Last Sunday was International Topless Day, the day when all other worthy causes fall by the wayside and everything鈥檚 all about boobs. A bunch of protesters turned out in Vancouver, and a blogger who was interviewing Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray pulled her top down in his office and showed him her breasts. Talk about tacky behaviour.
No wonder women have a hard time being taken seriously by men when it comes to real issues of inequality. When a bunch of women parade up and down and make it all about undressing, they discredit all women. They leave the impression that we have nothing more substantial on our minds than a goofy desire to go topless in public. Actually, they leave the impression that we don鈥檛 have minds.
The reason these women want to bare their breasts in public? Because, according to what one woman told CTV News, 鈥渨e鈥檝e all been created equal.鈥� Yes, we have been. And that is why we should receive equal pay for equal work, not why women should expose their breasts. And that is actually why, if we鈥檙e truly talking equality here, then the Kelowna woman should be charged with indecent exposure, just as would any man who flashed a sexual part of his anatomy.
But this really isn鈥檛 about misdemeanours. It鈥檚 about being ditzy. Whose life is so empty that going topless is something worth thinking about, never mind fighting for?
The topless rallies, held annually in nearly 50 cities internationally, are scheduled to coincide with the Sunday that鈥檚 nearest to Women鈥檚 Equality Day, marking the day in 1920 when American women won the right to vote. It鈥檚 a great way to trivialize the accomplishments of suffragettes.
Susan B. Anthony, the Famous Five and other notable women who fought for equal rights, including the vote, never included on their list the right to walk around half-naked in public. Their fight was all about dignity 鈥� and dignity for women is incongruous with toplessness.
Covering up is really about society鈥檚 mores. Yes, women who belong to tribes that live in the Amazon rainforest, for example, go topless.
But we don鈥檛 live in the Amazon rainforest and our society has different rules from theirs. The rules are that we wear clothes. If we don鈥檛 want to wear clothes, we can always opt for the rainforest life.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing this in order to help women free themselves from the taboo [of] the breasts as unhealthy and dirty and sexual,鈥� the same protester who blathered about being 鈥渃reated equal鈥� also said.
I鈥檝e never met any women who wasted their time fretting about this so-called taboo, or for that matter, were even aware that they were in dire need of liberation from it.
And yes, men go without their shirts, but frankly, they shouldn鈥檛 either.
Lori Welbourne, who became a legend in her own mind when she flashed her breasts at Kelowna鈥檚 mayor, reported she 鈥渇elt very exposed, yet liberated at the same time.鈥� That鈥檚 great, Lori. Glad to hear you鈥檙e focused on what really matters in this world 鈥� your boobs. While you were busy feeling 鈥渆xposed, yet liberated,鈥� the rest of us saw you as exposed, yet silly.
There is a reason that a zillion articles out there warn women not to wear low-cut blouses to the office if they want to get ahead in their careers. It鈥檚 because if you want to gain the respect of others, then you need to dress in ways that contribute to earning that respect.
There are so many worthy causes in this world to which the women who protested Sunday could contribute their time, energy and resources, causes whose goal is to make this world a better place for women and girls to live in. Going topless isn鈥檛 among them.
If you鈥檙e obsessed with baring your breasts, then find a topless beach to hang out at, or join a nudist colony. But leave the public square alone, because the rules aren鈥檛 going to change there. Nor should they.
