So, I’m super sex and body positive. I did a boudoir shoot (and was absolutely shot down for it here) and have also done a couple of stage strips for charity. Clearly, I’m comfortable with boobs on display. I don’t sunbathe topless and I’d prefer to go a beach where no one else did either. I don’t have ‘a problem’ with it. I just don’t think it’s appropriate. I’m not sure why beaches ARE considered appropriate. Other family environments where swimwear is worn aren’t. A pool isn’t. A park isn’t. I see beaches in the same catergory. It’s not about policing women’s bodies, it’s about being appropriately dressed. Literally everywhere else, boobs need to be covered, unless it’s specifically a nudist environment. Why are beaches different? You want to get your boobs out, go to a nudist beach. You don’t, don’t. It’s how it works everywhere else. Why are beaches special?
I haven’t been to a beach since I was a child until last year in the South of France. There was almost no one topless, except a couple of older French women……and all the British women I went with. I got the impression it was a bit old fashioned. It hadn’t crossed my mind before and I was surprised anyone did that these days. I also hadn’t thought to have a conversation with my teen daughter who was really embarrassed. She has ADHD and might easily have said something tactless, so it would actually have been helpful to know we were entering a topless zone. I thought it was a bit tacky. What I really got fed up of was them pressuring ME to take my top off - they kept asking me why I didn’t, like I needed to justify it somehow. I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking they why they did. ‘Because I want to and it’s acceptable’ is clear and reason enough. I can’t think of a single reason TO sunbathe topless, so I don’t, and I’d be on the receiving end of this sort of flak if I expected people to justify about why they did.
So why does only work one way? Why does one person’s choice to show their boobs automatically take precedence over someone who prefers a boobless beach? Everywhere else is boob free unless adult only and pretty overtly stated, is it really so unreasonable to expect the same at a beach?
Don’t have a husband. Don’t have sons. Don’t police my daughter’s body or clothes. Don’t generally care what people wear. It just seems like a really weird anomaly to be acceptable in this one place as a general thing, and to be expected to justify not doing something pretty radical in literally any other environment.
So, OP, I don’t think you are being unreasonable. Apart from the drama, the language and the xenophobia, I agree. I’m not going to judge or tut, or stop going or campaign for boob free beaches. But I’d prefer them. And preferences are valid.