to my delight, that all other beaches along the coast are topless. It's rather clinical, even when the bather is attractive. Nevertheless, the geography is always beautiful.