To Bare or Not to Bare Infographic

To bare or not to bare – would you go topless on the beach?

– 53% of women have never sunbathed topless and never intend to in the future –

– Survey shows 32% of women think it is not acceptable –

According to a survey conducted by the UK’s premier plastic surgery group, MyBreast, only 3% of women in the UK would always sunbathe topless on a beach, 14% said they would sometimes do it and an overwhelming 53% said they never would.

Looking at women and men’s attitudes to topless sunbathing, 37% of women thought it was acceptable for women to sunbathe topless on a public beach in comparison to 59% of men. Moreover nearly the same percentage of men at 60% said they would feel comfortable with their partner sunbathing topless. 29% of women said they wouldn’t do it as they were worried about the size or shape of their breasts and felt self-conscious.

So what is the big taboo and what are the reasons behind their decisions? The data compiled from the MyBreast survey depicts a number of reasons given for not sunbathing topless. The overriding reason was if there were children on the beach (51%). However there were also health concerns as well as the continuing topic surrounding a lack of self-esteem.

• 38% would not as they were concerned about sunburn;
• 29% wouldn’t as they were worried about the size or shape of their breasts;
• 23% would do it if other women were topless;
• 22% would do so if they were abroad; and
• 11% said it depended on whether or not they were single

Commenting on the results of the study, Richard Young, Surgeon at MyBreast said: “The results of the survey are very interesting. It is a shame that few women feel confident enough with their bodies to sunbathe topless. This survey supports our findings that many women embark on cosmetic surgery to enhance their own feelings about their bodies rather than to impress others.

“Another factor highlighted in this study is women’s concern about the dangers of exposing breasts directly to the sun which is a very important one and sensible as the skin in this area is extremely sensitive. We would advise using a sun cream with a high SPF.”