Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

Is topless sunbathing ok in icmeler?
As my gf will probably want to but obviously being a Muslim country we would rather make sure before hand!!
Thanks
Chris

topless sunbathing is ok

No problems with topless sunbathing in Icmeler - have stayed at several places, beach,boat trips etc and never had a problem.

No question is a silly question.

As others have said going topless is fine but you are expected to cover up if you leave the beach or the pool area.

Make sure you use high factor sun cream to start with,


Dave

I would not consider going topless at all in a Muslim country and from what I have heard of some of the waiters there what they say they do not really approve, I would not repeat what I have heard some of them say. Sorry to disagree but when you think about it is not very respectful.
Ibiza-yes. Turkey-no.
Men-yes. Women-no.

I wouldn't dream of going topless, but I have no objection to others that do.

I have seen many women topless in Turkey, and obviously the young lads will have a glance, but I assume they do this in other Countries as well. I have not come across any problems with the people who do go topless.

Just go for it and enjoy - like said before, just cover up if walking to the bar/restaurants etc. Even though its a muslim country, its a holiday resort, and women have gone topless in Turkey for many years.

Look on it this way;

Typically taking your bikini top off is done in the tourist resorts that adorn the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Anyone could argue that these tourist resorts are man-made money making machines that are designed to keep holiday makers happy while they take your money. They will cater for your every need and let you do what you want, even if it goes against their principals and upbringing.
However remember that Turkey is a Muslim country, and while that young fit Turkish man walking around in Nike shoes and singing like a rap star may seem modern and westernised, the thoughts going round in his head are the complete opposite. These young lads generally come from small villages where a girl showing her assets in public is likely to get her thrown out of the village or committed to mental health therapy for the rest of her life.
So imagine a young naïve lad, leaving his home village to find work in the coastal resorts. He finds a job in a hotel and on his first day, a women laying on a sun bed orders a coke. He struggles to write down the word on his order pad, as he cannot take his eyes off her assets. He is embarrassed and he is shy. This goes against every principle that he was bought up with.
Now this young lad will get used to it. By the end of the summer, he won’t even give a second glance. What will not change though is his opinion that western women are easy. There is a meeting here of two different cultures that 99% of the time are so different and any attempt to justify sunbathing without your upper half covered will be meet with a brick wall.
Even the young naïve lad who is so used to it by the end of season, will tell you in private that no wife or sister of his will ever be seen in public showing off her assets. The women that do that are easy and cannot complain when men hassle them. So, if you want to be respectful to local cultures, and if you don’t want to be thought of as an easy western woman, then the best advice I can give you is to buy a strapless bikini top and never take it off.

Very well put indeed, Chocoholic. And I would echo your earlier post about some of the comments made by the locals about the women who do go topless. But hey, it's a personal choice and if people want to do so, then it's up to them.

We have been visiting Icmeler for many years and have never had a problem with going topless - just do it ....

That's a very fair comment chocoholic, I will tell er in doors to keep her top on in that case
Chris

Bev & Mandy wrote:We have been visiting Icmeler for many years and have never had a problem with going topless - just do it ....

When are you going Bev & Mandy lol
Sorry, couldn't resist
Chris

Just come back 2 weeks ago lol....

Bev & Mandy wrote:Just come back 2 weeks ago lol....

Hope you had an amazing time, we can't wait, tis our first time to Turkey
Chris

Thanks for support from some of you. As a woman on my own sometimes when I go I do get the impression that most of the guys there have the wrong idea of us British women- some of the propositions I have had you would not believe! Met up with a guy one year and he already had a hotel room booked! we are good pals now and laugh about it but you cannot really blame them when you think about how some behave on holiday. Once they realize you are not what they generize all us British women to be then then the respect is there. Thing is you never see a Turkish lady there topless at all- even laid on the beach. It also makes me cringe when I see women walking around the streets with a bikini top on with shorts and a skirt without a blouse/T-shirt and I am not a prude.
Is ok for the guys on here to consider it ok but try being a woman there!

Have a great time but glue your partners bikini top on lol!

Agree with you Chocoholic 100%. I have gone topless in most of the countries I have visited but would not have dreamt of going topless in Turkey. Even though nobody is going to stop you, when you know that the religion is one of modesty I just think it is disrespectful to go topless. If going topless is important there are so many other countries to visit, eg when I visited Corfu you were the odd person out if you had a top on whilst on the beach, or by the pool!

