“Go ahead, free your breasts!” », urges us the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Isabelle Charest1. “Let’s revolt”, suggests columnist Isabelle Hachey2, recounting this “non-story” of a topless young woman in a park. Uh, are you sick, ladies?
Posted yesterday at 11:00 a.m.
It is true that gender equality is far from being achieved, from being done. With each passing day, we can closely observe the “two weights (of the breasts), two measures (of the bra)” which still weighs, and very unequally, in the balance of the sexes and, in 2022, of the genders.
There is clearly still a lot of work to be done to emancipate and protect the rights of women, to allow them to be masters and mistresses of their bodies, to decide for themselves, whatever the issue. But please, when it comes to boobs, ladies and gentlemen (and everyone else in between), please keep yourself a little embarrassed.
Even the “chest” of men (and in some cases, their nipples), we do not want to see them in public places.
Do you use public transport? Get dressed, damn it! Are you going to the grocery store? Put on a t-shirt, please. You go shopping, cover yourself a minimum, for the good of everyone. A little modesty, as they say, a little restraint too. It’s a question of respect… for others, above all.
No, it’s not just your individual rights that exist. No, you are not alone in the world like on the street. And no, we don’t want to see you naked or even half-naked.
Boobs on the beach, that’s one thing. Exposed breasts in the middle of the street, it’s clearly another. All of this is a matter of context and let us distinguish here the intimate space from the public space.
In your living room, as in your courtyard or on the edge of a swimming pool, do what you want, we don’t give a shit. It’s called your private life, your intimacy. But in the public space, on the other hand, sorry, there are rules of civility.
In the public space, unless you are breastfeeding a baby who depends on this breast to survive, unless you are in an artistic creation, on a stage at Place des Arts in a choreography by Marie Chouinard, among other examples, no , we do not want to see your breasts, neither those of men nor those of women, of anyone in fact.
When individuals reveal private parts of their bodies in the public space, this is called exhibitionism. And there will always be voyeurs nearby to take advantage of it.
In the best of all possible worlds, of course, women would wander around freely topless without creating a stir. However, we do not live in this ideal and utopian world. On the contrary, the world is damned sick.
Only in public transport, in Montreal as elsewhere, do you know how many freaks, sex maniacs and predators of all kinds there are who wander in search of potential victims and easy prey? It’s full.
Do you want to put yourself in a vulnerable position, even in danger? Go ahead, get naked, flaunt your boobs anywhere. But please, ladies, don’t do it on behalf of all feminists.
Already a good number of women have definitively abandoned the use of the bra – and it is their choice. Now, is all this really healthy for your breasts, ladies? That’s the question. Time passes, fashions too, but the gravitational force will remain.