The beaches are known for the beautiful men and women who walk them. The active lifestyles lead to rather fabulous bodies, but don’t let that scare you away!
Yes, I joined the masses and strutted a thong bathing suit on Ipanema, a popular beach in Rio.
No, you will not be seeing photos. What happens in Rio…stays in Rio.
Thong bikinis to Brazilians are like pasta to the Italians or berets to the French. It makes sense if you think about… It is the normal bathing suit, anything more would seem like a granny panty. On the other hand, no Brazilian woman would ever think of going topless on the beach, it just isn’t appropriate.
Which leads us to the question…do you have to have a rock-solid body to wear this small of a bikini?
Take one walk down the beach in Rio and you will see that no age, body type, fitness level or insecurity defines who wears a thong on Brazilian beaches. Women are comfortable with their bodies despite the cellulite or unwanted jiggles they carry with them. It was refreshing to see all types of bodies and to experience women who weren’t ashamed of themselves.
The women are running around playing volleyball and soccer with not a care in the world. Most women from the US (including me) usually are worried if everything is covered and typically have a “sunning” bathing suit and a more active bathing suit for contact sports. In Rio it is all the same, the itsy bitsy bikini.
My first day on the beach I was nervous. Was everyone looking at me? Did the bathing suit look good? Is my white American booty going to get burned from the sun? To answer my questions, No, no one was looking at me. Everyone on the beach was wearing the same if not a smaller suit than I was. It didn’t matter if it looked good or not, as long as I walked confidently. And yes, when your booty hasn’t seen the sun in 20+ years no matter how much sunscreen you put on it will turn a slight shade of pink.
It’s a different culture that doesn’t question your body fat percentage, only your female pride. The culture is bold and women from age 20 – 90 will be walking examples of women’s freedom. I am not someone who would freely throw on a bathing suit that covers so little, but after a few days, I loved being a part of the crowd of women on the beach.
When in Rio…
Have you ever done something out of character and been glad you took the risk?
YOU GO GIRL!!! My cheeks need a little color. I know how you feel- I dropped my top in TROGIR, Croatia and it was extremely liberating, despite my titties pinking due to sunlight exposure for the first time ever. Love you! I’m sure Josh like this 🙂
I love this attitude! It is so healthy! Your perspective is awesome, too. You continue to inspire me!
Too bad- would love to see pictures of a normal girl wearing a thong on the beach. Way better than these “plasticy” models. Good for you.
I Hi! You forgot to mention that even married woman can use thongs freely.
I live in Brazil, in a region quite far from the beach. Even here the thong culture exists. My 34′ wife still uses her little thongs when washing our cars, most of times under the view or talking to neighboors.
It is just the culture…
Hello
I am Brazilian and I would like to say that this story about thongs is not true. Walking by the beaches of Brazil we see a wide variety of bikinis and clothing. The Brazilians do not use only thong. We also bother to cover the body.
And this preconception worries me a little bit: the image propagated by the world that Brazilian like to show the body there. I can say that this is not true.
Hi Juliana,
Our post is written from what we experienced while we were in Rio. Nothing at all is written in a negative light toward Brazilians, in fact I’d say we’re celebrating the Rio beach culture with this post. We loved it there and thought it was refreshing to see so many people wearing whatever they were comfortable with on the beach.
“Have you ever done something out of character and been glad you took the risk?”
I remember once in Thailand on a ferry to Ko Samet (in 2004), I decided to stay in a bungalow with a dude (and his family) that I had just met on the ferry. Well, we’ve still stayed in contact throughout the years.