*Inna* Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 During any sunny day, which we have plenty here in Central California, our neighborhood's teenage girls don a microscopic bikini and sunbathe on their front lawn. Is this a widespread occurrence or it's just our neighborhood? I'm curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I know I did as a teenager... 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiMi 4under3 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 We don't have teenage neighbors... I don't have a problem with bikinis, but why the front yard?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 We used to have a teenaged girl next door, and yes, she did this on her driveway. I assume it was because our backyards are woodsy and shady. It didn't bother me. I won't be encouraging my kids to do it, though. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Totally jealous of your sunshine - we don't get much here, but when we do the teens usually head directly to the beach or a friend's pool, so I haven't noticed them in sunning in yards. Love your neighbors' confidence! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 That was just a joke on Modern Family. I don't think it's a regional thing, I think it's a certain type of teen girl thing. (Not a bad type, just saying, it's not all/most girls). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Our backyard was full of shade trees. We used the driveway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I did, because my backyard was shady. I never really thought anything of it. All the moms sunned in *their bathing suits while we were little kids splashing in front yard kiddie pools, so it definitely didn't seem strange. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I haven't seen that yet. I would think the front yard is more social. We have a pretty good front porch mentality in my neighborhood. Most of us don't have front porches, but many people put chairs on the little patch of front yard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 That's normal among our teenagers and our adults. :) I live in the Seattle area. You only get so much sunshine so go for it! Our kids are in bikinis/swimsuits now, in the front where there is less shade, and I don't notice a huge drop-off at the age of 12. That said I don't encourage sunbathing, but sun-playing, like volleyball, badminton. But yes... we love the sun. When I lived briefly in SoCal this was common among all ages. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Dd does that sometimes, but there is only one other house in site from ours. We don't really live in a "neighborhood". Our back yard is too shady and she definitely works on her tan whenever the opportunity presents (which won't be for months yet). She does always wear a bikini, although I don't consider hers microscopic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Yes, but usually the backyard. If it isn't sunny in the back, I can see the front. Mine tend to go to the deck or the dock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Not where I live, but we did growing up. And my dad was a preacher. Scandalous!! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thank you all for your responses! This is really interesting to me. I grew up in a Muslim country, where wearing short shorts or skirts, let alone bikini, was considered inappropriate- so I've never thought of doing that. I'm still learning local customs and was wondering if this was something just in California or in other states too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I never knew, until I came here, that front yards were considered public space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Common here too. There are lots of reasons. The backyards are usually more shaded by the trees or other 2 story houses. Many people have the little kids play in the fenced back yard and the teens want to avoid the littles. For those with pets, the backyard often smells like dog poo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Common here if the person doesn't have a pool. I would have done the same as a teenager if I hadn't had access to a pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I never knew, until I came here, that front yards were considered public space. Really? Not where I live. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I never knew, until I came here, that front yards were considered public space. I've never heard of that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I never knew, until I came here, that front yards were considered public space. What do you mean by public space? I would sunbathe in both the front and back yards. Also, I would mow the lawn in my bikini. I don't remember there ever being anything said about it. After all, I was on my own property. My dds do the same thing. It's our yard. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I do think front yards are considered public space in the sense that, if you have neighbors in view, you can't do things you could in the privacy if your home. You can't be nude, for example. Or pee. Or try to conceive a child. In my neighborhood growing up if you wanted to drink in your front yard , you'd brown-paper-bag it.... not sure if that was law or custom. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 No, everyone here has a pool in the backyard as well as an ocean. The front yard is for golfing, so there is a strict dress code for the front yard. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I don't care if they sly out naked. I just want enough sun and warmth for it to even be a possibility. This ice age is KILLING me. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I do think front yards are considered public space in the sense that, if you have neighbors in view, you can't do things you could in the privacy if your home. You can't be nude, for example. Or pee. Or try to conceive a child. In my neighborhood growing up if you wanted to drink in your front yard , you'd brown-paper-bag it.... not sure if that was law or custom. I guess I call that common decency. I have never heard private property referred to as public space. And I can't imagine putting my beer in a brown paper sack in my own front yard. My front yard is private property, surrounded by a fence; people need my permission to enter. But yeah, nudity, sex, peeing is not appropriate. A bikini though wouldn't even cause me to blink. I'm very protective of people being able to do what they want on their own property if it's within cultural norms and legal. Now in my back yard behind my 6' cedar fence - that's my fortress. