topless womanWomen in North Carolina really want to show their breasts in public. Actually, make that they really want the right to show their breasts in public. So they showed 'em. Even though technically they have the right. Confused? Me too. Let me explain.

Two weeks ago the good folks at GoTopless.org organized a rally in Asheville, North Carolina to promote gender equality and a woman's right to bear her boobs. What did this rally entail? Exactly what you'd think -- tatas ad nauseam. As you might imagine, the rally caused quite the scene.

Anyway, even though going topless is legal in North Carolina, some cities in the state still aren't too keen on it, and these women (and men) wanted to protest. So they did. Some people didn't like that. So, the following week, a counter-protest was organized. But the braless babes crashed it. And it was Boobapalooza all over again.

Former city councilman Carl Mumpower and former Buncombe County GOP chairman Chad Nesbitt, the organizers of the counter-protest, said the pro-topless rally the week before was "sexually explicit and abusive to children that witnessed it," and that "the rally abused the law." They want their women zipped up and buttoned up. Unless of course they're looking at porn. 

Here are my thoughts on the issue: Who. Cares? Would I go topless (in America)? Yeah, that'd be a no. Not because I'm against it by any means, but I, personally, wouldn't feel comfortable walking around, mumbly-jumblies out for the world to see. And I don't think I'd be much hotter in 100-degree weather if I were wearing a tank top. But that's just me.

I get where these ladies are coming from, though. Why should other people (mostly men) have the right to tell women what they can and can't wear? Female boobs are more taboo than man boobs (let's be honest, most topless guys have 'em) because we've made it that way. Go to a beach in Europe. It's a sea of topless women. And it's not weird. Because nobody's making it weird.

That said, I'm not totally sure I understand the point of a topless rally in North Carolina, because, remember, it's already legal there. If women don't want to wear a shirt, they shouldn't wear a shirt. Holding a protest on the matter seems like it would only make it a bigger issue than it is. And isn't the point of all this -- to not make boobs a big deal?

Do you think women should be allowed to go topless?


Image via Joe Shlabotnik/Flickr