Is Australia banning G-string bikinis on beaches? The debate explained

Australia’s Gold Coast beaches are swarming with men and women in the skimpiest of swimming wear. Wonder why that is grabbing headlines. It’s because they are not there to be beach bums. They are holding a protest, raising their voices against calls for a ban on G-string bikinis. The demand for restrictions on swimwear has sparked a debate in Australia. And now more and more people are joining the demonstrations, calling the move “sexist”. The call for a ban on G-string bikinis The controversy erupted earlier in the month after a long-time community worker in Gold Coast, the city near Brisbane, wrote to Mayor Tom Tate to prohibit skimpy swimsuits. Ian Grace, the 2022 Gold Coast Volunteer of the Year, said that he wanted the women to “cover-up” as the tiny tog trend made him “uncomfortable”. “At a local event where our musicians were playing, one young lady in particular was walking on the footpath on the main road and had the tiniest triangle in front and was as close to naked as anyone could be,” Grace wrote in the letter published in the Gold Coast Bulletin. He claimed that he “inadvertently” looked at her and wrote that while it was “a pleasant view”, she was sending the “wrong message”. “You could see she was looking almost defiantly at people as they approached, almost daring them to say something. There’s something very wrong here… While any man would enjoy ‘the view’, I believe women are very much demeaning and cheapening themselves, portraying themselves as sex objects, then decrying it when men see them that way,” Grace opined, according to a report in news.com.au. According to him, “bare bums” are just as erotic as bare breasts and should be banned similarly. “If not banned at the beach, very definitely banned the moment they are off the beach… This certainly should not be allowed in public pools or theme/water parks which are very much more family-orientated. Young kids don’t need to see women’s bums,” he wrote. Also read: 'Enlarged boobs': Why Australian channel is taking flak for doctored pic of woman MP He reiterated this during a TV appearance, saying women “baring their bums” isn’t great for younger generations. “We want to build their confidence, we want them to be proud of themselves and respect others and do things that people respect,” he reportedly told the hosts. “Bearing their bulls would not be in line with that.” [caption id=“attachment_13718052” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Gold Coast resident Ian Grace said that bare bums are as erotic as bare breasts. The letter to the mayor has sparked a debate in Australia over G-string bikinis. Image courtesy: Pixabay[/caption] The outrage over the demand for a G-string ban Grace’s letter has outraged Australians with many calling him out and others pouring onto the beaches in thongs, bearing their bottoms. The protests called “Free the Peach” began at Kurrawa Beach in Gold Coast on Friday, according to reports. Several locals wore scantily clad swimming costumes, as they fought for their right to wear what they wanted, reports Sky News. They were chanting against Grace. “It’s giving everybody the freedom of choice of what they can wear on the beach. It’s fighting for our right to feel comfortable enough in our own skin. We’ve been doing it for so many years, it feels like we’re going back in time. And we’re here to fight for it,” said one woman protester.

The rally was attended by some famous Australians, radio presenter Bianca Dye and influencers Rhiannon O’Loughlin and Brooke Michelle Woods. Rebbeca Park, who organised the demonstration, said that a blanket ban on bikinis “was never going to be the solution. “Never. Not on the Gold Coast.” “I think the conversation is so much wider… Children and our young girls in society, we do need to teach them what’s appropriate and what’s not but that starts in the home,” Park, who owns a swimwear company, told the Australian breakfast show Today. Also read: Berlin to allow women go topless at public pools: Germany’s brush with nudism and free body culture The debate Australian media personality Abbie Chatfield slammed the calls to ban G-string bikinis. In a video message addressed to Grace, she called him a misogynist. She said that asking women to “cover-up” doesn’t teach the children anything and instead blames women for the fact their bodies are “sexualised”, reports news.com.au. “It teaches them that you mature, you aren’t allowed to look at women’s bodies, because they are sexual objects,” she said.“It also is saying you actually aren’t responsible for your own emotions, it’s the women who you are looking at, it’s their responsibility.” “So you’re teaching them victim blaming as children … he’s teaching young women their bodies should be policed by men, and are innately sexual and tempting to men,” she added.

There was similar outrage from Australians on social media. “Wow 2024, and still being shamed for our bodies,” one woman said. But there were some online who agreed with Grace. Radio host Steve Price said that he also sometimes felt “uncomfortable” seeing young girls on the beach in revealing swimwear. One commentator wrote, “I understand why women feel they have the right to wear what they want to because we do… However, as a mother of three girls, I think there is a fine line between revealing too much and being tasteful when it comes to fashion.” Others said that the skimmy swimwear trend was “attention seeking”. [caption id=“attachment_13718092” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A woman relaxes on a beach in Syndey, Australia. The proposed ban on G-string bikinis has angered several Australian women. Representational picture/Reuters[/caption] Moral policing in Australia However, policing of women’s bodies not not new. Not even in Australia. Between 1935 and the early 1960s, the media-coined “bikini wars” played out across beaches in New South Wales. Several women were arrested for flouting the local government’s ordinance which stipulated strict rules about how much of a body needed be covered up, according to a report in news.com.au. In 2019, an Australian teacher was under the scanner for appearing to tell her students that a rape victim’s choice of clothes is partly responsible for the assault. Students claimed the teacher at a high school in New South Wales said, “All men have to fight their urges every day not to sexually assault or abuse (women).” Also read: What’s Australia’s new law to tackle gender pay gap? Which countries have similar rules? Now in 2024, Grace has become the poster boy of moral policing. However, Mayor Tom Tate has dismissed calls for the ban. “Ian is a brave man messing with women’s fashion,” he said, according to media reports. “One thing I’ve learnt about fashion over the years is that if you try to ban something or restrict it, that’s a certain recipe to see it double in popularity.” “I’ve also learnt that when your wife says ‘Does this look good on me’, always say Yes.” The G-string bikini is here to stay. But from his comments, it seems like so is the misogyny. With inputs from agencies