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I do think front yards are considered public space in the sense that, if you have neighbors in view, you can't do things you could in the privacy if your home. You can't be nude, for example. Or pee. Or try to conceive a child. I don't think too many people would do that in their backyard either, if the neighbors could see. I do consider whatever I do outside to be "in public." That said, I admit to going to the roadside mailbox in my pajamas. :P 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 We don't have teenage neighbors... I don't have a problem with bikinis, but why the front yard?? Cause nobody can see you in the backyard. Duh! Yes that was me. I also went to publix and the swap shop decked out in a bikini with the addition of dolphin shorts. It was the 80s, I had my big hair and frosty lipstick, it was Ft. Lauderdale. There were few places you couldn't sport the bikini and dolphins combo. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Yes, it's common. I scream out the window at them as I drive by, "there's no such thing as a healthy tan!" Nah, I don't scream it...I think it really loud... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Public space? No. But they're not exactly private space, as in you can't be out in your front yard naked. If she's got her lady parts covered she's not naked, so each her own. One teen neighbor girl here managed to very slooooooowly wash her car every weekend during warm weather in her bikini. It was like seeing someone in a time warp. Also, she stood in one place and managed to reach as faaaaar was possible in every direction before taking the next step. A couple of the neighbors have mentioned it with eye rolls since the girl's family moved away. Eye rolling from some is about the extent of the social backlash for that here.The rest of the teenagers in the neighborhood have never been in the front for anything. We're in the suburbs with small front yards and young kids play in the street because the front years usually have rock and cacti in them. The grass yards aren't enough space or flat enough to play anything. Most people here have pools so they lay out there. Some neighborhoods have community pools. Public pools are nearby and super cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I think the girls will sun bathe wherever the SUN is. My friend and I used to sunbathe on the south side of her house where there were no trees and it must have driven the neighbor over there nuts because she had teenage sons. If the back yard is shaded by a fence or trees, the girls will go to the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candicane Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I haven't seen it here (we haven't been here through the summer plus we don't really have young neighbors) but in Arizona a lot of the backyards were just rocks and cement. The front yards were usually where you'd find the grass, so yeah it was pretty normal when we lived there. I saw nothing wrong with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I don't have a problem with bikinis, but why the front yard?? So that people can see them! It's not a thing here. Here, our front yards are small (and, because of the hills, often raised above the sidewalk), and you pretty much only get in a bathing suit of any sort if you're planning to get wet. The kids even wear white t-shirts (because that's the only color of street clothes allowed) to the public pool if they're not going to be in the water. For that matter, most of our adolescents are too self-conscious to wear a very small bikini - or if they DO, again, they have a shirt over it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I never saw it in the Baltimore suburb I lived in nor the semi-rural/farming town I currently live in. Not in the front yard, anyway. Backyards, yes. Just because I haven't seen it doesn't mean people don't. I could have just not been driving by that day. But I don't think it's very common around here, being as I've never seen it in 42 years of life. I don't care if people do or don't, but I can understand someone not having ever seen it themselves and wondering if it's just a California thing. If I was the OP I'd have wondered as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 So that people can see them! It's not a thing here. Here, our front yards are small (and, because of the hills, often raised above the sidewalk), and you pretty much only get in a bathing suit of any sort if you're planning to get wet. The kids even wear white t-shirts (because that's the only color of street clothes allowed) to the public pool if they're not going to be in the water. For that matter, most of our adolescents are too self-conscious to wear a very small bikini - or if they DO, again, they have a shirt over it! Can I ask what you mean by "white is the only color of street clothes allowed"? I just can't figure out why that would be? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Can I ask what you mean by "white is the only color of street clothes allowed"? I just can't figure out why that would be? I think she means in the pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 On behalf of the young lady next door, I don't think she was doing it to show off her stuff. She struck me as a sensible girl. I just think she didn't have a better place to lay out. Far be it from me to tell other people whether they should sun themselves. :P I've seen some gross things, but usually they involve the skin of much older people, or tweens who are trying to get the wrong kind of attention by showing off their underwear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Pretty common here, but they use the very wide grassy center median of the streets instead. The medians are so wide, some of the streets are called "______ gardens", LOL. During any sunny day, which we have plenty here in Central