More Stupidity on Topfreedom

It truly is amazing how idiotic and irrational people can be when it comes to matters of nudity and the human body. While seemingly supporting women's topfreedom, an editorial today in the Bangor Daily News veers off in an asinine direction.

In some cultures, bare-breasted women would not garner a second glance from a man. But here in the U.S., they get second, third and fourth glances. Unless someone can show that bare-chested women would not cause the sort of distractions that result in car crashes, twisted ankles and slaps from spouses, the women’s point is lost.

Before they organize the next parade, they should consider what happened when gun owners hosted a barbecue recently in Portland with side arms strapped to their waists to assert their gun ownership rights. The demonstration spurred some to call for stricter gun controls. Bare-breasted parades are an assertion of legal rights, but they ultimately empower those who would want to change the law.

Slaps from spouses? Talk about losing a point! Show me exactly who, what, when, where and why the sight of a woman's breast caused any car crash. If automobile accidents are going to be touted as a reason to prohibit the public display of female breasts, then let's ban cell phones in cars altogether because anytime I see someone driving dangerously they always seem to be laughing and talking with their phone pressed to their ear.

No, the point of women's topfreedom is simply equality. Men can take their shirts off just about anywhere in public, and women simply want the same right as protected under the Constitution of the United States. It's not about distractions, or leering, or gun rights, it's about women's rights.

And it's not like women everywhere are suddenly going to start taking their tops off. Men have the right, and certainly not all of them take their shirts off. What's the percentage of shirtless men on any given summer day walking down the main street of town? The point is that nobody cares about how many men take their shirts off because it's simply legal and accepted that they can.

And let those who want to change the law give it their best shot. It's high time this issue is tested in the courts. When the laws were tested in Columbus, Ohio, and in New York State, the right for women to be topfree was upheld. Either women have to be accepted as having the same right as men to be shirtless, or the law needs to be changed to force men to wear bikinis at the beach, and t-shirts when playing basketball on public courts. And you know that ain't gonna happen.

People get all worked up, calling the baring of breasts immoral, or dangerous for the children, or a manifestation of the homosexual agenda, or any other irrational reason they can pull out from their confused minds. The bottom line is that it's simply no big deal, they are just breasts, and they do no harm to anybody. If someone does not want to see a topfree woman, there is a wonderful part of the human anatomy called the neck which allows the head to turn and look the other way.

Anatomy of a Topfree Activist - Andrea Simoneau

PHOTO BY AMBER WATERMAN, SUN JOURNAL/AP

When Andrea Simoneau was seven years old, she took her shirt off because she was hot. Her father came outside and told her she could not do that in public. When she asked why, he said, "I think its really stupid, but the rest of the world thinks that girls should not go shirtless."

That memory stuck with Andrea, and when she marched topfree with Ty MacDowell and others in Portland, Maine, a few weeks ago, she was inspired to take action.

At 1 PM on Friday, April 30, Andrea Simoneau and a crowd of both men and women will exercise their topfree rights in Farmington, Maine. The march will begin at Meetinghouse Park on Main Street and will go about a half mile to Abbott Park. Andrea says that 60 people have signed up on her Facebook page, but due to all the publicity it's impossible to predict the number of people who will participate.

"If we're protesting anything, its that societal double standard of women's chests being considered sexual, no matter what context they are presented in, and men's chests are only sexual in certain context", said Andrea.

The 22 year-old University of Maine Farmington senior, who has been on the Dean's list for academic excellence, has been walking topfree through the town handing out flyers for the event, with the word "Freedom" written across her chest. As for public reaction either pro or con to her free expression, Andrea says that it's "pretty evenly split, and there have definitely been uncomfortable confrontations. You just have to keep on going, and ignore them and do not engage with them or escalate the situation in any way, as that hurts the cause far more than helps it." In a radio interview today, Andrea says that most of the negative reaction comes from people who oppose her on moral grounds, and, of course, for the sake of the children.

"I believe no religious group should have any sway in lawmaking, as it promotes special interests for certain groups. Morality is subjective. Therefore, I feel that morality is not a grounds to stand on to make policy, and should never be."

Ms. Simoneau believes there is "no time like the present" to promote women's topfreedom, and credits Dr. Paul Rapoport and TERA for "great encouragement and assistance". She hopes that other organizations interested in equal rights for women will also pick up on the movement.

The April 3 topfree march in Portland, while successful in generating lots of publicity, descended into somewhat of a circus, with hoards of men tripping over each other to take photographs, and some of the female participants obliging with some cheesecake posing. "There's nothing that can be done to stop men from taking pictures or making inappropriate comments. However if any inappropriate touching occurs or assault, the participant must report it to the police. There are going to be a lot of counterprotesters present also, I am told, and the police have expressed that they will be present to hold order."

