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Purcell: Give women the right to go topless Posted: Thursday, August 9, 2012 6:45 am Guest commentary by Tom Purcell I, for one, support what Moira Johnson is doing. According to The Huffington Post, Johnson, an exotic dancer by night, has by day been walking around New York City topless to advocate a woman's right to go shirtless. This is an equal rights issue, you see. Johnson and other topless lasses want to know why men are free to trot around shirtless anytime, anywhere, but women are not. After all, men have breasts, too. But maybe Johnson has a point. Where upper-torso nudity is concerned, maybe there is a double standard, and maybe we need to shed it like some old T-shirt, as we have so many outmoded standards of the past. It wasn't long ago that women were expected to stay at home and attend to the needs of men. But nobody thinks this way anymore. In fact, many men these days prefer that their wives work and make a boatload of money. They see no shame in staying home with the kids and clapping the first time Junior uses the toilet to do No. 2. It used to be that women were expected to be soft and feminine, much like actresses in the old movies, but that's no longer true. Women's professional basketball is as exciting and competitive as any male sport. Women now have their own professional football league. And on ESPN, professional female boxers do things to each other that make Mike Tyson look like a Quaker. It used to be that women needed husbands to have kids, but that's no longer true, either. Famous women who have dough are not only shunning husbands, they think they're better off without them. We men are stinky and hairy. We mess up the bathroom. We make loud noises when we eat. We snore when we sleep. Regrettably, though some women may think they're better off without us, we don't fare so well without them. We find ourselves waking up in a pile of dirty laundry and newspapers, still clenching the tequila bottle we began drinking from three days earlier. In these modern times, then, is it right that American society tolerates men walking around shirtless without extending this same basic freedom to women? After all, many attractive European women are allowed to go topless. Sure, they don't frequently bathe or shave their armpits, but you can't have everything. Perhaps this topless thing is just another example of our rigid thinking, in which we hold an opinion on how women should act without really thinking it through. So let's think it through. What if more American women conducted their daily business topless? I assure you that would prompt me to get out of the house more often. I'd spend every waking moment, to quote the great Dean Martin, "standing on the corner watching all the girls go by." Besides, many towns, including New York City, have no laws on the books that say it is illegal for women to walk around topless. Johnson was arrested for her topless protests, but the cops had to let her go. In any event, as many Americans sit idly by while their government strips away all kinds of freedoms — such as a religious organization's freedom to not have the government tell it what health insurance plan it must buy — I suppose someone standing up for any kind of freedom is a good thing. So I support all lasses who go topless on International Go Topless Day — I'm not making that up — which is on Aug. 26. Because the freedom to go topless may soon be one of the few freedoms we have left.
Woman, 29, goes topless for equality in New York By Larry Clifton Aug 1, 2012 New York - Moira Johnston roams the streets of New York City like millions of other women, only she does it nude, at least from the waist up. But Johnston isn’t a flasher or exhibitionist; she goes about her business wearing nothing from waist up to make a point. However, many with whom she comes into contact aren’t likely to ponder “women’s’ rights;” some, no doubt stunned, think, 'The woman is topless!' However, 29-year-old Johnson, a topless dancer, gives everyone she passes on the street a free peek as a way of focusing their attention on equal rights, according to a Huffington Post piece. “I want women to know their rights and to give them the courage to go topless too,” she told The Daily Beast. “It’s not that I want everyone to take off their shirt, but I’m supporting a woman’s choice to do it and think every woman should do it on her own terms.” Johnston’s bare breasts came out for the cause in January after she took off her top during a Yoga class. Complaints were lodged and that’s when Johnston decided to unleash the girls in the name of equality. Johnston says it’s unfair that guys are allowed to walk around shirtless while women have to cover their breasts. In May, Johnston began going topless on the streets of New York as part of a "Kickstarter Campaign" to protest the inequality of gender dress codes and to encourage other like-minded women to undress since, under New York law, they have the same right to go topless as men. But even New York Police aren’t up on the no shirt, no problem law in New York. Johnston was arrested her in May when she got too close to a children’s playground. She said police handcuffed her and had her shirt put over over her breasts after people complained. In the end, cops didn't charge her, according to The Globe And Mail. “[The officer] said it could be considered endangering the children,” she told The Daily Beast. Johnston’s breasts will receive a great deal of support on August 26. That is the date of the fifth annual Go Topless Day, when women in 22 cities around the world remove their tops in the name of justice. Many men protest the inequality by wearing bras or bikini tops – whether they need them or not. Ricky Roehr, a musician living in Las Vegas, takes the event as seriously as one can. "The very fact that guys are obsessing over boobs as sexual is exactly why we need to change the laws," Roehr told The Huffington Post last year. "Making something forbidden or taboo just makes people obsess over it."
Woman Goes Topless In NYC To Campaign For EqualitySourceWoman Goes Topless In NYC To Campaign For Equality Posted: July 31, 2012 Tuesday, July 31, 2012 is just another summer day in New York City. But when was the last time you walked down the street on a nice sunny day in Manhattan and saw a young woman walking towards you who was naked from the waist up? Women’s rights activist Moira Johnston hopes to raise public awareness on the issue and more women will feel comfortable strolling about topless in the city. Ms. Johnston is outspoken in her opinion that women should be treated the same as men in regards to attire or the lack thereof. She reasons that if men are legally allowed to go about topless, then women should have the same privilege. Ms. Johnston personally experienced the double standard, when she was asked to leave a yoga studio for going topless during a class. This occurred in January, 2012 and as soon the weather warmed up in May, Moira went public with her demand for equality. As one of the city’s leading advocates for the right of women to go bare breasted in public, she intends to continue her campaign throughout the summer. She hopes that by summer’s end, more people will adjust to the idea of a woman going topless in public and it will become less of a spectacle. While she doesn’t expect every woman to go topless, she welcomes women who are willing to join her cause. She says, “I want women to know their rights and to give them the courage to go topless too. It’s not that I want everyone to take off their shirt, but I’m supporting a woman’s choice to do it and think every woman should do it on her own terms.” Most people are surprised when they find out that New York State Law agrees with Moira. NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, Paul Browne, addressed the issue with the following statement on topless laws: “The state’s highest court established long ago that women have the same right as men to appear topless in public. Absent a link to some commercial enterprise or promotion, the woman’s lack of certain attire in this instance does not appear to be a police matter.” Despite the fact that the law is clearly on the side of Ms. Johnston, there have been reports of several instances of topless women being ticketed for disorderly conduct and other minor offenses. Hopefully, New York’s Finest has been made aware of the law and they will not subject Moria Johnston to the humiliation they put her through back in May, when she was handcuffed and arrested as she walked topless past a children’s playground. She said, “[The officer] said it could be considered endangering the children,” before he forcibly placed a t-shirt on her and took her to the precinct. Although the charges were later dropped, topless activists still feel there are officers patrolling the streets who are either unaware or unconcerned that the law is on the side of the women. Everyone is invited to attend the 5th annual “Go Topless Day” on August 26, 2012. Join Moria Johnston at the event in New York City or participate in the festivities in one of 21 other cities across the United States. The organizers invite men to join the protest by wearing bras or bikini tops to illustrate the hypocrisy of topless laws. Las Vegas musician, Ricy Roehr will be participating in his city’s event and he had this to say about the fuss over topless women, “The very fact that guys are obsessing over boobs as sexual is exactly why we need to change the laws. Making something forbidden or taboo just makes people obsess over it.” |