The GoTopless Movement And The Fight For Gender Equality

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There’s nothing more American than protesting. We’re a country of rabble rousers who change the world by fighting for our beliefs. With that in mind, GoTopless has been on a crusade for clothing equality between men and women — centered around what we’re allowed to show and forced to conceal in public. Through generations of gender equality struggle there have been leaps forward and disappointing setbacks, and America tends to be particularly puritanical when it comes to bare skin being linked with sexuality.

Back in 1936 ,men fought for the right to go shirtless in public. There were protests by male lifeguards and movie stars so that navels, nipples, and chests would be allowed out and about in public. Eighty years later, women still have to protest and risk being arrested for going shirtless in public spaces.

The vast majority of U.S. states constitutionally allow women to be topless alongside men. However, individual cities and counties are creating laws that unconstitutionally prohibit women (not men) from enjoying that right. GoTopless has been marching in cities across America — most recently in Venice Beach — to raise awareness of what the law is and how it’s biased along gender-lines. They recently started a petition at Change.org to get laws in the L.A. County area repealed.