PARIS — France’s summer is fast becoming a memory, and so is one of its iconic beach sights: the topless woman.
As few as 2 percent of French women under 35 now say they want to bare their breasts, according to an Elle magazine poll this summer. It’s a far cry from the once-ubiquitous scenes of semi-nudity on the French Riviera, epitomized by 1960s blond bombshell Brigitte Bardot.
“It’s seen as vulgar. People are more prudish these days,” explains 60-year old Muriel Trazie, sunning herself on the Paris Plages summer beach.
When France stood up to a conservative backlash and refused to ban topless bathing in the 1970s, the “monokini” — the bikini bottom without the top — became a symbol of Gallic pride.
“French young women today are more conformist. They’ve already attained freedom. … So they’ve gotten lazy and taken it for granted,” author Jean-Claude Kauffman said.
Scholars point to the aging of the Generation X and a step back to traditional values among the more conservative “Millennial Generation.” And where once authorities defended toplessness, there’s now an official push to restrict it.
