Over the summer, I work at a daycare. On the days when it’s hot, my co-worker Liz and I take our room outside with an assortment of balls, tennis rackets, water and frisbees. After about an hour in, we’ve got about ten boys who are six years-old and running around shirtless. One of the times outside, while Liz and I were leading a very amateur yoga class with the girls, one of them asked if they could take their shirt off like the boys could. If she had simply asked if she could take her shirt off, I wouldn’t have hesitated to say no. Of course, I didn’t want one of my little girls running around a park shirtless. What would her parents say? But the way she phrased it is what struck a cord.

Like the boys can.

I knew I couldn’t let her take her shirt off, but I couldn't think of a way to explain to a 6 year-old that sometimes boys are allowed to do things girls can’t, and without no real reason other than the fact that when we do it, it’s deemed as sexual, and for boys, it’s natural. How do you explain sexuality to an elementary schooler?

The biggest issue was that, in her stage of development, her chest would be no different than any of the boys on the field. She was no different than them, so how could I explain to her that some people say she is?

I’ve been struggling when it comes to the whole Free the Nipple campaign. I’ve wavered between considering the unfairness and fact that maybe women showing their full breast isn’t the issue. Maybe men should have to cover up, too. Either way, there is some miscommunication when it comes to equality between the sexes in this instance. When it comes down to it, a man’s nipples are no more sexual than a woman’s. We’ve been taught to think that way. Physically, a woman’s nipples may be longer than a man’s and her areola’s may be bigger, but these are because women have been blessed with the task of feeding their baby. These aren’t sexual differences. They are baby sustaining differences.

Though some may not have officially, or as vocally, announced their support for the campaign, many female stars have taken to freeing their nipples in public. This is when it becomes really interesting because no one complains. In Rihanna’s recent “Work” music video, she wears a shear top that clearly displays her whole breast, and I haven’t heard any backlash about it. She also wore a translucent gown to the CFDA Fashion awards, and she was praised for her edgy and bare look. She owned her body as an aesthetic, making it a part of her outfit and a part of herself. Rihanna has, time and again, reclaimed her body from public scrutiny by presenting it unabashedly on her own terms.

Many other women have followed suit, displaying their bodies without shame or regret, and it makes me proud. I always am drawn to people who passionately flaunt their beliefs. Not to gain attention, but rather to prove their indifference to the rules and what society wants expects from them. It’s beautiful. And so is the female body. Nipples and all.

I still can't tell that little girl she can take her shirt off and play soccer bare-chested with the rest of the boys, but at least there are women with voices making strides toward normalcy and the desexualization of the female body. Her time will come.

"Well-behaved women seldom make history." - Lauren Thatcher Ulrich.