Normalizing thongs at your local beach

General
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I’ve always been about normalizing wearing thongs at the local beach, but it’s still kind of a solo effort where I am. I usually set myself up pretty far back on beach to stay in “stealth mode”, but this year I’ve been consciously choosing not to do this. For example, at Nahant I now set up near one of the lifeguard chairs (heh, which almost never actually has a lifeguard in it, but it is a more central location). Most of us are familiar with people doing the occasional double-take, but this year I’m barely getting them. When I go for a swim, people chat with me, just no big deal.

Today I was coming in from a SUP surf session and a pretty mom in her early 40s with two kids (maybe 6 and 9 years old) came up to me to ask me about the surfing, the gear, etc etc. While we were chatting, I smiled and said to the mom “no laughing!” and took off my shortie wetsuit, which left me in an M67 thong, which is what I wear under my wetsuits. She didn’t blink an eye, nor did her children. We all chatted for another 20 minutes about surfing, surfboards, paddles, the waves, the wind, surf lessons for the kids, the drive to Nahant, etc etc; then I helped her pack up her stuff and load up her kids.

Normalization… maybe it’s arriving?

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Way to go man. It’s nice to see more proof. If you just act normal, nobody will make a big deal about the suit.

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I believe I pioneered thongs on MdR beach, south of Venice Beach back in 1999-2001 I consistently thong there two, three times a week from May thr Sep/Oct. It sorta become a spot. In 2008 I moved away and didn’t return for 10 years. I’ve been going on an off once or twice a month and I’ve seen some minor activity but not like in 2008. Someone needs to be there consistently. Not necessarily the same person but a rotating group so as to have one or two on the same beach several times per week. The thing is, who’s willing to commit? I know it can happen because it’s happened before. I’m older and busier but as long as one or two or three can strategically be across the beach on any given day, it will happen.

For example, on day one I saw a particular woman. I saw her again on another day, same stretch of beach. By day three she was wearing a thong. And just like her, dozens of others who on day one were wearing regular bottoms. Men too. On day one. No one else. Three or four weeks later, a few. By the end of the summer, perhaps 15 to 20 over a quarter of a mile stretch of beach. Not many but an improvement. Imagine if there had been a key person(s) summer after summer!

Anyway, keep up the good work; it won’t happen otherwise.

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I would be that regular ambassador if I lived near a beach. Unfortunately, I live in a landlocked area in Pennsylvania near a couple state parks with water facilities. However, thongs are not permitted in PA State Parks.

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Bravo for you, CambridgeGuy.

I hope we can all have positive interactions like this.

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I second this thought. I’ve been attempting to normalize men in thongs for a few years. The best way to do that is to be in an area where you can be seen. For the past few years I have been in the more trafficked area of my local beach. While I am most often the only man wearing something smaller than board shorts, I wear a thong with confidence and joy.

Today I met up with a friend (non thong wearer) and she brought a friend of hers that I never met. I was set up before they arrived. When I saw them pull up I slid a shirt, unbuttoned, over my shoulders and walked up to the car to meet them. I lead them to where I was set up knowing they had a view of my thong. My friend is familiar with my swimwear choice, so it’s no big deal with her. Once we were set up we enjoyed conversation and a couple jumps in the water. Not a word about my swimwear choice was made. No other person on the beach gave us a second look. We had a great day.

Normalize wearing a thong by being friendly, showing confidence and acting like any other beach goer out to enjoy the day.

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My opinion is a bit different. Rather than consider it normal, I say “You do what makes you happy” If it’s legal, nobody is physically harmed, my life has far more priorities than be concerned about someone wearing a thong. It’s always good to read stories of positivity.

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Agreed with both, do what makes you happy and it becomes normal. I wear briefs and thongs at the beach and pool and no one comments or gives me any looks.

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I think this perception is partly shaped by how, beyond just behaving ourselves and fitting in, we actively seek out places where thong swimwear is widely accepted. It’s common enough that most people have formed an opinion. A few communities have enacted bans, and vocal critics still complain, but most people have moved past the initial shock and simply choose to coexist.

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I think there’s wisdom in that. I have noticed that the younger generations are completely indifferent to thongs on men or women. As long as you’re not doing something lewd or stupid, there are zero issues. It’s just the body, and the no one cares.

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I was at the beach today and had my towel near 3 ladies. I would estimate mid to late 20s.

The two petite ones had on cheeky bottoms. The taller, thicker one had on a high waisted thong bottom that showed it all. When she got up to take a swim, she didn’t hesitate at all and she proudly flaunted her powerful? bum all the way to the waters edge. When she got back to her friends, she didn’t plop down and hide…she stood there, toweled off, chatted and did her thing and whether intentional or not, showed off her a$$ets to everyone nearby.

It made me smile because her confidence instantly made her a 10. It also made me realize that while my body isn’t perfect, the confidence I show when wearing a thong hopefully has a similar effect on others.

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You are correct. I’ve seen people watching people and 90+% don’t care after the initial look. For example, this one time, while taking a walk at a rate that I kept about 10 feet from a couple behind me I could easily hear their conversation (I was not wearing a thong). In a distance a man was walking towards us, in a speedo style suit. Maybe about 40ish years old. He walked passed me and then walked passed them. From the corner of my eye I noticed it was a conservative thong, speedo style. As he passed the couple behind me and a few seconds later so as not to be heard by the man wearing the thong I heard the woman said, “that man is totally rocking a thong!” To which the man calmly replied, “yeah, I’ve seen him before” before returning to their previous conversation.

