American sense in a Czech world

So, when my parents visited, my mom commented that the Czech women seem to like tight clothing. This comment touches on some thoughts that I've been trying to articulate to myself, which is why it has taken this long for me to write about it. It appears to me that Czech woman have a sense that the clothes are the outfit and whatever it is supposed to look like it does. For example, a woman might wear a tank top, belly shirt and low-riding tight jeans - a common site on the streets of Prague for woman of any age...well, let's say below 50. On many women, it looks fine, even great. On some, though the clothes are too small and their bodies are spilling out of the outfit, in what most Americans would say is very unflattering. It's like if the outfit is supposed to be sexy than it is, regardless of how the body inside the clothes make it look. Now, I'm not sure if women buy the clothes this tight or if they are old or borrowed or what. I was discussing this with my friend Hanka and she said that Czech women are confident in their bodies. Okay. I'll accept that. I'm not saying that there is no pressure for women to be beautiful and skinny like in the US. The documentary Ženy pro měny (Beauty Exchange) does an excellent job of showing that. But women do seem more confident in their bodies here, in general. Which leads me to my next commentary - the human body and nudity.

So, I live near žluté lázně, a beach area on the banks of the Vltava. I go sometimes in the afternoon to sit in the sun and work, usually with a nice cold beer. Now, it is Europe so there are plenty of men in speedos. And you can tell you spend a lot of time out there. Men and women who are brown, I mean really brown, the kind of brown that you only get with long-term, intensive exposure to the sun. But the first time I was there, I noticed one young women sit up from her spot on the grass and take her bikini top off. Okay. I was a little surprised. The next time, though, it was like I had walked into a nudist beach...almost. Women were topless everywhere. All ages. All sizes. Just sitting there on their towels, talking to their friends, playing cards. One woman looked like she had just taken her clothes off and was wearing ther underwear thong and nothing else. And weighed probably 200 pounds, not a small woman. I guess that is confidence. :) I will say that they clothed themselves when going to the concession stand but only a few feet away were the shower spouts to rinse off and there people were rinsing off, wearing bottoms only in many cases. And I can't just talk about the women. Across the street from the beach is one of the biggest pools in Prague, open all year round. Next door is a building with a flat roof. The tram goes right past this and one day I was riding in to the center and happened to look up and see an older man (white haired) standing on the roof, rubbing lotion on his butt. I thought, he can't be...then he turned around and yep, he was nude. Just standing there in full view of the street, etc. On the way back a few hours later, he was standing up again and a woman was there, too, also in the buff.

So, what am I trying to say here. Well, first, I feel that I have exhibited the classic American prudishness that Europeans accuse us of so often. Nudity is such a negative thing in the US. We are so body conscious - too fat, too skinny (which you can be both, I am not saying that these do not exist but I think that we are too critical), too naked. And I'm not saying that we should all walk around naked but that we need to loosen up our views on what nudity means. In the Victorian era, men were turned on by the sight of an ankle or the chance to touch a woman's skin (and the woman would be tittilated by that touch, too) because it was so restricted and skin and limbs were so sensationalized. An old professor tells that story how Malians think that bikinis are so silly because they cover up the breasts, which are no big deal, they are for nursing babies, but show off the thighs, which are the really sexy part of a woman. So by restricting the human body in American public life, we sensationalize and highlight the sexual meanings that our culture places on these body parts.

Now, I'm probably contradicting myself with my fashion critique followed by my desire to see more bodies but they are linked. I'm just trying to figure it all out for myself :) However, I have been wondering about all of this for some time. Specifically, since I read that Hooters is supposed to be opening a Prague location later this year. I have never been to Hooters for the obvious reasons, despite the fact that I love wings and theirs are supposed to be really good. However, I am wondering if Hooters will have the same meaning or reaction in Prague that it does in the US. If ideas about clothing and nudity are different here, how does the Hooters uniform of super-short shorts and tight shirts worn by skinny, tanned, beautiful women fit into the Czech schemata of sexuality? Unfortunately, I don't think it will be opening before I leave because I would have to visit it here (both for research and for the fact that I am craving good wings!) I mean, Czech beer gardens are family places, with kids and strollers, half of the kids at the beach are running around naked, will this be a family restaurant in Prague? To be continued...