The Free the Nipple movement stands against oppression and censorship of women around the globe. With respect, I think it is an awesome idea to stand up for women's rights and equality. That’s what this is about, right? Men get to show their nipples but women aren’t allowed. But if women are fighting and making a stand for equality of women and men, then why are we talking about nipples?
The fact that some women are solely spending their days trying to make a movement just so they can walk around the streets half-naked is beyond me. Do we not have respect for ourselves anymore? Do we not believe in the privacy of our bodies anymore? Why would women want to exploit our private parts for the world to see?
Walking around the streets shirtless is basically a leeway to promoting pornography for kids. This is who we are setting examples for. Women are fighting to walk around topless with their nipples showing for the whole world to see. Does this mean it's OK then for children to send pictures of their nipples to other men? Does that not matter? Should parents shrug their shoulders and be OK with that? It's the same thing, just one is in a picture and the other is not. This has nothing to do with being equal to men.
If women want to show their private parts, then should men walk around pants-less? Why not with no underwear? What is the point of protecting our assets then? When we are young, we are told to protect ourselves, to not exploit ourselves and show too much skin at such a young age. So what's the problem with this? Would we want our female children walking around with no shirts on just because we want to show them they can be “equal” to men? No. The innocence is then lost. The concept and morality of beauty in one's body has vanished.
The concept of intimacy has then been exploited, as well. If women are telling young girls it is all right for them to take their tops off and walk down the busy streets with no problem, then where does the intimacy go when it comes time to be in a relationship? Being topless has no sense of privacy. If you are willing to show your body off with no problem, then what else is left? You are exploiting yourself and there is a higher chance that when you are in a relationship, your crush will not take you seriously. It really just makes you look easy to get.
All the time, people wish that society today were as it was in the '50s. Prices were lower, there were no worries to lock the door, and no dropped cell phone connections. But, also in the '50s, among other years, women dressed with style, showing off their clothes as a projection of who they are. That's what presenting yourself entails. Half-naked, you are projecting who you are, and it’s not a good look.
If we want to focus on equality of men and women, why don’t we tackle the fact that women get paid 78 cents to the dollar men get? Maybe for a change we can stop worrying about showing more skin on our bodies, and tackle some things that will actually benefit us women.
