Should Granny get her Tits Out?

As some of you know from previous blogs, I am a member of: Gransnet. This, in case you didn’t immediately click – I didn’t – is the granny and grandpa version of Mumsnet. I became a member by entering a children’s book writing competition they are running and I had to become a member to enter. I did check that I didn’t need to be a granny, they assured me that I did not.

What this all means is that I now receive a daily e mail from Gransnet, detailing the discussion topics of the day. These are varied and often topical. Occasionally, I find them rather amusing: Poo on slippers (?), Oh, this Great Fat Belly, Air or Water Dental Flossers – that was all on one day. My Wheelie Bin, Gravestones, Demented Blackbird, Gnomes, Falsies…oh I could go on. I mean, you can see why I haven’t unsubscribed…

Anyway, one of yesterday’s topics caught my eye: Topless Grans. I thought this could be an interesting one and I clicked on the link to the debate. Now, I have a personal aversion to topless sunbathers. It is probably because I just wasn’t brought up with it and so it’s as simple as the fact that I’m just not used to it. My girls don’t like it either. Faced with a group of topless women camped by the communal pool in Spain last year, my girls hid in the privacy of our garden to groans of: yeuk! Teenagers really don’t cope at all well with nudity, unless, it seems, it’s on a screen. The point is that real life tits are all different shapes and sizes and can be in uncomfortably close proximity for those who aren’t accustomed to the onslaught. So I read the discussion on Gransnet with interest.

Some people, like me, said they just aren’t comfortable with topless bathing. Maybe I should point out here, that my aversion to it is not age related. However, for some people, it was. Here is the view that kicked the discussion off:

Lucky enough to be on Rhodes at the moment. Lovely & hot so everyone sun worshipping but WHY do so many older ladies still go topless on beach & round the pool. I am no prude & always went topless myself until gravity took over & then I invested in some lovely bikinis & later tankinis. I’m sitting here & in my immediate area there are 5 very elderly women – 70 plus ( all British)with their boobs on their stomachs. To be honest they look awful & I had to smile yesterday when I noticed a woman with 2 long white panels on her tummy caused by the shadow her boobs had made. They would look great with a nice tankini which you can pull up to get your tummy tanned. I don’t I understand it. It’s up to them of course & I’d defend any woman’s right to wear what she wants but really they look awful. Maybe I’ve had too much sun.

I love the ‘2 long white panels’ observation and it did remind me of that birthday card that has been around forever, where a bloke is wearing a t shirt with the words: show me yer tits and the granny lifts up her dress.

Someone in the Gransnet discussion had gone one better and found this:

However, others made the point that why shouldn’t old people sunbathe topless and a person commented:

I don’t see why, if it is an environment where younger women are sunbathing topless, older women should not do the same, if they enjoy the feeling. Judging their breasts as not fit for human view is, surely, buying into the idea that breasts exist for decoration and the entertainment of men.
Breasts come in all shapes and sizes from almost non-existent bumps to big billowing ones but the media keep presenting this image of 34-38 D cup and probably silicone “enhanced”.
If we had some decent weather I’d be down on one of the quieter local beaches, stripped off to my knickers, and if anyone happened to be offended by the sight of my 1 and 2/3 breasts (post partial-mastectomy) then they shouldn’t be staring.

It is one of those debates that leaves me rather confused and unsure of what I should be thinking and feeling. I even found myself wondering whether I agreed with one of the comments:

Enough to put you off your ouzo

Then I felt guilty. And what of the comment that if we say old people should hide them away, we are ‘buying into the idea that breasts exist for decoration and the entertainment of men.’  Are we saying that? Some said it’s imposing, others said: go for it and a few said it’s no-one else’s business. It seems that it’s a subject that no-one can agree on.

So basically I would love all your views. Let’s not confine this debate to the grey hairs of Gransnet. I’ve written a couple of posts lately about body image. My post yesterday was about being less critical of our own bodies, as well as others and one of the points made in the discussion on topless grans was this:

There is far too much judging of other people’s bodies going on IMO and in particular women’s bodies. This has got much worse over my lifetime. Back in the 60s we were not constantly assessing breasts, bottoms etc etc in the way we do now. By today’s standards Diana Dors would be obese and Barbara Windsor seriously in need of silicone implants. 

Should we be judging at all? Or should we just accept that everyone has the right to feel the sun on their breasts, no matter what their age.

If you enjoy my blog, I would be very grateful if you voted for me in the Mumsnet Blogging Awards: Best Writer and best Comic Writer categories. It is a quick one – takes seconds and here’s the link, thank you 🙂

http://www.mumsnet.com/events/blogging-awards/2016