Should women be required to cover their breasts in public?

[Taeryyn]

Aachren

Besides, it's like a rule, but if you're gonna see someone naked, it's gonna be someone you'd rather not.
Seriously.

This. ;_; Always this.  

[Aachren]

Tae, I know.
*remembers being in the pool in the Canaries and an old man in a bright red thong facing his butt towards us*
You're welcome to the mental image.

I forgot to say this earlier about getting inured to the sight of something.
I was on a swim team for 5 years and a lifeguard for 8...I got very used to seeing fit young men mostly naked.
It gets boring and I'm kinda into fit young men.  

[Surazal Dloc]

The Dinosaur Next Door

... so if the woman's not endangering anyone by having her boobs out, then there's no reason that (on a government level) she should be required to cover them up.

I dunno. I can easily imagine girls with their tits out distracting male drivers causing car accidents and similar stuff xD  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

You'll swoop from incredible highs when you're just glad to be alive,
to those lows when you wish you were dead.
And just when you start thinking that you've accepted who you are,
that changes,
too.

I'm all for it being legalized. Equality ftw.

And really, they're just boobs. HOSHIT LOOK THAT FEMALE HAS LUMPS OF FAT ON HER CHEST THAT CAN BE USED TO FEED INFANTS EVENTUALLY, THE HORROR~ Yes, breasts have sex appeal. So do many other things. Like Kals said, a man's bare chest (on a good looking guy) is very arousing. So are bums, hips on a female.... even lips, eyes, and hair can be very sexy, which are things that are almost never covered up unless it's really cold out or you're a Muslim woman. Breasts serve the double purpose of sex appeal and feeding babies: it is one of the main points of sexual dimorphism in homo sapiens, and we have the largest breasts of any mammals.

So that can partly answer your question, Laz, about what we did before bras, at least, before we were sapiens: we just had smaller boobs. xD (Also, breast bands were worn historically, at least as early as Roman times. Just a band of cloth wrapped around the breasts.)

BUT ANYWAYS. Having it legalized will at least make it possible legally for society to become that much more equal. I'm not going to run around with my shirt off even if it's warm and legal, because I don't like scaring people. But I have known girls who have wanted to. And yes, there will be staring, and it probably won't ever completely stop, but hey, girls stare at guy's chests too. Over time, people will be able to use *gasp* self control, and pay attention when they're driving.

((For the record, people, if you are looking at girls walking on the sidewalk - shirt or no shirt - instead of the road, ur doin' it wrong, and totally deserve to get in an accident. I'm just sayin'.))

For example, with nudists, it's not like they're all all over each other constantly because they can't handle all that sexual desire from seeing hot naked bodies all the time. It's just the state of being, and they can get aroused, yes, but it's not like this huge shocking deal that women have breasts, and there's nipples, and they're hanging loose.

This discussion is actually quite sexist, both against males and females. For males, cause this entire discussion is suggesting that men have no self control when it comes to sexuality. Yes it is distracting, but unless my guy friends are just exceptionally different from the rest of their sex, even when breasts are there, they can just learn to deal.

So, in summary: I think women should legally be allowed to be topless, and all this stuff about it causing car accidents and stuff is super sexist bullshit.

Because who you are is not permanent.

 

[Surazal Dloc]

Well I mean like, I'll be quite honest, I look at boobs all the time. A girl walks up to the seafood counter at work generally my will scan her body and I'll have a concious thought about her looks and boobs. A woman walks past on the street, I automatically look at her. I feel kinda sleazy most the time,and I always feel embarrassed that I just automatically do it and I hope they don't notice, but I try not to think about it. It's just an impulse. It's not like I'm continously staring or nothing.

My point being, it's kinda along the lines of what Kerri was saying about other parts of the body. Reagardless of wether a girl's boobs are covered up or not, guys will be looking at them. ALL THE TIME. I mean unless I'm like the only guy that does this I dunno xD  

[Jafthasleftthebuilding]

I think the society in which one lives should be considered greatly. Before doing something could be considered radical like legalised topless state of being for women -regardless of location-, consider the consequences. Places like the U.S. have lots of taboos regarding sex with a large amount of double standards that create a lot of perverts [no evidence ;D]. I'm more focused on the taboos. Legalising just does not seem like a possibility. You'd have to change the way of thinking first before that even becomes a sort of hope.

I could use marijuana in California for example. It's been illegal, still is, but recently we have a ballot measure saying that carrying a certain amount for personal use would be okay, no need for police interactions. That's a big first step and an indicator of the changing perceptions of society towards marijuana.

So, U.S. society needs to be rid of its love-hate relationship with sexuality, reducing all these weirdos that I'm sure are byproduct.. I -am- one of those weirdos.

And I gotta go!  

[Surazal Dloc]

Perhaps we are all thinking about this the wrong way. What do people think about rather than legalising topless women, we ban topless men?  

[Taeryyn]

I don't really like the idea of banning topless men. It seems like a silly use of government resources, for one, and it would be a waste of time to enforce, I think.

I think that this is one of those things where even legalizing it isn't going to take away the taboo. At least not rapidly.

Like we mentioned, it is legal for women to be topless in a lot of places in Canada, but no one takes advantage of it. Similarly, same-sex marriage is legal here, but that doesn't mean that homophobia has disappeared. We still have our fair share of people who would be shocked or uncomfortable to see two people of the same sex kissing.

I think it's just an attitude that may get more relaxed with time. There aren't, as far as I know, many women who are clamouring to be able to walk around topless, so I expect any societal attitude changes will be slow in coming.  

[Shram]

Surazal Dloc

The Dinosaur Next Door

... so if the woman's not endangering anyone by having her boobs out, then there's no reason that (on a government level) she should be required to cover them up.

I dunno. I can easily imagine girls with their tits out distracting male drivers causing car accidents and similar stuff xD

!!! Number 1 reason of car incidents every summer in norway are girls in bikini's
if they had their tits out then there would be crashes gallore.  

[~DR.MOOFASA~]

pickle relish

Hehe. After taking my Psychology of Gender course this year, I have a lot to say about this. biggrin

It's not indecent for women to walk around with their breasts exposed. They do in a lot of tropical cultures, and men are not in a constant state of sexual arousal. Because the breast is seen so often there, it isn't as important sexually. If women were allowed to walk around topless here, eventually breasts would lose their sexual meaning.

For another thing, stressing the differences between men and women is a way to keep women subjugated. Women not being allowed to show their breasts because of their sexual nature is a bit like Muslim women being covered completely except their eyes because they're "so alluring that men simply can't resist them."

As for rape, it wouldn't be because men are constantly aroused. Rape is rarely a crime done for sexual reasons. It is done for power, for men to demonstrate power over women (and sometimes other men, as well). In fact, after people got used to women showing their breasts, rape would most likely decrease, as it would be another step towards equality for women, and societies where men and women are equal have the lowest rates of rape (and the United States has the highest rate in the industrialized world. What does that say?). Sure, it would probably go up initially, as a sort of indignant response to women who don't "know their place." But "protecting" women implies inequality as well. Women should be able to wear what they want when and where they want without fearing rape.


As for my person opinion on it, sure there are times when I would rather not see breasts. But I also don't particularly like seeing men without shirts, either, or obese people wearing revealing clothing. That doesn't mean they don't have the right to wear what they want.


Aaaaaand I think that's it.

Seconded.

i live in Ontario too, and yes, it's perfectly legal. uncommon, yes, but legal. i've only ever seen it once while not at a beach though, and i couldn't see much over the eager heads of the horny dudes in the car with me :/