I’m sure we’ve all heard of the “free the nipple” movement. It is a gender equality campaign that was started from Lisa Esco’s 2014 film called Free the Nipple. It is a movement that argues that women should be at the liberty to be topless and uncensored while being protected under the law in the same way that men are. For generations, our grandmothers and great-grandmothers have been fighting to be treated fairly and equally in our society. Women have made large strides toward gender equality when they’ve won battles such as their right to vote and to join the military but also fought for the smaller things like being able to wear pants. The “free the nipple” movement fights a double standard that women can be arrested for something a man can so freely do. I heard arguments that “we should focus on other things than showing your boobs” but the fact of the matter is that women are being denied another freedom that has been reserved for men. Inequality is inequality.
At what point in a woman's life does this censorship begin?
If you go to the beach, you will probably see men, little boys, and little girls alike without a tops on. It’s so normal to see little girls without tops on and no one makes a fuss. These girls aren’t arrested for being topless on a beach but someday, their right to be topless will be unjustifiably revoked. If they were to end up at the pool or on the beach years later as women, they could be arrested, fined, and may even have to register as a sex offender. It’s as though at some point, exposure of a female breast becomes considered obscene, and indecent. It’s okay for little girls, little boys, and men to be topless as these laws are strictly enforced on women only. It doesn’t matter if a woman has small breasts, large breasts, or no breasts, to the law and censorship boards, it only matters that they are women. It’s not about the size of the breasts but it is about the gender of the person they are on.
Why is the female breast censored?
There is this idea in American culture that we must protect people from sexuality. At one point in American television, married couples couldn’t even be shown in the same bed. Because breasts are so highly sexualized in the United States, the public exposure of a female breast becomes a threat to the values of society. Unless, of course, it is used to sell products and services. Women’s breasts have also become a powerful marketing tool. Women’s breasts are sexualized and eroticized while being exploited in much of our advertising. If the consumer were to become numb to their exposure, female breasts might lose some of their selling power.
Ultimately, it is women who must pay the humiliating price of suppression and exploitation. Perhaps it’s time we begin to question the “it’s always been this way” ideals and societal norms. Afterall, why should a women get arrested or punished for doing anything a man can do? In the end, it’s not about showing your breasts. It’s about ending damaging standards and normalizing women’s bodies.