In another overheard conversation, this time while in the water, two women, possibly in their mid 20s were talking as a man began to enter the water. One of them said, “oh, that’s him!” The second woman looked but did not say anything. After a dip he returned to the beach and one of the women said, “see, you should get one!”

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I been trying to make it normal as well. People are going to look, guys stand out in a thong. As I gotten more confident I moved away from the nude/small swimwear of the beach and now setup around a medium crowd. People see me but I have never had a negative comment. Matter of fact I love the conversations with beach folks where the suit isn’t brought up at all. I had someone said “You look incredible or I love your tan” It’s a very uplifting comment and validates why I love wearing a thong to the beach. I never been there to show off, but to wear the style of swimsuit I always loved.

When I get in the water, I’ll purposely stop about knee length so when a walker passes by they see a man in a thong. OK, I guess I’m showing off, but it’s to show confidence. I walk the beach frequently and been told I’m the “Official Ambassador of Thongs” since so many people have seen me walking. I humor myself and say these people will have a story to tell that they saw a man in a thong. I gotten close with a gym buddy, she knows about my thong but admits she never seen a man in a thong and she’s a beach bum like me. I’ll argue, packed/family beaches that would be rare. I offered to have her join me at the beach so she can see for herself. She’s from El Salvador and I ask if thongs were common down there, she said on women, yes. She loves my confidence but admitted she never tried it herself. So the door is open.

Let’s make it normal ladies/gents. Wear that thong, you’ll love the tan-line.

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I’m all for normalizing thongs. Recently I’ve been doing enough research to qualify as an expert in “butt law.” Colorado Statutes ban the exposure of the butt if the intention is to arouse or offend-- a defense that could be used by most anyone in this group. BUT (pun intended) in Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs the mere fact of having the butt exposed is grounds for a citation for public indecency. Not trying to be a killjoy. I love wearing thongs and have done so dozens of times at Prospect Lake beach. But I always have this tension knowing that technically I don’t have a legal ground to stand on. That being said, I have had some unpleasant encounters there, but nothing that has led to police involvement. It still seems to be kind of subjective, depending on how other beach goers or the police are feeling at the time. That is why I found it so exhilirating to wear a thong in Boulder in the park along Boulder Creek and at the north shore of the reservoir recently. Thongs are legal there. (One more caveat, in a “family friendly” situation there is always the possibility of a charge like creating a public disturbance. I’m sorry, I guess it’s obvious I have OCD.)

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I decided this year that I’m done with wearing swim shorts, and I now wear normal pants or gym shorts over my swim thong, which sort of forces me to take it off so that I have to wear the thong on the beach.

In January I went to a little tidal pool with my girlfriend called Saunders Rock in Sea Point, Cape Town. The beach was packed with people and the water was freezing cold, so I hesitated to swim because it basically feels like an ice bath and I’ve never been in a thong with so many people around. I said to my girlfriend I’m scared to take the shorts off, and her reply was “Scared of what?”. She made a very valid point.

Half of the girls on the beach were wearing thongs, and some times they are also topless, so if they can do it, I can do it. Counted to 10 to take off my shorts, but before I could finish counting I dropped my shorts, put them on the side of the tidal pool, and went in. There was a woman with her child right next to us who also hesitated due to the cold, and the woman said “Wow, that is actually the way to do it, just jump right in!”. No mention of the thong, no gasps, nothing.

After the plunge I got out, walked to my towel which we left around 15m away with my shorts folded in my hand, dried off, and walked in my thong to the top of the rocks next to the tidal pool and laid out for an hour or so. My girlfriend called me over to the other side to come look at the waves, still tons of people around, no one even noticed me or looked as I was walking around. The fear and nerves is all in our head, no one really cares.

From there I used the same recipe, just dropping my shorts as if it’s the most normal thing, and go swimming and tanning in my thong. It also helps to have a girlfriend who doesn’t mind and wears them to the beach herself.

Now, I always wear a thong at my local beach and others which are a bit further away.

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Not the beach, but I have had a bit of a dispute with the female manager at my gym.

The gym I go to in the summer has an outdoor pool that is frequented by students, since it is right next to a university campus. On a bright sunny day, there are about a dozen people sunbathing in thongs by the pool. Since there is no strict policy on swimwear, I assumed it was fine for me to wear a thong swimsuit as well. But, the manager had a problem with me in a thong because she didn’t fancy seeing my bulge. Fortunately, when she confronted me, there was a female thonger right next to me, so I pointed out that singling me out was blatant sexual discrimination. Realizing the double standard, the manager then backed down and said that I should be more discreet.

Since then, the manager hasn’t said a word about my swimsuits. But then, just recently, another guy wore a thong to the pool, and she confronted him about his swimsuit. When I asked him about the interaction later, he said he was disappointed in the management. He hasn’t returned to the pool since that encounter.

I am glad that I stood my ground and defended my choice of swimwear. The manager may not be happy with me but there is nothing she can do because what she is doing is clear sexual discrimination. It is just a shame that I wasn’t able to defend the other male thonger.

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Good thing you have your girlfriend for moral support. Having a female companion while thonging is like a seal of approval

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