Rick Steves' Travel as a Political Act Blog - European Flesh and the American Prude

European Flesh and the American Prude

Sex is one aspect of the cultural divide that titillates any American traveler to Europe who's window-shopped a magazine kiosk, gone to a beach or park on a sunny day, or channel-surfed broadcast TV late at night.

Thinking through my recent travels, I recall many examples of Europe's different attitudes about sexuality: My Dutch friends had, on their coffee table, a graphic government-produced magazine promoting safe sex. I was sitting on the toilet at an airport in Poland and the cleaning lady asked me to lift my legs so she could sweep. I learned that I can measure the romantic appeal of scenic pull-outs along the Amalfi Coast drive by how many used condoms litter the asphalt. Soap ads on huge billboards overlooking major city intersections in Belgium show lathered-up breasts. The logo of a German travel publisher is a traveler on a tropical-paradise islet leaning up against its only palm tree, hands behind his head, reading a book that's supported by his erect penis. Preschoolers play naked in fountains in Norway. A busty porn star is elected to parliament in Italy. Coppertoned grandmothers in the south of France have no tan lines. The student tourist center in Copenhagen welcomes visitors with a bowl of free condoms at the info desk. Accountants in Munich fold their suits neatly on the grass as every inch of their body soaks up the sun while taking a lunch break in the park.

I'm not comfortable with all of this. During a construction industry convention in Barcelona, locals laughed that they had to actually bus in extra prostitutes from France. I find the crude sexual postcards on racks all over the continent gross, the Benny Hill-style T&A that inundates TV throughout Mediterranean Europe boorish, and the topless models strewn across page three of so many British newspapers insulting to women. And I'll never forget the time my wife and I had to physically remove the TV from our children's hotel room in Austria after seeing a couple slamming away on channel 7 (and the hotelier looked at us like we were crazy).

You may not want to bring the more casual European approach to sex and the human body back home with you. And I'm not saying we should all run around naked. But I suspect that children raised in America, where sex is often considered "dirty," are more likely to have an uncomfortable relationship with sex and their bodies than those in Europe. (I sense that there is more violence associated with sex here than there; in fact, Americans report at least double the incidence of rape as citizens of any European country.) And I have a hunch that the French, who have as many words for a kiss as Eskimos have for snow, enjoy making love more than we Americans do. I like a continent where sexual misconduct won't doom a politician with anyone other than his family and friends, and where the human body is considered a divine work of art worth admiring openly.

About This Entry

You are reading "European Flesh and the American Prude", an entry posted on 04 September 2009 by Rick Steves.

11 replies to this entry. Add your comment below.

Previous Entry, The Futility of Legislating Morality, posted Sep 02 2009

Next Entry, American Fig Leafs, posted Sep 09 2009

Comments [ top ]

Right, the rampant hedonism of Europe is leading to rapid social decline- Europeans too hedonistic to be bothered with the sacrifice involved in raising a family. And so Europeans are dying out, being replaced with a deluge of third world immigrants who've almost nothing in common with European mores and are bereft of any desire to assimilate. The laws of demographic decline are _inexorable_ when birth replacement rates are as low as they are. In France every French woman today would have to have 8 children in order to reverse the decline. In Germany, the native population with be approximately half- half!! - of what it is today. Read Walter Laqueur (eminent historian), recently published book The Last Days of Europe. I'm no Catholic (or practicing Christian for that matter) but the Paul VI was certainly on to something in his dire predictions re. birth control in "Humanae Vitae" -- i.e., the turning of the libidinal drive into a complete end in itself.

Posted by: Robert - Sep 04, 2009 2:43 PM

Correction: "In Germany, the native population with be approximately half- half!! - of what it is today [by 2050]

Posted by: Robert - Sep 04, 2009 2:46 PM

I guess with the world population set to exceed 9 billion within the next half-century, birth control is not a bad thing...and if immigrants can shore up the shortfall made by the societal decisions of Europeans (and move upward in the process), more power to them.

Posted by: Alfran - Sep 04, 2009 5:49 PM

The birthrates of the immigrants (and their descendents) actually have relatively little impact on the European population as a whole, because: a) 2nd and 3rd generation non-european populations end up having the same birth rates as the locals, b) immigrants and their descendents actually make up quite a small percentage of the native European population (about 5 per cent) - not enough to make enough noticeable impact over just a few decades. As for the sex thing, I think there should be some middle ground somewhere - neither too prudish nor too "out there".

Posted by: Ian - Sep 07, 2009 5:38 AM

Varying standards seem to apply throughout the continent. I've noticed that on TV in Belgium, the Netherlands in the UK, incidental or mild sexual content is usually not censored, but at the same time, if a film contains too much objectionable material, it won't be broadcast at all. Whearas in Germany, daytime and evening TV is just as "clean" as the US... but beware at night!

Posted by: Tom - Sep 07, 2009 6:15 AM

Oh, and by the way Rick... many Balkan and ex-Soviet nations report rape incidences almost twice as high as the US.

Posted by: Tom - Sep 07, 2009 6:16 AM

I've been to Italy several times. Also, Britain, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Greece. I don't recall ever seeing nude sunbathers in the park, or condoms littering parking lots, or pornographic television. I think Rick is exaggerating. Rick makes it seem like Europe is full of perves. I don't buy it. Sure, there is some nudity in European magazines, but it's not like an episode of True Blood.

Posted by: John J. Bannan - Sep 08, 2009 12:38 PM

I find naked, giggling Norwegian children the absolute essence of innocence. But I always wonder what the Pakistani immigrants think.

Posted by: norskie - Sep 08, 2009 4:26 PM

John Bannan--you must have been traveling with your eyes closed. One little girl thought there had been a birthday party because there were so many deflated "balloons" on the ground near a park in Italy. I actually had to block my son's view of the cover shot of a vagina on an issue of Der Spiegel in Germany--it was way too graphic. I don't see how you could have missed the nude sun bathing in Munich in the English Garden, for example, or in Paris along the river banks. Most of this is harmless, but once in awhile it is a bit much, even for those of us who are not prudes.

Posted by: louisa - Sep 08, 2009 5:40 PM

I think my current favorite statement regarding European open-mindedness is that French President Sarkozy's life (especially political) doesn't seem to have ended because of the recurring evidence of his wife's former career ...

Posted by: Angie - Sep 09, 2009 9:43 AM

Louisa -- I've never been to Munich or Paris, so I can't dispute what you say in those two cities. However, I've extensively traveled Rome, Venice, Sorrento, Capri, Florence, Athens, London, Dublin, Vienna, Salzburg, and Lucerne, and have never seen much to suggest that Europeans are perves. I personally know many Italians from my wife's family, and they have never given me any reason to believe they are free lovin' hippy children obsessed with porno and nudity. Sorry, I just didn't see any of that.

Posted by: John J. Bannan - Sep 10, 2009 9:52 AM