Thoughts on French nudity

I don’t consider myself a prude necessarily, but these past few weeks in France, I have begun to feel like one. The reason for this? Female nudity. From the coast of Brittany to the island of Corsica, I have found it rampant on beaches all over this country. Women of all shapes and ages just strutting around with their ta-tas hanging out like it was no big deal! And not just tanning, either. From long walks to beach volleyball, there are all kinds of activities happening… topless! Obviously they have no regard for decency around here…

At first, I was quite shocked by this, but it was so prevalent that I had to get used to it. Even though I have come to expect bare boobies when I go to the beach now, I still haven’t adjusted completely to this lack of coverage. But it’s made me think  - why not? What’s wrong with this picture? Why does it make me so uncomfortable to see women walking around topless when the guys get to do it all the time?

My French friends have said it before and I never really believed them,  but I think they might be on to something. “You Americans are such Puritans,” they tell me. “You’re definitely way more religious than we are here in Europe,” they assured me, matter-of-factly. “But you have a million churches everywhere,” I protested, having had to visit more than my share as a child traveling with my family. “Those are old,” was their response. “Besides, barely anyone actually follows the church anymore.”

I wasn’t raised overly religious, and I only go to church about once a year, if that. But yet, I am always perplexed by the fact that hardly anyone gets married in France. I tell my friends this and they call me old-fashioned. Who needs marriage to live with their partner and have children? Catholics.

Could it be true? Are we a bunch of religious conservatives in the U.S.? And if so, how did I become a part of such a group without even knowing it?

So let me get back to the boobies. In the States, we have no problem with our children watching sexually explicit videos on television, or listening to music that promotes violence and rampant promiscuity on the radio. But try to go topless at your local beach and surely someone will call the authorities for indecent exposure. What’s that about? I remember the first time I went into a communal changing room at a department store in Boston; I looked around me aghast to find a dozen women just dropping their pants in the presence of strangers. Why do we encourage this culture of overexposure in the media, and underexposure in real life? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?