Topless

In some European countries the trend is for women to swim topless. While the trend has been decreasing in France, Italy and Germany, in Spain women are more committed to the cause. In fact, some local governments have been encouraging the the trend in women in a bid to encourage more positive and gender equal body image. As well, the more commonplace it is the more socially acceptable it remains. I respect this approach to foster positive body images in our young girls. 

 The Canary Islands are no exception to the rule. We have always encouraged our children to swim naked when given the opportunity or desire. So, they were completely unfazed by the topless bathing practices. I think it is also really good for them to see how normal it is and to get rid of the some of the shame and secretness of breasts. That being said, none of our girls have chosen to swim topless and I haven’t encouraged them as with their whiter skin the long sleeve bathing suit approach is just such an effective means of avoiding sunburn. 

 In Japan there was also a sense of openness of the human body in the form of bathing in onsen naked. When you come from a society that shuns nudity it can be nerve-racking to remove all your clothes publicly. Nonetheless, the very fact that it feels uncomfortable aways hinted to me that it was all the more important to do it anyhow so it becomes comfortable. Onsen had a very different feeling to topless beaches though - more practical and less of a gender statement. Here, the women really own the practice and while there are more sexual undertones at a topless beach than in Japanese onsen the practice confronts gender and body image issues more directly and effectively. Plus, the women get a more even tan which is possibly the larger motivation to begin with. 

Having gotten entirely used to topless beaches the children and I were surprised when we headed to Maspalomas for the day that over there it is acceptable to be completely nude. It felt very different than half-nude. Perhaps this was because Maspalomas is mainly made up of tourists, rather than locals, so the nudity felt more like a novelty than a norm. We chose to avoid the more crowded beach stretches in favour or trudging over the sand dunes. In this way we learned that older naked men have a strong affinity for standing at the tope of a sand dune and just staring out into the horizon endlessly and defiantly. I found this practice biologically interesting. The kids all found it hilarious too and seem to innately be able to differentiate between what feels normal and what feels more absurd - “look there is another naked man standing still on top of a sand dune!” 

Bottomless

Homeschooling

Dune walking

The moment before a downhill sprint

Yet another cute photo of 3/4 children