Ok, so before you judge this as some extreme feminist movement right off the bat, take a minute to educate yourself on the campaign called Free the Nipple. This is simply an equality movement working to bring men and women one step closer to equal rights.
Now, that’s not so bad, is it?
As a means to bring awareness to this issue, thousands of women have been protesting, running around NYC (and another cities), and posting propaganda...all while being topless. I mean nipples out and all—no pasties needed here. Now, I am all in for this campaign. I believe mothers should never feel uncomfortable breast feeding, that society has over-sexualized the female breasts (especially in media), that there is no reason a female nipple should be censored on any type of media (especially while a man's nipple is ok), and I believe that if I women wants to be topless she should have just as much as a right to it as a man does. To me it's as simple as that, #girlpower.
However, apparently it's not that simple to everyone in out there. There are currently 35 states in the United States of America where it is illegal for a woman’s nipple to be shown, in some states this is including breastfeeding. The punishment can anywhere from jail time or a $2,500 fine (harsh). That seems a little unfair doesn't it? Breastfeeding is a natural thing and mothers shouldn't be forced to do this in a little bathroom stall or have their baby go hungry. Also, If a man has the right to be shirtless somewhere I see no reason why a female shouldn't be. I mean nipples are nipples.
Even in locations where it is legal for women to be topless, such as New York City, women are still being arrested under crimes of public indecency, disturbing the peace, or lewd behavior. Crazily enough, not all these women have the extra money to hire a wrongful arrest lawyer to fight this for them.
At first, this might seem impossible to change, but it’s been done before—for men. It was once illegal for men to be topless anywhere (even at the beach), but they protested and were granted this basic human right in 1936. As history usually shows, it seems to take women longer to achieve the same rights as men—so maybe this is a perfect example of this?
This movement has been receiving a huge amount of publicity. Everyone from celebrities to parents have very strong opinions on this campaign. Thanks to social media you can find everybody from Miley Cyrus to Joe Jonas to just an average college student posting photos in support.
To get the message out there the campaign is using #freethenipple. However, using social media does cause an issue for this campaign. Most social media platforms have censorship rules against exactly what Free The Nipple is fighting for. Various photos of female breasts, even pictures of women simply wearing T-shirts with breasts printed on them, have been deleted. I don’t know about you, but I find it ridiculous that the female body is too inappropriate for social media, but the countless videos I see of absolutely horrific fights are perfectly fine.
The movement isn't about having women constantly running around topless. However, it is about bringing light to the double standards in the censorship of female breasts and the sexualization that society has created toward them. Why is a man’s bare chest 100% ok, but a women's chest is 100% not ok?
If you don’t want to show your breasts, by all means, don’t do it. This is not about saying that you have to 'free the nipple', but it is about saying that those women out there that want to do this are allowed to. No women should be told that she can’t reveal her nipples (especially considering men also have them) just because society has sexualized them. This is 100% a feminist movement. Incase you didn't know the definition of feminism is, "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men," and I'm sorry but if you don't believe in that than you must not care about the future of your sister/daughter/wife/mother/any other women out there.
Keep your shirt on because you want to, not because it’s the law.
