Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Women-Only Beach


Something that caught my eye in the European press is this bizarre story of a new women-only beach that has just opened up in Italy. The birds-beach is in the resort of Riccione, on the Adriatic coast, and is also closed to children but interestingly not to dogs.

The idea for the beach comes, somewhat surprisingly from a man, a local businessman, Fausto Ravaglia,

“This is not a lesbian beach. It is simply for women to be themselves.”

Mr Ravaglia’s 22 year-old daughter, Francesca, runs the Pink Beach,

“Life is still quite tough for women in Italy. Men give us no peace. At Riccione, no one stares at you to see if you’ve got cellulite. You don’t have to tie yourself up in a beach sarong to disguise your imperfections. Men are so critical. We can’t all be Miss Italy”.

The only men tolerated are a hairdresser and the lifeguard.

“You need a man to save women in the sea,” Mr Ravaglia said. “It’s a question of muscles”.

Isn't that, err, a little sexist? On so many levels?

Also spotted by The Thunderdragon