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IT TOOK A COUNTRY LIKE FRANCE TO MAKE FEMINISM SEXY AND WOMEN DID IT

GOING TOPLESS ON WORLD BEACHES


(Source: © Ruby BIRD & Yasmina BEDDOU)
(Source: © Ruby BIRD & Yasmina BEDDOU)
USPA NEWS - In the 1960's, it took a country like FRANCE to make feminism sexy and women did it by going topless on the beach. Men don't have to wear bikini tops, so why should we ? The feminists cried. Nowadays, as few as 2 % French women under 35 now say their want to bare their breasts...
When FRANCE stood up to a conservative backlash and refused to ban topless bathing in 1970's, wearing the "monokini" (the bikini bottom without the top) became a symbol of pride. But times changed, and so do bathing suits. Some link the demise of "topless" to a simple change in french fashion style, with a recent trend for full swimsuits and the ones accentuating the bottom. Some sociologists claim that those changes should be taken seriously and that maybe French women have forgotten the achievements of feminism.

Even some women claim that French young women today are more conformist. They have already attained freedom, so they became lazy and take all for granted.
Scholars point to the aging of the generation X in FRANCE and a step back to traditional values among the more conservative "millenial generation". And where once authorities defended toplessness, there is now an official push to restrict it. The decline of topless sunbathing has also been linked to the financial crisis.

Topless Danish women have become a much rare sight on the beach in recent years due to changing cultural norms, unrealistic body ideals and the proliferation of social media. According to a Megafon poll conducted for Politiken and TV2 just 4% of Danish women sunbathe topless. A full 85% say that they never or only rarely take their top off on a public beach. That represents a significant change from previous generations.
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