I'm fine with equal opportunity toplessness. Ya know, as a mom it actually really bothers me that women's breasts have been so sexualized and objectified - yet men's chests are not seen as nearly so sexual. Yes, there are hard-body manly chests in ads and such - but still...always seeing women in ads with cleavage and the heaving bosom stuff? It's too much. I think it all reinforces the differences between men and women - having men be able to run around shirtless, but women not being comfortable or legally allowed to. Equality shouldn't be conditional.

Not to mention, breastfeeding - which some women have issues with because they cannot separate the act from the sexual attachment that they have made to their own breasts. I agree with the author, Petra, about the right to breastfeed in public. Whether or not it's a comfortable choice for you, breastfeeding should be supported, not treated with disdain. It is necessary, it is natural.

Regardless, my point is - I do wish my kids weren't being taught by everything that they see that breasts are inherently sexual for women but not for men. It's just not true.

I think women should be able to go topless where men can. People here just don't get it. Nudity does NOT EQUAL sex. There's a huge difference between nudity and sex, yet somehow, they all got bunched up together.

Europe, at least the parts I've been to, has started figuring out the difference. But here in "the West"? It's all the same crap. It bugs me. It grinds my gears. Then women wonder why we get so objectified.. well, maybe if everything about a women wasn't pushed into the category of sex, this wouldn't be as big of an issue.

The article went a bit far envisioning the hysteria that would ensue if such a law (allowing toplessness for all) were enacted. How many topless guys do you see every day? I see none out in public. If I go to the gym, maybe I'll see a few (and I'll also see topless women in the locker room). I'm not sure where the idea came from that if every person with boobs could be topless, they automatically WOULD, or at least to the extent of causing traffic accidents and rampant titty webpages.

Not to be too practical here, but it's cold in a lot of places. Where I live, it's hardly ever warm enough for me to want to go out in a tank top, let alone topless. Women also like breast support, which would at least become evident after people started trying out toplessness if it were an option.

It doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me if women were allowed to go topless. I envision men being topless in a number of situations (the gym, the beach, maybe playing basketball/frisbee, a barbecue?), but since I'm not overrun by topless men in everyday life, having equal numbers of women topless in similar situations doesn't warrant a big fuss.

I also am in favor of public breastfeeding. That one just makes sense to me.

As far as the legality goes, I think that women should be able to trot around topless without being slammed for indecency. Personally, though, I would choose to keep my shirt on. I enjoy hiding a little skin.

I live in Hawaii, and I'm all for MORE clothes at the beach. The average American body looks a before add for Fit Camp or Body For Life. Some of the men walking around have bigger breasts than the foreign tourists. Anyway, most of the women may as well go topless with some of the bikini tops that look like two pasties and a piece of overtaxed string.

Breasts are a natural thing, but there should be areas of the beach roped of for ropless or botomless folks so the more conservative people and folks with little kids don't feel offended.

As for me, going to the beach is the most sexually dampening experience of my day, next to my job. (working post partum). I prefer to go at night. Less tourists, more clothes, etc. Especially no sun. (Just a giant ball of carcinogens in the sky)

I'm all for breastfeeding in public if it is done discretely and appropriatley. I had a patient who was still breast feeding her six year old. He'd just go up to hear and say "boobies" . He ate real food as well. It weirded me out a little.
They do make shrowd like shawls so the infant can suckle and the world doesn't have to watch. Afterall, newborns feed like every 3 hours, you gotta have some life. I'm very pro breastfeeding.

The article made me think and I have to say I disagree with the author. There was a time when women's ankles and calves had to be covered because they were "too sexually arousing" to be seen. I get that some people are more titillated by what they can't see, but frankly that's hardly a justification for making rules that apply to only one sex. If you want to keep them hidden, keep them hidden, but if I don't, I should be free to make my own choices and not be burdened by anyone's agenda to keep women's breasts "special" and "taboo."

And I wholly agree with the breastfeeding comments made here. Breastfeeding couldn't be more natural and normal; it's exactly what breasts were designed for. Why someone should have to hide this normal activity from the world, I do not know. But I do know that keeping it "under a shawl" only further perpetuates the same "taboo" associated with hiding them in general. It perpetuates an atmosphere of "uncomfortable" when someone does flash a breast as they are breastfeeding.

I will admit, the 6 year-old breastfeeder did seem weird to me at first. But you know, if we were all exposed to female breasts as just another part of the body, the way we are male breasts, probably we would have no issue with this at all.

It's not like it's harmful to the child at all, in fact, it's good for him, nutritionally and emotionally. (yes, he can eat regular food, but he could drink formula from birth and we all agree that's not better than breastmilk) It's not like the boy, at 6, has begun to think of breasts as sexual objects. So why are we so much more comfortable to see an infant breastfeed, but squicked out by an older, but similarly innocent child breastfeeding?

I think going topless outside of certain situations (ie. at the beach, sunning yourself, exposing minimally for breastfeeding, or maybe some yardwork) tends to just look tacky. I wouldn't have a problem with women being allowed to do it...but I would hope that women would exercise a little better judgment than the many men who decide to just wander around shirtless just to show off.

Hmm. I have to ask but what ARE the places where it's acceptable for the moob but not the boob? I'm having a hell of a time trying to remember the last time I saw a man shirtless in a public setting - except for the homeless crazy guy in my hometown. I guess I don't see the big deal because I don't go to these places?

I went topless in Spain and France at the beaches, it is so the norm there. Less stares there then here wearing a top.
I can not jog anywhere (even on a treadmill) w/o a sports bra regardless of the convention.

It is hard to unlearn what you have been taught, so right or wrong it is a part of our current culture. If a law passed tomorrow making everything equal in the shirt department, I bet most women would not opt to exercise their rights to go topless, because most men would go nuts about it. It could take years to get to a point where it was not a big deal, maybe generations. At least that is my opinion / prediction.

On a sidenote, the 6 year old breast feeding... are there any laws or regulations about that kind of thing?

I saw something about an Ausie woman who breast fed her son up to and past 6. Yeah, seems a little weird to me.

I'm not a breast guy, so I'm not really all that into tits. I am a big proponent for equal rights. Sure, it killed chivalry, but it was on its way out anyway.

Everyone has an opinion - none of which will do anything to change the world. But what the heck - here are my thoughts;

We're always trying to create moral-equivalency - but the fact is that a mans chest - is not a functioning organ like a female breast.

One assumption here seems to be that all breasts are beautiful and worth 'displaying'. The fact is that most men don't chests worth displaying - nor do most women.

All women know that exposing their breasts - or not - gives them great power over men - why not keep the power?

But hey - if you want to go around turning all the teenage boys - don't let me get in your way!

I do think that they should be able to go topless. Women's breasts are over-sexualized, and personally, I don't like that. Though I do love to have my mouth on my little girl's nipple, I can ASSURE you that men's nipples have had mouths on them too. No reason to pick on women because theirs are a bit larger - in fact, there are plenty of men with larger chests, so should they have to always wear shirts? No, they don't.

I think that there's nothing wrong with nudity. If we can, women should be able to too without being looked at inappropriately (which brings up the point that men ARE looked at in that way when topless).