Saturday August 26th 2017 – the day I walked topless through Manhattan. A truly liberating experience. Women and men of all shapes and sizes joined the Go Topless parade to promote gender equality.
We walked from Columbus Circle to Bryant Park, the female band leading the way – drums beating, chests bare. The roads were blocked off so we could walk freely without having to navigate our way through traffic. Bystanders and tourists lined either side of the barricades, their camera’s pointed right at us. I like to think that most of the people present actually gave a shit about the cause. Some clearly had no idea what was going on and a handful of others were on the prowl for new content for their wank banks – let’s be serious. The reality is, none of us have control over how these people use the photographs they took but the point is – women should have the freedom to walk topless in the street without feeling objectified.
An article posted by The Daily Wire poses an interesting question – are women supposed to own their sexuality, or rid themselves of it? The article claims that feminist’s are sending a confusing message by simultaneously bragging about our empowerment, getting nude and owning our sexuality whilst working to desexualise the female breast at the same time. I took this personally because my image was the headline for this article. I felt as though towards the end of the article, the movement was made a mockery of, and I happen to quite literally be the face of it.
In response to that question – the fact that we don’t sexualise male breasts does not mean that he has any less ownership over his sexuality nor should he feel any less empowered. So, why would desexualising the female breast, strip us (pun intended) of our sexuality and empowerment? Quite the contrary – women would feel much more comfortable being topless in public if men weren’t so openly, sexually charged by the sight of their breasts, which is obvious by the way they stare, the ‘cat calls’ and the unwelcome advances. Sadly, it isn’t just the men that need to do some social adjusting – some of the attitude dished out by women in the comments of that article were just as bad.
The female anatomy has been over sexualised for centuries. Some era’s more so than others. Pre-war we were corseted and covered from neck to past the knee; post war we unlaced and adorned utility clothing. In the 60’s and 70’s, bare breasts were as common as long hair on a man, and then we decided to cover up again. Did the baby boomers give birth to a bunch of prudes or did everyone just get really horny? How did we go from free love to forbidding women to free the nipple?
That’s what the Go Topless parade was all about – eradicating the stigma. We marched loud and proud, tits swinging all over Manhattan, in the hope that people would become more comfortable at the site of a bare breast and women would feel more comfortable baring their breasts. I’m not a Harlet or a Jezabel because I like to be naked. I am a woman and it’s my right.
elleonearth 