Topfreedom is a cultural and political movement advocating gender equality by the recognition of the right of women and girls to be topless in public on an equal basis with men and boys (cf. barechestedness), and assisting women who have been charged for being topless. In addition, the topfreedom advocates seek recognition of the right of nursing mothers to openly breastfeed in public, and to sun bathing topless.
Legally, many jurisdictions consider the public display of women's breasts to be indecent exposure or as public indecency. However, an activist top freedom movement came into existence in Canada in about 2000 to challenge the legality of prosecutions. The Topfree Equal Rights Association (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 perception to exposure of women's breasts. TERA has been successful in some instances in persuading courts in North America to overturn indecency laws 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.[1]
GoTopless.org was formed in 2007 in the United States, and claims that women have the same constitutional right in the United States to be bare chested in public places as men. Unlike TERA, which does not organise demonstrations, GoTopless organised a protest on 26 August 2009, Women's Equality Day, in favour of recognition of women's top freedom rights.[2] Both TERA and GoTopless are affiliated with Raëlism.[3].
Breast-feeding
Many jurisdictions permit public breastfeeding.[4] In the United States, for instance, a federal law enacted in 1999[5] 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."
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.[6]
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
Topless body-painted female football fans at World Cup in Germany, 24 June 2006
World naked bike ride, 2007
Topless protest, October 2007
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.
Sweden
In many countries it's No breasts
In Sweden, 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 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.[7][8]
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.[9][10] "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.[11]
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.[12]
In March 2008, after a year-long campaign by Topless Front, Copenhagen's Culture and Leisure Committee voted to allow topless bathing in it's swimming pools.[13]
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.[14] International hotel chains with properties in multiple locations have evolved a tolerant policy.[15] Many resort hotels and condominium complexes[citation needed] 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".[16][17][18] In contrast to that case many other Polish Baltic resorts do not object to topless bathing, for example Ustka, Gdynia, Mielno or Szczecin.[19][20]
Spain, Italy, Greece
File:Two women sunbathing in Ibiza, Spain - 20060922.jpgSunbathers in Ibiza
Female topless bathing is acceptable in Ibiza and Formentera, Spain.[21] This is also true in certain parts of Italy and Greece,[22] Virtually every beach on the Adriatic coast of Croatia[23][24] and along Europe's Mediterranean coast permit topless bathing,[25] 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,[26] or as a public nuisance or disorderly conduct.[27] 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.[28]
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.[29][30][31][32] 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.[33]
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.[citation needed] 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.[34]
Even where topfree is legal, police might still arrest those practicing it for disorderly conduct or similar charges.[44]
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.[45] Since then, the court ruling has been tested and upheld several times.
In Australia, where topless bathing has mostly become uncontroversial, conservative MPFred Nile submitted a bill in late 2008 that would have banned public toplessness to avoid offending visitors from Middle Eastern or Asian countries.[51] The suggestion has not been heard from since.
Asia
A Thai government poster from the Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram-era (1938-1945) encouraging Thai women to stop baring their breasts and adopt a "civilized" form of dress.
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.[52][53] 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.[54][55]
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.[56] 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.[57] 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.[58]
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.[59] It does not advocate toplessness, but promotes the concept of freedom of choice of the individual woman, and the de-sexualisation of breasts.[60]
Judy E. Williams: NAC board member, chief advisor of TERA, chair of Wreck Beach Preservation Society (WBPS) in Vancouver, BC
Gwen Jacob: test case for topfreedom who won in Ontario, Canada.[45]
Linda Meyer: test case for topfreedom for British Columbia. On June 8, 2000, she won in court against Maple Ridge, British Columbia. She had been arrested at the District of Maple Ridge's indoor public swimming pool. That was after she had provoked arrests for many years, and had gone to jail, in order to win in court and thereby stop official harassment for her topfree public activities.
Paul Rapoport: topfree activist, writer, editor of Going Natural, a publication of FCN.
Sue Richards: Publisher of the topfree, breast health calendar Breast of Canada.
^"10 successful court cases". Gotopless.org. Retrieved 26 August 2009. ((cite web)): Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |month=, and |coauthors= (help)
^ ab"National GoTopless Protest day". Gotopless.org. Retrieved 26 August 2009. ((cite web)): Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |month=, and |coauthors= (help)Cite error: The named reference "gotopless" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^Duvallon v. District of Columbia, 515 A.2d 724, 728 (D.C.,1986), which held that indecent exposure statute found at DC Code § 22-1312 is limited in application to exposure of human genitalia.
^Cummings, Joe (2003-07-01). Lonely Planet Thailand (10 ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 808. ISBN1740593561. Toplessness among visitors at a few resorts is accepted, but is not legally permitted.
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.
