Editorial: Equal rights, nipples and all

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Picture this: It’s a sunny, summer day in Woodland Park and a man is sunbathing near the tennis courts with his shirt off. A few feet away from him, a woman is also sunbathing with her shirt off. Which one in this scenario is most likely to get arrested?

The idea of a man receiving jail time for being shirtless in public is ridiculous, but when the sexes are switched somehow it becomes realistic. This type of twisted logic is what sparked the #FreetheNipple movie and movement.

#FreetheNipple is an equality movement based on the double standard of nipple censorship between sexes, and was founded through activist and filmmaker Lina Esco’s movie “Free the Nipple.”

Esco’s movie is dedicated to changing censorship laws in America. One trailer for the film poses the question, “What is more obscene, violence or a nipple?”

Despite some laws indicating some degree of “topless freedom” in Kentucky, it doesn’t necessarily mean sunbathing shirtless is legal for women throughout the state, according to the activist organization GoTopless.

According to a Time article on topless legal policies for women, “The vast majority of states actually have laws on the books making clear that women can’t be arrested under state law solely for being topless in settings where it’s OK for men. But many local ordinances ban the practice anyway. And there’s plenty of gray area for police officers to make their own interpretations and make arrests for ‘public indecency’ or ‘disorderly conduct.’”

In response to this double standard, about 200 people, most of them topless, walked three miles through the Highlands in Lousiville, Ky. on Sept. 6 showing their support for the #FreetheNipple movement.

While the movement is loud, don’t take the idea of topless women roaming the streets as reality.

The movement’s extreme techniques spark a conversation many would rather brush off.

You’re not likely going to see a topless woman dining inside the Local Taco, just like you’re not going to see a shirtless man chowing down on smoked brisket enchilada on the patio. Common decency will still be implemented.

Despite how the movie and protests are portrayed, #FreetheNipple calls for equality, not radical toplessness.

The reality is not every woman is going to be walking around topless. Is it too much to ask for men and women to live under the same standards, nipples and all?

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