Topfreedom
Topfreedom is a cultural and political movement seeking to advance gender equality by the recognition of the right of women and girls to be topless in public on the same basis that men and boys are permitted to be barechested. In addition, topfreedom advocates seek recognition of the right of nursing mothers to openly breastfeed in public, and of women to sun bathe topless. The Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA) also assists women in Canada who have been charged for being topless, while GoTopless organizes demonstrations in the United States to protest against the legal and public attitude to the inequality. In Sweden, Bara Bröst is active in advancing topfreedom, as is Topless Front in Denmark.
Social and legal attitudes
As a result of social conditioning, many people feel uncomfortable viewing exposed women's breasts and regard such exposure to be indecent. Most women do not regard their breasts as indecent. However, at the same time, most women are reluctant to be topfree. This may be due to their own social conditioning, social or sexual inhibitions, because of their upbringing or because of the social norm which traditionally expected women's breasts to be covered.
Legally, many jurisdictions treat the public display of women's breasts as indecent exposure or as public indecency. However, in about 2000, the Topfree Equal Rights Association was formed in Canada to challenge the legality of prosecutions in that country. TERA does not itself promote toplessness, but endeavors to help women who are prosecuted merely for being topfree in public, and seeks to change public attitudes to the exposure of women's breasts. TERA seeks the recognition of the right of women to be topfree on an equal basis, should they individually choose to exercise it. TERA claims several successes in persuading courts in North America to overturn prosecutions on the basis of sex discrimination, arguing that a woman should be free to expose her chest in any context in which a man can expose his. Successful cases include the District of Columbia in 1986, New York State in 1992, Columbus, Ohio in 1995, Ontario, Canada in 1996, Moscow, Idaho in 1998, and Maine in 1998.
GoTopless.org was formed in 2007 in the United States, and claims that women have a constitutional right in the United States to be bare chested in public places on the same basis as men. Unlike TERA, which does not organise demonstrations, GoTopless organises protests in favor of recognition of women's top freedom rights. GoTopless is affiliated with Raëlism; TERA is not affiliated with any other organization.
In several countries in Europe non-sexual toplessness is not illegal. However, private or public establishments can establish a dress code which requires women to wear tops, and deny access or remove individuals who breach these standards. Topless swimming and sunbathing on beaches have become common in many parts of Europe, though the practice remains controversial in many places, and not common in most places. Many public swimming pools are owned by municipalities, which are treated as private organisations.
Breastfeeding
Most US State jurisdictions permit breastfeeding in public. In the United States, for instance, a federal law enacted in 1999 specifically provides that "a woman may breastfeed her child at any location in a Federal building or on Federal property, if the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location."
However, these laws generally do not apply to rules imposed by private organisations or on private property, such as restaurants, airlines, shopping malls etc.
Traditional indigenous cultures
Many traditional indigenous cultures today consider female toplessness normal and acceptable, such as the Himba in northern Namibia. In many indigenous, non-Western cultures it is completely acceptable for both men and women torsos to be unclothed. Female toplessness can also constitute an important aspect of indigenous cultural celebrations. However, this can lead to cross-cultural and legal conflict. During 2004, Australian police banned members of the Papunya community from using a public park in the city of Alice Springs to practice a traditional Aboriginal dance that included topless women.
Attitudes to topfreedom
A society's attitude to toplessness depends to some extent on the context in which it appears. It may be more readily accepted, for example, in the context of topless sunbathing than, say, walking down the street.
Europe
In several countries in Europe non-sexual toplessness is not illegal. However, private or public establishments can establish a dress code which requires women to wear tops, and deny access or remove individuals who breach these standards.
Topless swimming and sunbathing on beaches have become common in many parts of Europe, though the practice remains controversial in many places, and not common in most places.
Sweden
In Sweden, toplessness is not illegal. However, private or public establishments are permitted to establish dress codes which may require women to wear tops, and deny access or remove individuals who breach these standards. In September 2007, "Bara Bröst" (a pun meaning both "Just Breasts" and "Bare Breasts") appeared to promote topless equality in these semi-public facilities. The group staged several events in public swim baths in September and October 2007, starting in Uppsala from which they were evicted several times, before succeeding in Sundsvall.
The group scored a victory in June 2009 when the Malmö city's sports and recreation committee approved new rules that, while requiring everybody to wear bathing suits at indoor public swimming pools, did not require women to cover their breasts. "We don’t decide what men should do with their torso, why then do women have to listen to the men. Moreover, many men have larger breasts than women", said a council spokesman.
Denmark
In Denmark, toplessness is not illegal; however, private or public establishments can establish a dress code which requires women to wear tops, and deny access or remove individuals who breach these standards. In December 2007, a group of women and men swam topless in public swim baths to promote topless equality.
In March 2008, after a year-long campaign by Topless Front, Copenhagen's Culture and Leisure Committee voted to allow topless bathing in its swimming pools.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, topless sunbathing is legally permitted in some locations, while in others toplessness has become accepted by custom. At the Kenwood Ladies' Bathing Pond in London's Hampstead Heath, the Greater London Council has permitted topless sunbathing and swimming since 1976, although men are not permitted to enter the bathing area. International hotel chains with properties in multiple locations have evolved a tolerant policy. Many resort hotels and condominium complexes now allow topless sunbathing at their swimming pools, and some cruise ships have adults-only decks on which women may remove their tops.
Poland
In Poland, two women, including topless model Dorota Krzysztofek, were reprimanded by city guards and fined for sunbathing topless. The women refused to pay the fine and decided to go to the court, which canceled the fine. Later both guards said that "the whole of Poland was laughing at them". In contrast to that case many other Polish Baltic resorts do not object to topless bathing, for example Ustka, Gdynia, Mielno or Szczecin.
