Free nipples & Piña coladas

Boobies

In the name of research, I decided to spend the weekend sans bikini top in Ibiza, Spain. Surrounded by a mass of tan, topless Europeans, I felt it was my duty to go native and join in on the topless fun. I’m supposed to be experiencing culture while I’m here after all..right?!

What is interesting is that going topless was surprisingly anti-climactic and uncharacteristically natural, normal even. I didn’t feel anything overtly sexy about being topless, nor that it was particularly offensive to those around me. There were no wet t-shirt competitions, or suggestive shimmy-ing; just me, my bikini bottoms and a pair of carefree, unrestricted nipples. But, wait, why wasn’t everyone staring at my breasts as if they were loaded missiles set to corrupt the free world? How could anyone focus on anything else when my exposed breasts existed? I had been taught that a simple glance at the female nipple should elicit a sexual response, or a bashful one. But I got neither. What was going on here..was there something wrong with my nipples?

I’ve come to the conclusion that no, there is nothing wrong with my tits. Its just that female nipples are a social taboo, one that does not seem to exist in Europe.

What was more is that the women who decided to go topless weren’t supermodels boasting perfect racks. Rather the opposite. There were women with swooping breasts, sagging breasts, large breasts, small breasts. Let’s not even get into nipples. Going topless in Ibiza wasn’t the nonverbal equivalent of screaming to the world, “hey check it out i have the best tits ever!” but more of a thoughtless decision that, “ya, maybe I’ll tan my ta-tas today.” The decision to go topless did not seem contingent on other people’s opinions, or approval.

These women didn’t appear to care what their breasts looked, and as a result neither did the people around them, including myself. Because why would you bother forming an opinion about someone who doesn’t care what you think. You wouldn’t.  And its this kind of individualistic attitude that I found inspiring, liberating and uncharacteristically European..SO AMERICANS TAKE NOTE !  

In addition to exposing me to a life free of tan lines and the perks of (half) skinny dipping, my ‘social experiment’ taught me that female independence is subjective. While it seems somewhat ironic that it took going topless to evoke thoughts about modern feminism, in trying to explore what it means to be a young person in this world, I think its pretty important to explore what it means to be a young woman in this world as well. 

What I’m trying to promote is an attitude, and a different way of approaching things - and if it takes public nudity and a few Piña coladas to get there, so be it. We could all take a few pointers from our fellow Europeans in giving a little less of shit about what others think; live life being comfortable with how you look, loving yourself for both your perks and your flaws.

P.S. I would just like to point out that I feel very strongly that nipples are the second windows to the soul. Don’t really know how else to explain this one, but strongly urge you to explore this (on your own time).