Understandable. Its easy to see image being important in every society. I just remember Norway being labled as especially vain, judgemental people (not saying each person is vain and judgemental, just their society).
Maybe this is one of those cases where, sure, you can go naked, but it just happens to be in a place that’s so freakin’ cold that, well, who would want to?
It seems to me that I recall a case from Maine. A young woman was arrested for public nudity, and she successfully argued that the Maine law specified that it was an offense to have visible genitalia, and she kept hers discretely inside. I never saw a followup to see if Maine had modified their law.
Women! You fought for this equality…you had better damn well use it!
My powers of evasion have grown more powerful since I left Saudi Arabia. I am still behind the firewall, but now employ an old Jedhi trick for punching through.
With your handkerchief?(NSFW Video.)
Ha! You’ll probably be waiting a long time for that to happen.
Here in good old western/upstate New York, the only time it ever happens is during the various summer festivals. Out of the thousands of festivalgoers, there will be one, maybe two women who decide to shed their tops. Usually, youngish hippies who are sad they missed out on the 60s.
A few years ago I remember a friend saying she say a woman at one of the festivals completely topless but wearing a giant poodle skirt. I gotta say, I’m sorry I missed that.
I think that I remember that case, too, but the defense I remember was not that her genitalia were internal, but that they were concealed by pubic hair.
Yes, women in Maine are allowed to go around starkers, but men are not. Two women were found not guilty in 2002 despite being caught without a stitch. In another case, two men were found guilty but their female fellow skinny-dipper was found not guilty in 2008.
Vermont, I believe, has no statewide law against public nudity but towns and cities are free to pass their own bans.
There was a lawsuit back in the nineties in Ontario that resulted in female toplessness being legal alongside male toplessness in Ontario.
The only place this seems to occur is at the Pride Parade, and various nudist spots.
Given that I more and more frequently see people in almost-full burqa on the subway (just the eyes showing), that has to set some sort of record for variety of public body covering in the same city.
“In summary, the People have offered nothing to justify a law that discriminates against women by prohibiting them from removing their tops and exposing their bare chests in public as men are routinely permitted to do.” People v Santorelli, 80 N.Y.2d 875 (1992)
The Gap.
Going naked in public is considered indecent behaviour, yes. Topless at the beach, no problem, naked on a nude beach or by a secluded forest lake, no problem, expose yourself in the park, or go naked to the mall… indecent behaviour.
My neighbour is a cop. I’ll try to remember asking him what the facts are.