I don't have any legal authority to make this proclamation, so it's up to all of you to observe this special year in your own way.
I just think it's time for us to grow up as a society and accept the fact that men have nipples, and women have nipples, and no nipple in history has ever done anyone any harm.
Some people have extra nipples. Lily Allen has one and she showed in on the BBC.
Some people are born with no nipples. Others have their nipples removed.
Some people lose an entire breast or both breasts to cancer. After a mastectomy, some people choose to have their breasts reconstructed, including the nipples.
The nipple is a popular spot on the body for piercings, and tattoos. Strippers wear pasties over their nipples in order to comply with nudity laws and ordinances, and some wear them on the beach in order to be topfree and remain legal.
Jamie Ann Nipple changed her last name to Scott.
Funny things, these nipples.
In 2008 we found out that President-elect Barack Obama has nipples, as does Amy Winehouse, Michael Phelps and Angelina Jolie (see photos below).
2008 also saw the first National Go Topless Day, when dozens of women from Venice, California to New York City bared their breasts for topfree equality.
Hugh Hefner posed with twin playmates for a Christmas card, an image which was carried freely by many mainstream Internet sites, even though the girls were topless. I guess painted nipples are "family-friendly". Sports Illustrated also discovered that body-painted models are OK for the millions of high school boys who buy their annual swimsuit magazine, or surf their website.
And in 2008, we found out that cheerleader nipples are grounds for suspension.
But the most important story, which is ongoing, is the strong response to Facebook's recent decision to ban all photos of breastfeeding. Time Magazine even covered the controversy, saying, "We're all for breasts — the more cleavage the better. But the second a nipple is visible or we are reminded of nipples by the sight of a baby attached to one, all hell breaks loose."
The Topfree Equal Rights Association is providing a page for all the banned photos, and is inviting people of all ages to come and see with a non-disclaimer: "Many sites would carry a warning: Keep away if you're under 18! NSFW! We don't believe in that. Women's breasts in photos like these bother no one except those who have unfortunately been trained to be embarrassed by them or to control them when they have no right to."
Ultimately the issue is about control. The recent failed attempt to ban topless sunbathing by women on Australian beaches was best illustrated by this jaw-dropping quote by Labour MP Paul Gibson: ""If you're on the beach do you want somebody with big knockers next to you when you're there with the kids?"
Emily Maguire responds vehemently to the issue.
The tiresome myth that women are not as visually aroused as men is used to justify everything from sexual assault to double standards about public toplessness, and it's time to kill it dead...If the kids ask awkward questions like, oh, "What are those?" You say, "Nipples, we've all got them. Cool, huh?" Then you stop being a creepy perve and concentrate on the sandcastles and surf.So this is why I am declaring 2009 to be The Year of the Nipple. It's time to stop this nonsense of turning women into criminals and sex offenders for merely showing a nipple in public, a right which is freely embraced by men, who in turn punish women for wanting the same right.
And let's cut out the "cultural" argument. This is an equal rights issue. If suddenly it was universally declared that women have the same topfree rights as men, society is not going to see millions of women walking around with their shirts off. That's the cultural aspect of the issue, which continually changes over time. Swimsuits have evolved from body covering woolies to the skimpy bikini, not from laws, but from culture. Hemlines have risen and fallen, all without one law or public ordinance. Government needs to get out of the business of legislating fashion.
TERA states this principle very clearly.
Our basic claim is that women deserve equal rights. We do not suggest that women or men should go about with bare breasts. That is every individual's decision. We do believe that since men may choose to do so in many situations, women must also be able to at least in the same situations. Without penalty of any kind.As Liz Book says, "In stone they are considered art, in flesh they are criminal." Free the female nipple now.
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