As for anyone acting in a sexual manner, Andrea makes it clear that she wants none of that. "Anyone I catch doing that I will personally ask to leave, with great admonishments about them undermining our cause. Those women's actions disgusted me about the Portland march far more than the men taking pictures and leering."

Although there are no laws in Maine specifically prohibiting the exposure of female breasts in public, Andrea admits her actions could result in a backlash, and people are already calling for laws prohibiting topfreedom. "The town of Farmington has decided not to take an official position on the issue, and has decided to defer it to the State legislature to be ruled on, possibly even put to state referendum. Since support seems to be so evenly split for it, I feel confident that even when that happens, we stand a good chance for it to be officially legalized, as I believe the law stands now that only genital exposure is "indecent" exposure. I will do my part to speak out to the legislature as well, as I hope women's equal rights organizations in Maine or even national ones will do the same."

Perhaps the most high-profile opposition to Ms. Simoneau's protest comes from conservative activist Michael Heath of the American Family Association of Maine, who is seeking records from UMF regarding a recent campus event for EqualityMaine.

Heath said he draws a connection between the upcoming march in Farmington and his records request because "the promotion and presentation of public nudity is a staple of the homosexual rights movement." Heath's recently founded organization is a chapter of the Mississippi-based American Family Association.

"We see an organic connection between the two," Heath said. "Many still confuse sexual license, and indifference to the gospel of Jesus Christ, with true freedom and liberty."

Calling the march "more typical of San Francisco than Maine", Heath joins other religious groups who plan to counter-protest, including women from local churches holding a silent prayer vigil, and Rev. Bob Emrich who recently helped to overturn Maine's gay marriage law.

But Simoneau says all of the criticisms of the march are off-base. For instance, the march will be held while children are in school and will follow a route that is away from schools, Simoneau said.

And in a way, Simoneau said, "we are doing this for children -- to create a more equal world for them by presenting a female body that is not a sexual contest."

"This is for a noble cause of gender equality," she said. "Giving up has not crossed my mind."

Adelle Shea, Canadian topfree activist and naturist, has come to Andrea's defense.

It is curious that it is not enough in our society that something not be illegal but instead must be made specifically legal in order to be enjoyed freely? In North America a woman going topfree risks being charged with anything from ‘causing a disturbance’ to a sex crime. Breastfeeding women faced, and in some cases still face, the same discrimination and many States and Provinces had to enact laws to make breastfeeding a child in public specifically legal. In some cases even this was found to be insufficient and laws had to be enacted to make harassment of a nursing mother (by passers-by, business owners, police) illegal. In this case the attending constables were a great help in protecting Ms Simoneau’s legal right and informing the public that she was doing nothing illegal. In my opinion, it isn’t topfreedom that is immoral but the systemic discrimination of women that surrounds it.

Andrea understands the wide societal ramifications of women's topfreedom in America. She says, "it saddens me greatly that nursing mothers are particularly discriminated against in this matter. I encourage nursing mothers particularly, as well as breast cancer survivors and those who have been victims of sexual assault to come out and experience the empowerment and freedom of going topless in town."

Eventually the topfreedom movement will need a leader, or an organization, which can mobilize women nationwide. Is Andrea up to the challenge? "I'm not a leader by nature, but if that role falls to me, I will do my best to fill it. I cannot do it alone, not by a long shot. I'm having a terrible time trying to handle this myself, though I have had help in advertising, definitely, from UMF students and friends."

If you would like to help Andrea, or participate in her march this Friday, you can contact her on her Facebook page here.

Andrea Simoneau Topfree in Maine

Simply because Andrea is exercising her right which is clearly supported by the law, people who oppose the exposure of her breasts in public are calling for a law to ban women from taking off their shirts. It's hard to even think of a similar example where someone is doing something perfectly legal and people start calling for a ban on that activity. It's clearly not rational, based on religious dogma and old social taboos, and not on the law or equal rights. If anything, the police and government officials should be protecting a woman's right to topfreedom. When the police say that their "hands are tied", this is not a ringing endorsement of the law, but rather a coded message that the legislators should act to prevent the public display of female breasts.

Our society is already burdened by too many laws and codes which restrict personal freedoms. To suggest that another law is needed to persecute women like Andrea Simoneau is over-reactive and completely unnecessary. Society has oppressed women for far too long, and sexualized their body parts to the point where they are sometimes more object than person.

Let's hope that Ms. Simoneau's march is peaceful and successful.

150th Anniversary of Women's Topfreedom

July 26 marked the 150th anniversary of "the first major triumph of the nationwide struggle for female liberation" when women earned the right to cover their breasts. This monumental event happened in the Indian state of Kerala after a half-century of violent struggle.

