# UNFAIR! Chest Covering in public. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 20, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969 "2004-07-20T08:00:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/21 "2004-07-20T20:58:38Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > As for the dominance of oversized garments, I think it’s partly due to the hip-hop culture O\_o I think it is because it is, like, comfortable. I’ll take baggy cargos over tight jeans any day of the week. > [@](#): > > I think also the incidence of obesity is a major factor; the fatter you are, the better you look in today’s fashions if you’re a man. Well, that is true enough, too… but at least _I_ prefer(ed, I put on a few) baggy. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/22 "2004-07-20T22:08:01Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#): > > Equality would give either gender the choice to cover or not, or would require both to cover or not. True equality would also mean that we would give either gender the choice to _shave their armpits_ or not… :eek: Be careful. You may get what you desire. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/23 "2004-07-21T02:59:35Z")
Funny story. OK, actually, it isn’t, but it is related. I was sitting in the waiting room at the doc’s today, and after a bit a rather large fellow with full body tattoos walked in the door and sat down next to me. First of all, he reeked. Second of all, he had “love handles” the size of a SUV, so it wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination (and I can appreciate male beauty). While it was, of course, totally legal for him to be in such a state of disdress (get it? distress? disdre- … yea, screw you too), he was given the boot by the nurses within 10 minutes, much to my olfactory relief. Being able to go topless in public doesn’t mean that you can go undressed on private property, and in most places, you’ll be denied service. Even 7-11 has more class than that. _Maybe_ the rules would be bent for women more than men, but not by much, and not enough to make goign topless a very realistic way to do anything. So a combination of: 1. Private property dress code 2. Cold weather 3. Gravity 4. General modesty 5. Their boyfriends’ jealousy would pretty much rule out 99% of the cases, making it a rarity. Though maybe at the beach, sporting events, mass parties, maybe a bit on college campuses… But this kind of thing would absolutely DESTROY Mardi Gras! ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/24 "2004-07-21T03:01:16Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > True equality would also mean that we would give either gender the choice to _shave their armpits_ or not… :eek: Since when do they have to? Or have I spent too much time in Berkeley? Quick question: Do you shave _your_ armpits? ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/25 "2004-07-21T03:10:12Z")
Interesting responses. Glad to know that equality has been achieved in some (unlikely) places. The OP addresses matter of law. What we are free to do. Some posters have brought up issues of fashion (formal attire for women vs. man, which is also unfair, but is a ‘social convention,’ and won’t end you up in jail. And others addressed emotional comfort (cultural mores), which although not a matter of law, for a subset of the population has the weight of law. I think such digressions are valid in order to get a broad picture (no pun intended). ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/26 "2004-07-21T05:37:18Z")
You’re way late. My mother was saying the same thing over 70 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/27 "2004-07-21T21:22:56Z")
Ah, **David** , you were raised by bohemians? It explains your rather “pink” politics. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/28 "2004-07-21T21:55:19Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I would take it a bit further and require that everyone in the USA, regardless of age, race, color, ethnicity or place of origin, be naked at all times. Top coats would be permitted on a case by case basis when the temperature reached a certain low point. That might work out okay down in FL, but I challenge you to wander naked in NH in any months but May-October. Even with a coat (but no pants or underwear), snow would find your bare skin and your boys would freeze off. Then where would you be? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969/29 "2004-07-21T22:29:47Z")
> [@Zagadka](#): > > Since when do they have to? Or have I spent too much time in Berkeley? > > Quick question: Do you shave _your_ armpits? Actually, I should confess… I think a bit of axillary hair is actually sexy on a female… as long as it doesn’t look like she has Don King in a headlock. And no, I haven’t shaved my armpits since I was in college. Don’t ask. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfair-chest-covering-in-public/255969.md?page=1)