Indecent Exposure or Freedom of Expression? The Morality Behind the Topfreedom Social Movement

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar V
  In Paper Session: Morality in Movements: The Ethical and Unethical Driving Forces Behind Social Movements and Their Effect on Society

Abstract

By taking on the viewpoint that common conceptions of morality have changed significantly over time, the morality and ethical nature of the Topfreedom social movement can be analyzed and discussed. Topfreedom is a social movement in the United States and Canada which seeks to allow women the right to go topless in public in locations where men have that same right, challenging the stability and reasoning behind the laws and cultural views that ban such behavior.

This paper seeks to analyze the discourse surrounding the Topfreedom social movement and to explore the morality and ethical issues that the movement addresses, such as the equality (or inequality) between men and women and the oversexualization of women’s breasts in North American culture. The right for women to bare skin in the same capacity where men have the same right is a central issue within this movement and is looked at by many both within and outside of the movement as a battle for sexual equality. Key issues such as this will be discussed within the paper. The idea that the media sexualizes breasts by hiding the nipple and exemplifying provocative poses including breasts instead of desexualizing the breast by making it commonplace will be explored. Additionally, examples of instances where members of the movement or outside forces use breasts in a nonsexual manner in order to support a specific message of morality will be looked at. The nature of the movement’s use of private, public and technical spheres in accordance with its overall moral (or immoral) message will be discussed.

Author

• Jena Zakany, Lynn University