Right to go shirtless/topless in public?

[Samof94]

Men are just naturally far more sexually aroused by seeing a woman’s bare breasts than women are by seeing a man’s chest. That’s why women going topless is far more discouraged

What about lesbians? They are into the same stuff too and the argument falls apart when you include them.

[dead0man]

Men are just naturally far more sexually aroused by seeing a woman’s bare breasts than women are by seeing a man’s chest. That’s why women going topless is far more discouraged

What about lesbians? They are into the same stuff too and the argument falls apart when you include them.

maybe, but a lesbian can see lady boobs whenever they want to, men don't have the same level of access.

[ProgressiveModerate]

Men are just naturally far more sexually aroused by seeing a woman’s bare breasts than women are by seeing a man’s chest. That’s why women going topless is far more discouraged

What about lesbians? They are into the same stuff too and the argument falls apart when you include them.

This also makes me think about gay men. Would they view another man’s chest similar to how a straight man would view a woman’s? The argument can also fall apart in that way.

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

a lesbian can see lady boobs whenever they want to, men don't have the same level of access.

Lesbian brain: "Wow, she has nice boobs!"
Feminist brain: "You have boobs at home."

[Samof94]

a lesbian can see lady boobs whenever they want to, men don't have the same level of access.

Lesbian brain: "Wow, she has nice boobs!"
Feminist brain: "You have boobs at home."

Twist: they are the same brain(Jane Lynch)

[Progressive Pessimist]

Only if they're hot.

(Half-serious)

[nclib]

Definitely support. Topless women may be a strong social taboo, but that doesn't mean it should be illegal. Also, it would be good if it were far less taboo. Yes, plenty of parents don't want their kids seeing topless women, but it isn't objectively harmful. Also, its pretty arbitrary to keep the female nipple off limits while the rest of the female breast is okay.

[darklordoftech]

Definitely support. Topless women may be a strong social taboo, but that doesn't mean it should be illegal. Also, it would be good if it were far less taboo. Yes, plenty of parents don't want their kids seeing topless women, but it isn't objectively harmful. Also, its pretty arbitrary to keep the female nipple off limits while the rest of the female breast is okay.

It's quite something how people who disagree on if climate change is real, if borders should exist, and if police should exist agree that you'll die if you see a boob before your 18th birthday.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Unpopular opinion: public nudity should generally be more tolerated than it currently is in the United States. Without having any personal anecdotes or experience to go by, all the literature and documentaries I've seen on the subject would suggest that clothing-optional beaches and resorts tend to actually be less sexual than clothing-mandatory ones. Once you remove the stigma and the swimsuits which tend to sexualize the human body more than actual nudity does, the "forbidden fruit" aspect of that sexual appeal is no longer there. The naked body is simply a body, and the fact that everyone is "dressed" the same removes the shame commonly associated with clothed beaches.

I'm not sure if I personally would ever be caught dead at one of those beaches or resorts. I'm a fairly modest guy in general, so it's definitely not something I would jump into right away. I also don't think people should be allowed to prance around in their birthday suits wherever. But Europeans, by and large, tend to have a healthier attitude on this subject than Americans do.

We come into the world in the same state of dress, and that is the way God made us. I believe that shame is the consequence of sin. But the fact that humans experience that shame is a shame in and of itself - because we are embarrassed about God's creation and feel the need to conceal the human form, even in non-sexual situations, rather than appreciate it for the miracle that it is.

[dead0man]

it's, in some ways, a recent phenomenon too.  Boys swam naked in public US high schools into the 1970s for example.  cite

[darklordoftech]

it's, in some ways, a recent phenomenon too.  Boys swam naked in public US high schools into the 1970s for example.  cite

And movie ratings had more leniant criteria and theaters and stores didn't ID for R-rated movies well into the 90s.

[MarkD]

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Should distinctions be made between men and women?

No

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Should distinctions be made between men and women?
No

What do you guys think of this statement that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., made in a dissenting opinion he wrote to the 1923 case Adkins v. Children's Hospital?

It will need more than the Nineteenth Amendment to convince me that there are no differences between men and women, or that legislation cannot take those differences into account.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

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Should distinctions be made between men and women?

No

~~~
~~~
Should distinctions be made between men and women?
No

What do you guys think of this statement that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., made in a dissenting opinion he wrote to the 1923 case Adkins v. Children's Hospital?

It will need more than the Nineteenth Amendment to convince me that there are no differences between men and women, or that legislation cannot take those differences into account.

There's taking differences into account and then there's making the same behavior unexceptionable for one sex and a criminal offense for the other.

Regardless, as has been mentioned up-thread, this isn't a criminal issue in most states anyway; this isn't something the vast majority of women want to do, although that majority would be a little bit less vast if it weren't for various other kinds of social and cultural pressures.

[Crumpets]

Unless you live in an area where it's common for people to go shirtless around town, I think people in school should at the very least have on some kind of shirt when they're on campus (except maybe for some sports/PE-related stuff). As for society writ large, I tend to agree we're too restrictive about how people choose to dress, the whole "think of the children!" attitude towards exposed skin is BS and I wouldn't support any effort to tell anyone how they should dress outside of professional settings if they're not being explicitly lewd.

I have this vague memory from preschool when it was a really hot day, and we were all playing outside in a sprinkler. Us kids started to take off our shirts, and one of the teachers said something like "It's okay for boys, but girls need to keep their shirts on." At the time I remember just being confused - like, what's the difference? - but now I think of that as being a supremely stupid rule. Kids especially aren't going to be traumatized by seeing other kids without shirts, and if you're going to make some kids keep their shirts on, just make it apply to everyone.

[Frodo]

The legal right is already there.  It is a more question of societal acceptance -and given how people get contorted over women breastfeeding their babies (what could be more pro-life than that?) calling it 'disgusting', it won't be anytime soon.

[Conservatopia]

Isn't there the risk that old ladies would go topless though 

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

Isn't there the risk that old ladies would go topless though 

Old men are already legally allowed to do that, and that's equally repulsive imho

[David Hume]

Men are just naturally far more sexually aroused by seeing a woman’s bare breasts than women are by seeing a man’s chest. That’s why women going topless is far more discouraged

In south Africa and some other aboriginal cultures, it's normal for women to go topless. I am curious how often men get aroused by that. My assumption is not too often.

[Obama24]

Our culture needs to stop sexualizing breasts. Seeing a pair of boobs isn't going to scar a child for life. We have cultural hangups with nudity.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Men are just naturally far more sexually aroused by seeing a woman’s bare breasts than women are by seeing a man’s chest. That’s why women going topless is far more discouraged

Don't try me

[Obama24]

The legal right is already there.  It is a more question of societal acceptance -and given how people get contorted over women breastfeeding their babies (what could be more pro-life than that?) calling it 'disgusting', it won't be anytime soon.

As a guy I've never found breastfeeding "disgusting". It's a woman feeding her child, it's not any more mundane than if said child was eating from a bottle. I'll never will understand that take at all, nor the sexualizing of breasts outside of an actual sexual context. It's a gross puritanism and gross objectivization of women, IMO. Women's bodies are no more inherently sexual than a man's....