It was in 1858 that violence once again reared its head. “Nair men, with machetes tied at the end of long poles, used to stand far way from lower caste women and tear their jackets,’’ according to Dargees, an 83-year-old former headmaster of the Neyyattinkara Amaravila LMS High School, who had heard of the incident from his father. Dargees is quoted in Joy Vlathangara’s book.

Samuel Mateer’s ‘Land of Charity’ describes how an official dealt with two ‘covered’ Nadar ladies who were walking to the Neyyattinkara market. “He tore their jackets, tied them with a rope and hung them from a tree in full public view.’’ The Nadar response was more severe.

Today in America we have the opposite situation - the male of the species has become so obsessed with culturally sexualized female breasts, that the uncovering of the mammary glands in public, even for breastfeeding, is unacceptable. Thankfully now most states have passed laws making public breastfeeding legal, but still many people consider this natural and nurturing act to be shamful and immoral.

Yet men think nothing of walking shirtless virtually anywhere they please, right down the main streets of any town, in front of schools, churches and government buildings. A woman doing the same is at risk of arrest, being charged with lewd behavior, and threatened with sex offender status.

Topfreedom is NOT about getting women to expose their breasts in public. It is about the right of a woman to go topfree in the same places as men without fear of criminal charges and harrassment.

Today the idea that 150 years ago in India women were forced to walk about bare-breasted is patently absurd. Let's hope that the time frame is far shorter when we accept the fact that women should not be forced to cover-up for the sake of male egos and hang-ups.

14 Year-Old Girl Sued for Exposing Her Breasts

Naturally, this happened in Texas, which is rapidly becoming the most sexually repressed state in the Union. The Cheetah Club in Corpus Christi is suing a 14 year-old girl who is accused of duping the club owner into believing she was actually 22. Declaring "we're the victims here", club attorney Alan Yaffe is seeking damages from the girl, her parents, and from a man named Leslie Campbell who is currently locked up on charges of kidnapping the girl and sexually assaulting her.

Everybody is apparently a victim here. What is the crime? The girl allegedly exposed her breasts in the club, a violation of state law. Now all parties involved in frantic finger pointing to cover their own asses.

The exposure of a woman's breast, no matter the age of the individual, should never be a crime. Any man with breasts the size of watermelons can walk down the street topfree without fear of criminal charges, yet any woman doing the same on virtually any street in the United States can be arrested, and face the possibility of being forced to register as a sex offender.

This 14 year-old girl has been conditioned by society that her breasts are marketable as sexual objects. The exploitation by her alleged kidnapper is damaging enough without the entire legal system piling on and reinforcing the notion that female breasts are dirty, illegal, and somehow dangerous to society.

The shame should be on Texas and this twisted club owner, and not on the child.

RELATED STORY: Police Raid Ohio Bar, Find 14 Year-Old Topless Performer

Kenyon Women Fight for Topfree Equality

A story today in the Kenyon College Collegian newspaper describes how topfree women were kicked out of a "Shock Your Mom" party event on campus, which sparked a protest by a group calling itself "The Women Behind the Boobs", who hung photos of their own naked breasts along an area called Middle Path. A letter was circulated from the protesters, who said, "We love our bodies and we want you to see why! We just wonder why 'common decency' requires us to cover a part of our bodies that not only do men not have to cover, but that is a natural, integral part of ourselves."

According to students interviewed for the story, nudity at the annual event was expected, even though officially prohibited, and that the Campus Department of Safety decided to crack down this year. One student with flowers on her nipples was "grabbed by the shoulders" and told to leave.

According to (student Emma) Lippincott, between 50 and 75 women were involved in the demonstration in some way. While perhaps not all participants saw the demonstration as feminist, Lippincott said that she did. "For me, the true definition of feminism is about egalitarianism between the sexes," she said. "If one gender's chest is viewed as completely sexualized if it's exposed, if it's viewed as pornography when it's just breasts... that's an issue of equality."

Kenyon College is a liberal arts school with 1600 students located in Gambier, Ohio.

UPDATE: The Kenyon Collegian has an editorial supporting the students. It's a little awkwardly written but the point is clear.

We sympathize with the students who felt degraded by the comments they heard when they were asked to leave. Many students in the past have seen Shock Your Momma as an opportunity to expose themselves. These students find liberation in revealing their bodies in a relatively safe environment. When students feel as though they are invited into that environment and then they are pulled away from it, they may feel an understandable amount of shame from putting themselves out into exhilarating and uncomfortable nudity and being pulled away from it by a shaming force that says they are behaving inappropriately.