To answer your question Chris your girlfriend can see for herself that the topless women are few and far between but if she still wants to go topless no-one will object but unfortunately assumptions are made, and like Chocoholic I have heard many of the comments over the years.

On saying that we spotted one young girl a couple of years ago on the back of a motorbike going down the main road in Icmeler whilst topless and wearing only a thong, that I really thought was a bit much!

I have seen many ladies topless in Icmeler. I would personally never do this, but the reason is I think if you are a young slim girl it doesn't look too bad but once you mature it doesn't look right.
I know its personal choice but I have seen women of about 70+ topless and no way do they look nice!!!
I agree with some of the other posters on this topic, its not respectful to the Turkish culture but especially when you're older and should be getting respect not sniggers and crude comments.
Those are my thoughts on the subject anyway x

Seems to me a matter of opinion but you must respect other cultures. Saying that the general view of topless British women in turkey is that they are easy seems unfair. For the naive men from the villages mentioned above taking offence is somewhat contradictory when mentioning the propositions and hotel room considering they are supposed to follow a Muslim tradition. Most Muslims would not dream about doing something like this and are in the minority. If anything I would say its these people who are easy and desperate who do not follow the tradition as much as others. Muslims who take offence take it for offending their religion not because they think girls are easy.For a tourist area most muslim and Islamic principles go out the window for the sake of money. Thats not to say they dont follow the religion still.
Im not criticising anybody but its clearly a matter of using your judgement to not offend anyone.

jonnyb19782 wrote:Seems to me a matter of opinion but you must respect other cultures. Saying that the general view of topless British women in turkey is that they are easy seems unfair. For the naive men from the villages mentioned above taking offence is somewhat contradictory when mentioning the propositions and hotel room considering they are supposed to follow a Muslim tradition. Most Muslims would not dream about doing something like this and are in the minority. If anything I would say its these people who are easy and desperate who do not follow the tradition as much as others. Muslims who take offence take it for offending their religion not because they think girls are easy.For a tourist area most muslim and Islamic principles go out the window for the sake of money. Thats not to say they dont follow the religion still.
Im not criticising anybody but its clearly a matter of using your judgement to not offend anyone.

Obvious you like to see bare boobs then?
Seriously- To say that it is condradictory to mention propositions and hotel rooms etc- how is it? They wouldn't dream of making a date with Turkish lady and pre-booking a hotel room! It is the impression they get of us so in my opinion to go topless in their country only fuels their concept they have of us. If any woman is on offer of course they will accept- they would not respect her though and they probably wouldn't understand why the lady doesnt respect herself as it does go beyond all the values they have been brought up with.
Their principles do not go out of the window for the sake of money- they have to live- eat etc. Seems to me they have to just grin and accept us to earn a living and it must sometimes be degrading when they DO want to follow the religon as it should be. Do you see them running off to prayer when they should? No because they are too busy looking after us tourists. It is not always possible to do as you wish when you live in a poor counrty and you have to earn a living to probably support other members of the family. No old peoples homes there- they look after the disabled and elderly. Thats how it should be. Dont forget they only work half of the year so they have to make as much as they can so how would they do that if they kicked up a fuss at the "westeners" behaviour?
I lived in a predominantly Muslim country for a few years and the respect goes with all walks of life- you will not see the stuff you see on our Western TV's, sex, nudity, violence etc and go to any city or town for a night out and you will not see the loutish drunken behaviour that you see here- yes, some of them drink but how many religons follow it all to the latter? They would never dream of using bad language to a woman, they do not in Turkey, well not to the Turkish women anyway. There is still the respect and overall the impression they have of us Westerners is not a good one. Take a break? Toyboy? Ring a bell? Why give them the impression that we are all like that? If a women bares all in a muslim country she would be regarded as a "loose" woman. For a Turkish lady to go topless would be to them like us removing the bottom half of our bikini's here! Absolutely not acceptable!

Please don't forget that we are guests in their Country.

Wouldn't have gone topless in the past but now, being married to Turkish, absolutely NO WAY on earth i would be allowed to, so i would say most, probably dont like it, but quite happily tolerate it (if that makes sense!) as after all like others have said, it is a resort and they need the money!

Chris221273 wrote:Is topless sunbathing ok in icmeler?
As my gf will probably want to but obviously being a Muslim country we would rather make sure before hand!!
Thanks
Chris

Wow - started something here all in all it is the personal choice of the woman.... but by going topless does not turn her into a drunken lout with no respect for others... does it?