Spain, Italy, Greece
Female topless bathing and sunbathing is acceptable, tolerated and very common in beaches all over Spain. This is also true in certain parts of Italy and Greece, Virtually every beach on the Adriatic coast of Croatia and along Europe's Mediterranean coast permit topless bathing, as well as on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine
United States
Female toplessness in public is illegal in most of the United States, on the basis that it is indecent exposure, or as a public nuisance or disorderly conduct. Some states have state laws prohibiting toplessness while others permit local governments to set local standards. A large majority of states as of March 2010 have multiple laws explicitly allowing breastfeeding in public and/or exempting it from public indecency laws. These laws are still in effect even though in 1958 the Supreme Court of the United States declared that the naked body in and of itself could not be deemed obscene.
In February 2005, California attorney Liana Johnsson contended that under Megan's Law, women convicted of indecent exposure (for breastfeeding or sunbathing) could find themselves listed as sex offenders alongside rapists and child molesters. Seven women who picnicked topless were charged in 1986 in Rochester, New York but acquitted in 1992.
In December 2007, 50 residents of Pittsfield, Massachusetts petitioned the City Council requesting a segregated beach for topless sunbathing by both men and women. The petition was rejected by the council, with the Mayor calling it "unacceptable and unnecessary". Proponents of topless sunbathing vowed to continue their fight. In 2010, 200 residents of Pittsfield, Massachusetts placed a question on the November ballot asking whether State Laws should be clarified to allow topfreedom rights for both men and women.
Daytona Beach, Florida, which is known for its "most famous beach in the world" status, has tolerated varying levels of nudity during Spring Break events and at other times. In 2007, a Florida court acquitted a woman of indecent exposure for being topless on Daytona Beach because of the political nature of her stand, under the First Amendment right of free speech.
Some places in North America permit females to be topless in public on an equal basis to males, and limit indecent exposure laws to exposure of genitals. States which permit toplessness for both sexes include the California coast, including Black's Beach and Santa Cruz, Colorado, Hawaii , Maine, New York, Ohio and Texas.
Toplessness is tolerated during specific events in a few limited locations, like the San Francisco Bay to Breakers race and the Oregon Country Fair.
- Cities
Even where topfree is legal, police might still arrest those practicing it for disorderly conduct or similar charges.
Canada
In 1991, Gwen Jacob was arrested for walking in a street in Guelph, Ontario while topless. She was acquitted in 1996 by the Ontario Court of Appeal on the basis that the act of being topless is not in itself a sexual act or indecent. Since then, the court ruling has been tested and upheld several times.
In 2008, the city council in Vancouver, British Columbia, a location of the World Naked Bike Ride, gave women the right to go topless in public, not solely at swimming pools and beaches.
Other western countries
In some regions, female toplessness is acceptable in specific locations, like Guadeloupe, French Guiana; St. Barts, Martinique, and St. Martin in the Caribbean; Cape Town, South Africa; Tabah, Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil.
In Australia, where topless bathing has mostly become uncontroversial, conservative MP Fred Nile submitted a bill in late 2008 that would have banned public toplessness to avoid offending visitors from Middle Eastern or Asian countries. The suggestion has not been heard from since.
Asia
In many Asian and Southwest Asia countries with conservative social norms, women are prohibited from being topfree in any public place. However, they sometimes make exceptions for Western visitors at locations like Phuket, Samui, and Samet, Thailand. In China, a female visitor from Bulgaria caused a commotion in August, 2009 when she went topless at Number 1 Seaside Bathing Club in Qingdao. While local citizens were upset, no law prohibiting toplessness existed, and the woman was allowed to continue sunbathing topless.
Israel
In Israel, toplessness can be spotted occasionally in Tel Aviv and Eilat beaches, and also in other places, such as resorts and at the Dead Sea.
Other middle-east countries
In July 2008, police in the Muslim city-state of Dubai cracked down on foreign visitors who were "indecent" at local beaches, detaining 79 people during the arrests. While tourists in Dubai can wear bikinis on the emirate's beaches and walk its streets in shorts, toplessness is not permitted. In Tunisia, where 80% of the population is Muslim, European tourists may sunbathe topless at the hotel's private beaches and pools, while traditional Muslim women wear full chadorah at public beaches. Multilingual signs have now been erected on Dubai's beaches warning that women who remove their tops can face criminal prosecution and sentences of up to six months imprisonment.
Topfree Equal Rights Association
The Canadian Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA) assists women in both Canada and the United States who are prosecuted for being topless in situations whereas men are not. It does not advocate toplessness, but promotes the concept of freedom of choice of the individual woman, and the de-sexualisation of breasts.
Organizations
People
See also
Notes
External links
- "Episode 2: Breastfeeding and the Right to Go Topless from Lex Appeal, July 2010.
- GoTopless.org, sponsors of the annual August national "GoTopless Day" protests in the United States and around the world to promote gender equality & equal rights.
- "Woman Promotes the Right to Go Topless" from Los Angeles Times, January 2005.
- Topfree Equal Rights Association
- "What is topfreedom?"
- Maple Ridge vs. Meyer 2000 BCSC 902
- Topfreedom.org — travel experiences about topfreedom
- New York State Court of Appeals Decision overturning the convictions of Rochester, NY's "Topfree 7"
- "Bara Bröst" (english: Only/Bare Breast) — Swedish network to promote women's right to be topless] (In Swedish and English)
- Go Topless Day
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topfreedom
