Topless in Fano

by K. Greer

Assumed similarities. They’re pesky little things.

I’ve been in Italy almost two weeks, and my ethnocentrism refuses to let me believe that other cultural groups have different values than Americans do. Of course, we expect superficial things to be different (food, music, television), but deep down, we don’t expect the things that we feel strongly about – the things that cause us visceral reactions – to differ from culture to culture. Correction: I didn’t. Until Fano.

Absolutely no topless women are pictured in this
still-captivating photo.

Several of my classmates and I endured a speedy, shaky, scary bus ride to the beach. Once there, we posted up shorefront, rented beach chairs, umbrellas, tablet computers and all.

An hour or so into one of the most restful days of my life, a woman walked into my field of vision. She was middle-aged, probably a mother. She walked with two older women who might have been in their sixties. The older women wore one-piece swimsuits. The middle-aged woman wore only a bikini bottom.

She strolled slowly – comfortably – along the shore, chatting with her older friends. None of the others on the beach noticed her. She didn’t attempt to cover herself. Though she was the only person on our end of the beach who swam topless, she didn’t appear to be at all self-conscious.

I’ve read that most cultures in the world consider breasts to be utilitarian first of all. I think that, in the United States, we consider breasts to be sexual first and utilitarian second … or third or fourth.

The woman’s breasts did not offend me. I was only shocked that she was so absolutely comfortable in her nakedness. In my time here, I’ve seen several little girls running around topless, and I’d assumed it was a matter of age rather than of culture. I thought I was going to the beach for a day off. I never expected a seaside education on intercultural values and attitudes.