- Women may appear topless (without a shirt or other covering over their breasts) in at least some part of the majority of American states (GoTopless.org).
- Bare-chested women are not uncommon outside the United States (Topfreedom).
- Going topless may be legal, but it can be socially unacceptable nonetheless (Huffington Post).
- Flickr recently restricted my account as fully-adult with limited access due to images of topless women in Second Life but after marking such pictures as Moderate the account was re-marked as Safe (Flickr).
One of the reasons I became interested in Topless Tuesdays in Second Life (and started a Flickr group for it) was to combat what I perceive as prudish social mores about women's breasts. Having a pair myself I know that breasts are often sexualized. After all, as a reasonably good lesbian, I'm not beyond becoming aroused by a beautiful pair on a woman but I am mature enough to know when to turn off that aspect of who I am. We need to generate that ability in society, as well.
I know many men and women that find men's bare chests as erotically stimulating, but men don't have to wear shirts in public. For what little cloth there was, some girls at the mall I visited the other day were practically bottomless (not that I minded, but I cringed when my mother was the first to point it out ... "They have four cheeks to powder today!). Only being topless could have averted many pairs of eyes from that sight. Should there be a law against booty shorts?
Maybe I'm fighting the wrong battle or doing it the wrong way. I'm sure belonging to a Second Life fashion group dedicated to making a woman's breasts stand out in a sexy or erotic fashion (pun intended) isn't necessarily productive. Part of me wants to keep the mystique and the eroticism of these wonderful treasures, but I know that leads down the path of treating women as objects and that it not a good thing.
My feelings are strong on this issue, but I'm not articulate enough or experienced enough to take the lead. If I really did start the Topless Tuesday trend on MySecondLife.com (as some credit me so) then that's probably the extent of my capabilities. My phobias often keep me out of public entirely so its not likely that I'd be out running amuck with the girls unharnessed for all to see. So much for living up to my own ideals, huh?
Second Life is a start, though. Thanks to my presence in Our World, it is easier for me to go outside the house and be near people without medication (Tranq free for some time now!). Maybe I'll work up to letting my own inhibitions go even farther afield. I hope that society works up to that, too.
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| This is funny and sad at the same time. An example of how women can be objectified because of breasts yet it is clever humor. |
2 comments:
Nice idea, Uccie, very nice. As member of a Topless Tuesday group (not calling it a movement) that was started by a friend of mine already in 2007, I'm used to get all kinds of shitty comments when I go topless in general areas. And by now I'm sick and tired of fighting with all those bigot trollops (boys and girls alike, can you believe it?) I just gave up and only knock it off in "safe" areas.
People really having the nerve to tell me what my mammaries symbolize and how I have to treat them. Fuck it, I always thought they were mine and I was then only one to decide what to do with 'em.
It is more than a little sad that we can't "turn it off" long enough to get past the issue of a bare breast as sexual. So many little things we waste time over instead of dealing with real issues. Everyone should be able to go around topless, as far as I am concerned if people want to go around nude,more power to them.
And yes I know. I should be taking pictures for Topless Tuesday...seems I always forget till about Thursday though.
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