Comments on: Is Baring Our Breasts the Best Way to Celebrate Women’s Equality Day?

By: All-Nudist » Nuggets!

All-Nudist » Nuggets! — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 22:22:19 +0000

[…] IS BARING OUR BREASTS THE BEST WAY TO CELEBRATE WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY? […]

By: Libby Lowe

Libby Lowe — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:59:54 +0000

Thanks to to both of you for your thoughtful comments. I agree with your points that one issue should not exclude another, and that the topless issue itself isn’t silly because it is representative of so much more in terms of choice and control over our bodies.

While those of us who are educated about women’s issues can see the depth of this issue that exists beyond the attention-grabbing headline, my concern is that the average person will see “topless” and never get to the conversation like the one we’re having now about the connection between this issue and choice in general.

With all of the attacks against women this week (month, year!) , it may not be that one issue is intrinsically more important, but it may be true that one issue will lead to deeper, more productive conversations in the public sphere.

By: Dr. P. Rapoport

Dr. P. Rapoport — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:33:57 +0000

This says some great things but then makes a common mistake. Its basic argument against what Go Topless wants is that something else is more important. That’s an argument? “My issue is more important than your issue” is not a reasonable way to examine something’s merit. One campaign does not exclude another.

Indeed, women’s breasts as a contentious site/issue connect significantly to other issues. That does not make Go Topless Day trivial: quite the opposite, as this article even suggests. The Go Topless organization does not, unfortunately, make those connections.

The petition to Obama is misplaced for several reasons and strains credibility — but not because it’s a trivial matter.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:58:06 +0000

I’d agree that the right to go topless isn’t, perhaps, the burning issue of the day, but to me it’s all a part of the same continuum of women’s rights. We have the right to choose what to do with our bodies – whether it’s choosing to use birth control (or not), choosing to say to no (or yes) to sex, choosing a career over family (or vice versa), or even choosing to go topless (or not). But, starting to draw lines about what is a valid choice and what is a ‘frivolous’ one reinforces, to my mind, the partriarchal perception that women, bless ’em, just don’t know what they really want and therefore need a sensible, rational man to guide them through their emotion-led irrational follies. Equality is a state of mind, and it’ll only truly come when it’s enshrined that women have rights over their own bodies and are both intelligent and rational enough to choose, for the most part, what is the best for them. Maybe the topless question does distract from weightier issues, but it comes down to the same thing: it’s not up to men, or governments in general, to decide whether or not we should be allowed to do it. It’s all about choice, and establishing a right to make that choice.