Have you heard about the movement to make it legal for women to be topless in public? When I first learned of it, I didn’t understand what the big deal was. I don’t want to be topless at the beach or anywhere else for that matter. That would be weird, right?
Women’s bodies and particularly our breasts have been so eroticized and objectified – no wonder I would want to keep them under wraps. The idea of going topless “in public” feels vulnerable, unnatural and even dangerous. Like I was asking for it. “Asking for what?” I ask myself. And the ugly answer is – to be leered at, cat called, accosted or raped.
I realize now that the idea of a women’s topless movement elicited from me an unexamined knee jerk response. I was so steeped in the culture we live in that it was hard for me to see beyond the initial weird factor. Slowly it’s become clear to me that this is a meaningful social justice issue. Let’s take a step back and look at the history together.
In the early 1900’s it was illegal for both men and women to go bare-chested. Men got tired of this and in 1936 men earned the legal right to go topless in certain places like the beach.
In 1992 women won the right to go topless in New York. Other states have followed New York. According to a Time article by Sarah Begley published earlier this year, “The vast majority of states actually have laws on the books making clear that women can’t be arrested under state law solely for being topless in settings where it’s OK for men. But many local ordinances ban the practice anyway. And there’s plenty of grey area for police officers to make their own interpretations and make arrests for ‘public indecency’ or ‘disorderly conduct.’”
In 2005, activist Phoenix Feely got arrested for going topless in New York. She was awarded $29,000 in damages.
In 2014, filmmaker Lena Esco introduced her film, Free the Nipple, which draws attention to this issue. I liked it and recommend it. You can stream it on Netflix. If you learn more and want to be part of this movement, sign up here and here.
Free the nipple!