# It's perfectly legal for women to walk around New York City topless. Yet so few do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 13, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272 "2011-06-13T01:27:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/41 "2011-06-14T02:02:27Z")
Photographer Jordan Matter covered the Uncovered in New York. This _ **NSFW** _ link has some beautiful photos and commentary, and I especially love the last pic in the set. http:/ /uncoveredbook.com/ (to view remove space between forward slashes) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/42 "2011-06-14T02:25:45Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Photographer Jordan Matter covered the Uncovered in New York. The bra-shopping one is hilarious, and also pretty damn sexy for being the one image in which naked breasts _aren’t_ visible. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/43 "2011-06-14T02:45:07Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > The bra-shopping one is hilarious, and also pretty damn sexy for being the one image in which naked breasts _aren’t_ visible. Agreed, she has a beautiful shape. Matter must be cool, engaging and completely non-creepy to bring out the sense of fun shown in these pics. I love that he whips his shirt off, too, in the interest of fairness. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/44 "2011-06-14T04:31:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Yeah, yeah. 😛 > > My point is that every picture I’ve ever seen of New York always seems to be set in the colder seasons. I’ve never seen a pic of people wearing summer clothes, walking around in a bathing suit top or anything. In fact, in a quick google, I rarely even see people wearing shorts. > > I’m just proposing that NYC is rarely hot enough that the desire to be cool overrides the desire not to be ogled. I mean, apparently 99°F is a record high temperature for you guys. We’re going to hit two degrees shy of that just this month. And people around here still wear more clothing than you would expect at those temperatures. > > Then again, apparently New York does have some [nude beaches](http://www.newyorklogue.com/new-york-nude-beaches-2.html). So maybe I’m totally off-base. :dubious: Err, yeah you’re off-base. People wear shorts & t-shirts all the time here when it’s hot out. But a bathing suit top? Just walking down the street? That would be bizarre. Bathing suits are worn when you go in water, not walking around a major city. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/45 "2011-06-14T06:18:46Z")
How many men do you see walking around topless? Theoretically, we could do that, but we wouldn’t be allowed in shops, restaurants, museums, nearly any conceivable workplace, and so on. What would be the point? Beyond a narrow perimeter surrounding a pool or beach–in the public sphere anyway–to go topless invites disfavorable intervention accompanied by the words, _“Sir, you are creating a problem…”_. It doesn’t work for men now and it won’t work for women either. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/46 "2011-06-14T06:28:27Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > That’s right, the whole state of New York. I understand that female toplessness is also legal throughout Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Ohio and Texas. Full nudity is legal throughout Oregon and in some parts of California, including San Francisco. But that doesn’t mean it’s super common to see naked people walking down the street. I don’t know about Oregon, but in SF it’s normally seen at a few big annual events and very rarely at any other time. I don’t see hardly any not-fully-nude-but-topless women either. Hell, I’m pretty sure wearing just a bra on top is legal for women everywhere, but it’s still a very uncommon sight. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/47 "2011-06-14T11:28:57Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m just proposing that NYC is rarely hot enough that the desire to be cool overrides the desire not to be ogled. I mean, apparently 99°F is a record high temperature for you guys. We’re going to hit two degrees shy of that just this month. And people around here still wear more clothing than you would expect at those temperatures. 99 is the record for a particular date and I think we’ve gotten there already this year. The overall record is something like 106 , and stretches of near and above 90 degree days are not uncommon. And it’s humid. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/48 "2011-06-14T13:02:25Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > :dubious: Err, yeah you’re off-base. People wear shorts & t-shirts all the time here when it’s hot out. But a bathing suit top? Just walking down the street? That would be bizarre. Bathing suits are worn when you go in water, not walking around a major city. Not from California or Brazil, huh? I’ve seen women go for groceries in thongs (and I don’t mean flip-flops). ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/49 "2011-06-14T14:37:33Z")
I ride my _bike_ in upstate NY and get catcalls - dressed properly, not even in ridiculous biking gear. As if I’d go topless and have people criticizing that. No thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/50 "2011-06-14T14:46:03Z")
> [@Lor213](#): > > I’m guessing if they did it wouldn’t be anyone one you’d wanna see haha. Jeremy Hardy once likened naturism to amateur dramatics - often the people who are most enthusiastic are the ones you least want to see. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/51 "2011-06-15T14:55:24Z")
For the record, I did see topless women in NYC once. In 1994 I was a stagehand for The Gay Games (as the name implies, basically a series of athletic competitions for gays and lesbians). At the closing ceremonies in Yankee Stadium, the athletes walked the warning track to applause from the stands while Cyndi Lauper and Patty LaBelle warbled from the stage. Several of the female competitors did the walk topless, much to the delight of the male and hetero crew, as we watched the proceedings from the Yankees’ dugout. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/52 "2011-06-15T16:20:32Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > That’s right, the whole state of New York. Actually, not the whole state of New York. Women can go topless anywhere in New York that men can, but is some parts of the state, notably the public streets of the [Village of Southampton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southampton_(village),_New_York#cite_note-3) on Eastern Long Island, both men and women are prohibited from going topless. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/53 "2011-06-15T16:43:42Z")
Just because you can do a thing, it does not follow that you must. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/54 "2011-06-15T17:07:36Z")
All boob support and sexuality issues aside, I have a terror of getting a sun-burned nipple. Ooch! ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/55 "2011-06-15T17:10:38Z")
I rather enjoy having the liberty of deciding who does and does not get to see my boobies. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/56 "2011-06-16T03:03:50Z")
> [@gatorslap](#): > > Full nudity is legal throughout Oregon and in some parts of California, including San Francisco. But that doesn’t mean it’s super common to see naked people walking down the street. I don’t know about Oregon, but in SF it’s normally seen at a few big annual events and very rarely at any other time. I don’t see hardly any not-fully-nude-but-topless women either. > > Hell, I’m pretty sure wearing just a bra on top is legal for women everywhere, but it’s still a very uncommon sight. Same here. In my city (if the Willamette Valley were a scrotum, we would be sitting right in the bottom of the ball sack) – a bastion of alternative culture – I commonly see one or two women per summer going topless in the downtown core. At the Oregon Country Fair, of course, it’s all but mandatory, especially if your breasts are pendulous and/or wrinkled. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/57 "2011-06-16T12:05:11Z")
> [@Daerlyn](#): > > All boob support and sexuality issues aside, I have a terror of getting a sun-burned nipple. Ooch! If you know how to prevent sunburn elsewhere on your body (limit sun exposure, stay in the shade, wear sunscreen) this shouldn’t be an issue. Go ahead. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/58 "2011-06-16T17:43:09Z")
I recall that after the Rochester ruling, I noticed a spike in topless sunbathers at a small town beach I used to frequent. After a month it went back to being extremely rare. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/59 "2011-06-16T22:02:38Z")
I’m skeptical of the idea that breasts could become desexualized in a culture where baring them is more common. But it’s a risk we can’t afford to take. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272/60 "2011-06-16T22:16:06Z")
Occasionally I see women sunbathing topless in Central Park. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-perfectly-legal-for-women-to-walk-around-new-york-city-topless-yet-so-few-do/585272.md?page=4)