Topfree Equal Rights!!!!!!!
[Q]Public exposure laws hinder gender equality
To combat sexism, women should be permitted to show as much skin as men
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By Jessica Ellis
Men, be careful, disturbing news: A law is pending saying that if you carry extra fat on your torso, you may not go out in public without a shirt. Oh, no, just kidding – it only counts if the extra fat is on your chest, and you happen to be a woman.
I don't remember exactly when, but at some point between the age of 5 and 10, I had to stop running through the sprinklers in just underwear and put on a swimsuit. My boy cousins didn't. On hot, sweaty days in gym, the boys could strip to their Herbert Slater Junior High shorts; I couldn't even get down to a sports bra. Now Liana Johnsson, a public defender from Ventura County, has taken a "breast equality" plea to Sacramento in order to secure equal rights on this subject for women, only to be essentially laughed off the stage. When asked to comment by the Los Angeles Times, Margita Thompson, spokesperson for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, replied, "You've got to be kidding me."
I certainly won't claim this is California's biggest problem – we have prisons, health care and pollution to worry about. But suddenly, for the first time in my liberal California upbringing, I am feeling the true sting of sexism. I brought this issue up recently with a male friend and foolishly expected a show of support for the clearly gender-biased law that could land a woman a citation for indecent exposure. His argument seemed to be that women's breasts might incite men to harass or molest the offending 34Cs and their owner. That indeed would be a terrible consequence, but I propose that the burden of fault would then lay with the attacker, not the attacked.
The other argument I hear frequently raised on this issue is that of offending others. First, let me state that anyone who listens to a baby scream for a half-hour in a restaurant will begin to beg that its mother put something in its mouth. That aside, never once in my 23 years have I heard tell of a breast that swore, made a derogatory remark about another person, or forcibly caused someone else to look at it. My mouth can (and has) done most of those things, and I am very careful to watch my tongue around those who would be offended. My job on earth is not to see how many people I can infuriate, but I didn't cultivate my breasts on purpose; they just grew there. I didn't have any say in it, yet I am told they may cause offense. Well, heaven forbid. Then I should cover them. Cover my breasts, my legs, my mouth and my ankles, because during the Renaissance those could throw men into a fever pitch – cover up any part of me that could possibly offend anyone or push anyone into an apoplectic fit of lust.
But wait, it gets better: Currently, a woman convicted of an indecent exposure misdemeanor could have to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law. Breasts are not only a threat to male sanity, they are a danger to the public!
No case like this has been brought to court, and experts claim the possibility is very low, but their reasons for why it is unlikely are missing the point.
Joe Rosato, a parks department spokesperson, points out that rangers are not in the habit of giving citations to topless females. Rosato says that instead the rangers ask the women to put their tops on, and usually it's 100 percent compliance. Well, when an enforcement officer asks me to do anything, I usually comply 100 percent, too – particularly if what I am doing is against state laws. It's not surprising that women comply; what is surprising is that California maintains and defends a gender-discriminating law.
We've fought for equity in voting, education, pay and jobs, yet we're still fighting to be able to be comfortable and safe in the female body. Society will not crumble if I take my top off at the beach, but the politically correct facade of gender equality will certainly never solidify if such a law is permitted to remain on the books.
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Ellis is a third-year theater student.
[/Q]
http://www.tera.ca/#Jan23
[Q]Public exposure laws hinder gender equality
To combat sexism, women should be permitted to show as much skin as men
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jessica Ellis
Men, be careful, disturbing news: A law is pending saying that if you carry extra fat on your torso, you may not go out in public without a shirt. Oh, no, just kidding – it only counts if the extra fat is on your chest, and you happen to be a woman.
I don't remember exactly when, but at some point between the age of 5 and 10, I had to stop running through the sprinklers in just underwear and put on a swimsuit. My boy cousins didn't. On hot, sweaty days in gym, the boys could strip to their Herbert Slater Junior High shorts; I couldn't even get down to a sports bra. Now Liana Johnsson, a public defender from Ventura County, has taken a "breast equality" plea to Sacramento in order to secure equal rights on this subject for women, only to be essentially laughed off the stage. When asked to comment by the Los Angeles Times, Margita Thompson, spokesperson for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, replied, "You've got to be kidding me."
I certainly won't claim this is California's biggest problem – we have prisons, health care and pollution to worry about. But suddenly, for the first time in my liberal California upbringing, I am feeling the true sting of sexism. I brought this issue up recently with a male friend and foolishly expected a show of support for the clearly gender-biased law that could land a woman a citation for indecent exposure. His argument seemed to be that women's breasts might incite men to harass or molest the offending 34Cs and their owner. That indeed would be a terrible consequence, but I propose that the burden of fault would then lay with the attacker, not the attacked.
The other argument I hear frequently raised on this issue is that of offending others. First, let me state that anyone who listens to a baby scream for a half-hour in a restaurant will begin to beg that its mother put something in its mouth. That aside, never once in my 23 years have I heard tell of a breast that swore, made a derogatory remark about another person, or forcibly caused someone else to look at it. My mouth can (and has) done most of those things, and I am very careful to watch my tongue around those who would be offended. My job on earth is not to see how many people I can infuriate, but I didn't cultivate my breasts on purpose; they just grew there. I didn't have any say in it, yet I am told they may cause offense. Well, heaven forbid. Then I should cover them. Cover my breasts, my legs, my mouth and my ankles, because during the Renaissance those could throw men into a fever pitch – cover up any part of me that could possibly offend anyone or push anyone into an apoplectic fit of lust.
But wait, it gets better: Currently, a woman convicted of an indecent exposure misdemeanor could have to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law. Breasts are not only a threat to male sanity, they are a danger to the public!
No case like this has been brought to court, and experts claim the possibility is very low, but their reasons for why it is unlikely are missing the point.
Joe Rosato, a parks department spokesperson, points out that rangers are not in the habit of giving citations to topless females. Rosato says that instead the rangers ask the women to put their tops on, and usually it's 100 percent compliance. Well, when an enforcement officer asks me to do anything, I usually comply 100 percent, too – particularly if what I am doing is against state laws. It's not surprising that women comply; what is surprising is that California maintains and defends a gender-discriminating law.
We've fought for equity in voting, education, pay and jobs, yet we're still fighting to be able to be comfortable and safe in the female body. Society will not crumble if I take my top off at the beach, but the politically correct facade of gender equality will certainly never solidify if such a law is permitted to remain on the books.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ellis is a third-year theater student.
[/Q]
http://www.tera.ca/#Jan23