Butt on display at lunch in south of France

[flipperfizz]

I am currently having lunch in a beach restaurant and a girl with a lovely toned body is wearing a tiny thong with full ass on display. This seems to be a fashion thing and there are lots of women wearing the same cheese cutter! People are staring and some women are laughing. I find it a horrible trend and I am wondering what others think.

Do you leave shit smeared on your buttocks after you poo? Because I don't.

Big difference between a g-string and a regular pair of pants.

The lofty defence of it is tiresome. I'd rather they just said I'm hoping people will give me attention for it.

Which I guess is fine if that's what they want but let's call it what it is. It isn't about genuinely wanting people to be free to express themselves, as they are the first to shut people down for objecting.

I think she is saying the opposite: that buttocks are less likely to be unhygienic.

You don’t need to have actual visible faeces - the anus of any animal is by definition going to be contaminated with microscopic material and lots of bacteria. It’s just biology - it doesn’t reflect on that individual’s personal hygiene - it’s just reality.

Meant to add that very minimal garments such as thongs will give insufficient cover to the anus. Buttocks aren’t really the issue here - it’s the lack of coverage of the anus, which bigger pants or shorts would give.

Why can't people just ensure that their bottom is covered up before going out in public? What purpose does it serve to go out with your bottom exposed?

It really is. I cannot fathom why anyone who considers themselves a feminist would approve of this fashion which is derived from porn culture and primarily serves the male gaze. It’s a sexist fashion because, strangely, boys don’t seem to feel they have to expose their backsides in this way. Odd that🙄.

The purpose is to show off your bum.

Yes, as @Calliopespa said, the lofty defences of it are tiresome. It's about wanting to get attention and be 'sexy', a trend driven by (as you say) porn culture and the increased drive in society for women and girls to voluntarily self-sexualise (different to just being sexual, which in appropriate circumstances isn't a negative).

I don't blame women and girls for being influenced by social norms, but I do think it's harmful and negative. I liken this porn culture (self-)objectification to smoking; you don't have to hate yourself for doing it, but don't try to tell everyone else it's good for you, or others.

And yes, somehow (straight) boys and young men never seem to feel the need to be sexy by exposing their naked bums, or the stark outline of their penis. A nude beach would be less sexualised and sexist in a way, because then at least everyone is naked, and they're not trying to titillate with clothing that strategically exposes them.

The germs

There needs to be a major crack down on this sort of thing.

@OtterlyAstounding and Calliopespa - I think the defence comes from pps who’ve swallowed the ‘women can wear what they like’ mantra whole and haven’t thought through the implications of this particular trend, its origins or meaning.

But while I don’t think it’s great from a feminist pov, my immediate practical concern is for the hygiene implications. I’ll be much more wary about any seating near beaches now!

😂🤣

Yes Dettol wipes all round! 😂

😂

Agree. There’s a reductive but oft-made argument that feminism is solely about choices and that any criticism of another woman’s choices is anti-feminist. All this does is shut down critical debate about complex social behaviours that support patriarchy.

Common examples of this theme include arguments that stripping or porn is empowering for women, when in fact it’s simply seizing a very narrow form of power (sexuality) within the confines of the male gaze because genuine forms of power which would underpin a more equal society are so often out of reach.

There’s a difference between criticism and critique. An individual woman’s choices can be critiqued in the context of wider societal structures without that woman being personally shamed or blamed. This is useful and helps us to unpick why patriarchy remains so pervasive in 2026.

Claiming to be all for freedom while shutting down debate is deeply ironic and anti-feminist. Meanwhile, a certain type of man sits on the sidelines and thinks ‘thanks, ladies, for doing my job for me’.

Agree. There’s a reductive but oft-made argument that feminism is solely about choices and that any criticism of another woman’s choices is anti-feminist. All this does is shut down critical debate about complex social behaviours that support patriarchy.

So very well put @UnintentionalArcher Totally agree.

Claiming to be all for freedom while shutting down debate is deeply ironic and anti-feminist. Meanwhile, a certain type of man sits on the sidelines and thinks ‘thanks, ladies, for doing my job for me’.

And this. Exactly what I've been flailing round trying to say.

ETA it also undermines the next generation of young women who learn these behaviours because it is being promoted as fashionable and - more insidiously and dangerously - as taking control. When really it is the opposite. Meanwhile, women berate women for pointing out the undermining effect.

Why is it the moment someone has a dislike to something its always related to porn.

I was surprised to see lots of teenaged girls at the local beach this summer in thong bikinis. It’s more than 30 years since I was a teen, but we wouldn’t have been seen dead… To be fair we wore jeans & jumper to the disco! But this is in Ireland, and although young & lovely, most girls are rather pasty, unlike the typical South of France type.

You've said it so much better than I could've! I absolutely agree.

I don't think every dislike is always related to porn.

But given we are talking about people walking round in thongs with their buttocks on display, we'll give you three guesses as to why it might have been suggested that it was porn-related. Come on: you can do this!

It's not always. But in this case, it almost certainly is related to porn culture and the rapidly increasing sexualisation and objectification of women in society.

It's unhygenic.