Is the sun setting on nude sunbathing?

From the birth of the bikini in 1946 to the burkini, debuting in 2004, to the appearance of the monokini in 1964, women’s willingness to unveil their bodies during the summer has always provoked intense debate; after all, going topless points not only towards the flouting of social norms, but also to the degree of social acceptance of wearing less. While the controversies on the subject re-emerge regularly, IFOP recently published a survey taking stock of the evolution of women’s level of comfort disrobing on the beach and comparing this attitude across Europe and North America. Conducted among 8,000 women, including 1,000 Americans and 1,000 Canadians, this survey confirms that sunbathing in the buff is losing ground among younger generations, but not for the reasons you think. Here, through its Global Review of Women’s Nudity, IFOP presents the key takeaways of this extensive survey focused on women’s preferences regarding body exposure during the summer.


*Based on a representative sample of the female population age 18 and over in Europe – Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom – and in North America – the U.S. and Canada – this study from the IFOP Institute on behalf of Plaisx was completed in June 2017.

Where are the women who dare to bare?

The French historically stood out among the pioneers in the practice of summertime skin-baring, sporting their monokinis (that is, just the lower half of the bikini set) on public beaches as early as 1964 on the Côte-d’Azur. To many, the mere mention of topless sunbathing conjures the memory of a young Brigitte Bardot sunning herself casually on a French beach in nothing but a rolled down bikini bottom. Today, however, France is far from the country where this practice is the most widespread. Indeed, according to the results of this global survey, the Spanish now occupy first place on the podium (49%), far ahead of the Germans (41%) and the Dutch (35%), countries where the so-called free body culture (or "Freikorperkultur") remains strong.

The number of adherents in France (29%) is slightly higher than in the United Kingdom (26%) but significantly more than in Italy (20%), a traditionally Catholic country where the social acceptance of nudity is still weak. And if the French are putting their bikini tops back on, where do North Americans rank? At the bottom of the scale, of course. Coming from countries where the legislation on undressing at the beach is much more restrictive than in Europe, Americans (11%) and Canadians (11%), not surprisingly, bring up the rear.

Is Spain the new capital of beach nudity?

Due to its warm climate, its many beaches and its very liberal legislation, Spain ranks first in terms of complete nudity: one in four Spaniards (25%) admit to lying naked on a beach or at a nudist camp. Germany, on the other hand, a nation that allowed its first nude beach as early as 1920, climbs to second place at just a few points (21%) behind Spain.
This figure well exceeds that of the Netherlands, where despite very liberal laws on the subject (it’s worth noting that a law came into force in 1986 allowing nudity everywhere, except on public roads or where it might make others feel uncomfortable), women are much less likely than in Germany to have already gone fully naked (13%). In the other European countries investigated in this study, the rate of complete nudity is slightly lower in the United Kingdom and Italy (8% each) but higher than in North America (7% in the USA and Canada) where, through deeply entrenched cultural puritanism dating back prior to each nation’s founding, toplessness is heavily sexualized and nudity in general remains associated with sex. Though France currently reports a rate of 9% of women who have gone totally naked in public, this figure has fallen significantly from 13% in 2009.

Are attitudes shifting towards prudishness?

Not necessarily. Although this study reveals a marked decrease in the number of European women who practice nudity on the beach during the summer, and an over-all low rate of topless sunbathing from North American women specifically, the results do not necessarily show the same trend regarding body exposure in the context of intimacy.

For example, the proportion of women in the USA who are happy to go naked "fairly regularly" in front of their significant other is 70%, and a full 86% say they have done it at some point in the past. In Canada, 66% are regularly nude in the same context, and 83% have done it at least once. Compare this to the global average (73% get naked for that special someone with regularity) and it seems North Americans are just as comfortable exposing themselves in the privacy of an intimate encounter as are their European peers. Here, yet again, Spain leads the way (89%) with Germany not far behind (84%). Next come the Dutch (75%), the French just a few points behind (72%), the UK (69%), and Italy in last place at just 62%.

Less & less topless

After an in-depth analysis of the data collected in the study, François Kraus, IFOP Director of Policy & News, distills his conclusion into three main areas of motivation: social reasons, health reasons, and political reasons, which together can help explain why beach nudity is on the decline around the world.

While North American women have never embraced the practice of going topless at the beach, their European counterparts once did so with ease – and much more so in the past than today. The results of this survey indicate that it’s not only the gaze of others, but also the way women view themselves that prompts them to reveal less of their bodies nowadays compared to yesteryear. In a global context marked more than ever by the cult of appearance and the surge of perfect, airbrushed bodies across advertising and media, the fear of not measuring up to society’s standards constitutes a major barrier for women who have internalized the notion that only an "ideal" physique should be on display in public.

But if this "terrorism of aesthetics" plays a role in women showing less of their bodies during the summer, a growing disapproval of tanning culture is also at work. Compared to the 1980s when both European and North American women worked hard to eliminate tan lines when sunbathing, growing awareness of the dangers of sun exposure and the importance of protecting the skin from harmful rays is also responsible for the increased move to cover up.

Finally, it might be that going topless no longer has the same symbolic significance as it had in the 60s and 70s, when, without necessarily having a direct political tone, many women saw it as a new freedom and a way to remind men that their bodies and their sexuality belonged to them. But, as sociologist Janine Mossuz-Lavau explains, at a time when "most young women, rightly or wrongly, feel sexually liberated", some do not necessarily feel "the need to display this ostensible sign, which was precisely the goal" (interview with Janine Mossuz-Lavau in Le Parisien on August 15, 2004).
As motivation to make a political statement wanes and medical warnings increase, it’s no wonder that public disrobing on the beaches in summer is becoming less and less a symbol of female emancipation and more and more a high-risk tanning technique.