California, our neighborhood's teenage girls don a microscopic bikini and sunbathe on their front lawn. Is this a widespread occurrence or it's just our neighborhood? I'm curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I think she means in the pool. Àh, like they can wear a white t shirt over a suit in the pool, but not a red one? That makes sense. Our pools don't allow street clothes at all actually in the pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Just curious...can you explain this? Why can you only wear white street clothes? I'm probably being dense, but enquiring minds want to know...... So that people can see them! It's not a thing here. Here, our front yards are small (and, because of the hills, often raised above the sidewalk), and you pretty much only get in a bathing suit of any sort if you're planning to get wet. The kids even wear white t-shirts (because that's the only color of street clothes allowed) to the public pool if they're not going to be in the water. For that matter, most of our adolescents are too self-conscious to wear a very small bikini - or if they DO, again, they have a shirt over it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 People wear tee shirts in the pool? I couldn't figure it out,either. I think she means in the pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I like in southern Ca and I've never seen girls sunbathing in their front yards. I do see many teens at our community pool but I don't see any who look like they're trying to tan. They seem to be smarter than we were at that age. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I do think front yards are considered public space in the sense that, if you have neighbors in view, you can't do things you could in the privacy if your home. You can't be nude, for example. Or pee. Or try to conceive a child. In my neighborhood growing up if you wanted to drink in your front yard , you'd brown-paper-bag it.... not sure if that was law or custom. Nope, I will pass the margaritas as I see fit. I am not allowed to smoke pot in public view presumably due to the smoke but I can ingest any legal drug on my own lawn. And I have been known to offer margaritas while in a bikini. Would not suggest doing so in, say, Abu Dhabi, but here on the west coast it's a great way to meet the neighbors. Bring a bahn mi hot dog and you're golden! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albeto. Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I like in southern Ca and I've never seen girls sunbathing in their front yards. I do see many teens at our community pool but I don't see any who look like they're trying to tan. They seem to be smarter than we were at that age. I'm old enough to remember putting on oil. Coppertone Tan Lotion. SPF 4. Baby oil if we were out. :blush: 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Just curious...can you explain this? Why can you only wear white street clothes? I'm probably being dense, but enquiring minds want to know...... Who the heck knows? My guess is that it's to avoid people showing up in gang colors and making trouble, but seriously, who knows? And that's in the whole pool area, not just the water. http://www.nycgovparks.org/facility/pools/rules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I know I did as a teenager... LOL yup. The back yard for me because we didn't have a front yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Yes, I did it, the teens today do it. 2 reasons that I know of: to be seen and that is where the sun is. As for the white tshirt rule it is probably to help the lifeguards with visibility. Also to keep people from wearing inappropriate pool wear into the pool such as a polo shirt, which would make it difficult for the lifeguard by adding weight if there is an incident. As someone who burns something fierce as a kid I always wore a white tshirt into the pool to keep my shoulders from burning. The rash guard is the greatest invention ever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Not around here, but I live out in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 You mean, they take off their thermals? A day over 70 degrees F here is a wonder. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 You mean, they take off their thermals? A day over 70 degrees F here is a wonder. LMAO Yeah right now it's well below freezing so nobody in their right mind would be sun bathing in a bikini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmseB Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Just curious...can you explain this? Why can you only wear white street clothes? I'm probably being dense, but enquiring minds want to know...... Dyes/colors bleeding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I never saw it in the Baltimore suburb I lived in nor the semi-rural/farming town I currently live in. Not in the front yard, anyway. Backyards, yes. Just because I haven't seen it doesn't mean people don't. I could have just not been driving by that day. But I don't think it's very common around here, being as I've never seen it in 42 years of life. I don't care if people do or don't, but I can understand someone not having ever seen it themselves and wondering if it's just a California thing. If I was the OP I'd have wondered as well. I'm glad you posted as I was beginning to think my memory was going more than I thought. I've never seen it around here either. If/when anyone is out basking in the sun it's in their backyard. That was the same in northern NY where I grew up AND the same in FL when we lived there (southern Atlantic coast and central Gulf coast). We haven't lived in NY or FL in many years now, so things could have changed in those places. Here, only my ponies will lay out in the sun in front of the barn (essentially our front yard) on a nice, sunny day and they're naked, not wearing skimpy stuff. :coolgleamA: Oh wait! Our cats will lay out on our front steps totally naked too. They'll even do this on cold days. When we come home and catch them at it they'll be ashamed of themselves and come indoors (most of the time). Ok, they're cats. It's probably a stretch assuming they can feel any sort of shame. They're just shaming us for not being on-time door servants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.