Free the Nipple

source: pixabay (CC0 public domain)

 “Blindness separates people from things; deafness 

separates people from people.” -- Helen Keller

by Gill Chi

    Free the Nipple is a social movement launched by a film maker Lina Esco in 2013 to promote gender equality. Supporters of this movement argue that people have double standards on male and female breasts and nipples. People allow males to bare their breasts but discourage females to expose their breasts in public, and this leads to mass discrimination against women through a general denial of the female body. This movement is not about encouraging women to show their upper body anytime anywhere, but about disconnecting the female body off from sexual arousal. This movement aims to legalize women’s right to their body politics and to promote general gender equality throughout western society. 

    Although some states in America amend their laws and allow women breasts being uncovered in public, women are still faced with ridiculous charges against them if they show their breasts or nipples: weather problems, other legal problems, violation of social order, obscenity in public, etc. For example, a lady from the City of Phoenix was accused because of the exposing of her upper body in 2005. All charges against her were actually invalid in New York City, where concerning laws had been changed 15 years earlier. And yet the lady from Phoenix was adjudicated of 29,000 US dollar reparation. 

    And in 2015, in order to make amend regulations that effect mandatory removal of on-line photos of female upper bodies (self-willedly taken and uploaded), an Icelander student Adda Smaradottir launched Free the Nipple campaign again, encouraging females to upload their bare-breasted pictures to Facebook, and tag “FreeTheNipple” on Twitter. This movement has the Icelandic member Björt Ólafsdottir’s support, she uploaded a picture of herself being uncovered to support these teenagers in action.

    The movie Free the Nipple was on the big screen in 2014. This movie is about a group of passionate young women protesting against laws and regulations suppressing the female body. They staged a highly artistic protest through their performances and graffiti on the streets of New York. The movie was produced in 2012 was not available to the public until one year later. Therefore, Free the Nipple was launched in 2013. 

    When people talk about gender equality, the first thing that need to be done is to eliminate the prejudice they have on the female body. If a man can take off his shirt whenever he feels like, then a woman should enjoy the same no less. After all, it is a person’s choice of and right to her own body, without intention to hurt or affect anyone else. Hence, other people do not have the right to judge and certainly should not have a say in another person’s body.