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Protest To Aim At Equal Topless Rights

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Liz Book believes exposed breasts are a part of motorcycle culture, so the Volusia County mother plans to lead a protest of topless women on the last day of Bike Week.


Book hopes to lead 1,000 "top-free" women and men along a half-mile of Main Street at noon Sunday.

"I never want to see another girl handcuffed and crying in the street because she yanked her top," said Book, 42. "Exposed breasts have been a part of the biker lifestyle for more than 50 years."

City officials and police are taking a wait-and-see approach, in part because the city's ordinance allows nudity when it is part of a political protest.

"It all depends on their behavior," said Al Tolley, Daytona Beach police spokesman. "The complexion of any protest can change, and it can turn into a lewd act in a heartbeat."

Kevin Kilian, a vice president of The Chamber-Daytona Beach and Halifax Area, said his group also is opposed to Book's planned protest.

"We as a community make a lot of concessions for our visitors," Kilian said. "It shouldn't be too much to ask that they respect the laws while they're here."

The city's nudity ordinance resulted in fines of $253 each for 59 women who exposed their breasts during last year's Bike Week, which attracts tens of thousands of bikers each year from around the nation, according to police records.

Book herself was arrested in 1998 when she bared her breasts inside the Full Moon Saloon bar.

Women recently have won the right to go top-free in parts of Maine, Vermont and in several provinces of Canada, said Morley Schloss, a retired school administrator who helped decriminalize women's bare breasts in New York in the late 1980s.

A group of women in Brevard County, known as the "Topfree 10," have filed a federal lawsuit seeking the right to go shirtless in nonsexual contexts wherever men do.

"We're fighting for our rights to do what men do," said Lori Mauldin, a sales clerk at a Daytona Beach T-shirt shop who intends to march in the protest. "If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me."


SHe has my support I think most of you will to

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Sleepyjack

I can be a hotshot and take my shirt off, i don't see why women can't either

Silvy

Funny, I can only be one if I don't take my shirt off
But that's just me.

I agree with her protest. If women want to do that, go ahead! The way swimsuits are made these days we'd just as well all go naked anyway.
(though once again, for preventing public outcry: I won't )

What's so special about a breast? Women examine men's "sixpack" too don't they?

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Kaos

I live in Canada, and going topless is already legal.

She has my support...and they can bring their group here anytime.

Destrox

Why not, you see worse stuff on the 6 o clock news anyways.

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SaltPork

There's nothing wrong with women going topless. After all, isn't it all just skin? Boobs are boobs, we all need to get over it.

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It was like that when I got here....I swear.

Ilow

I'm always in favor of people's freedom, especially when it comes to clothing removal; half the time though you get the "nudist colony syndrome" where the wrong people are getting naked. JMHO

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Nisses

Uh, sorry, if it's against the law, why should bikers get an exception?

I can understand that the people of the town have to make concessions and they have to draw a line somewhere. It's their right, and duty.

And besides, it's not just all skin, they are breasts, they are and always will be linked to sexual behaviour between people and as such will cause problems with alot of the population.

I agree if it's a protest there's a purpose behind it. But the way this sounds, it's "been a part of biker culture for 50 years"... So what? That makes it legal?

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wannabenakid247

And why not?

spived2

I believe whole heartedly that women should be able to go topless. If men can women should be able to also. Sure I might be saying that because I like cheap thrills, but it's also because its the truth

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"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V." - V

santafe5000

Covering up the female breast seeems to be an American phobia and it is getting about time to join the rest of civilization. Topless Tuesday's, every week, all year long. That's my battle cry.

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Munku

I live in Orlando. And I think I'm going to visit Daytona this sunday!

grumpyolddude

There's a lot of coastline to be enjoyed that doesn't fall into Daytona Beach juristdiction. If the city doesn't need the economic influx generated by 10,000 free spending motorcycle riders, let them keep enforcing this lame ordinance.
It's a mobile party. Take it down the shore to somewhere they won't harrass you. Invite me!

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bermuDa

american phobia is right, just look at what happened to janet jackson... they put together a committee to look into that faster than the WMD lies.

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water_boy1999

I will support her breasts.........lol

I think the US has some of the worst hangups about the human body. We only think baring ones breasts as a lewd act only because our forefather/mothers decided that skin was out and clothing was in.

If our nation could only have the mindset of say Brazil, or Spain, or Sweden, then we would see breasts all day long and never have hokey laws that keep women from exposing their skin. Besides, men can do it, so why not women as well?

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moonstrucksoul

it is only illegal because we as a society, don't know how to control ourselves, we see breasts and freak out with excitement.
get over it, America.

free your mind, and the breasts will follow

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enough

Anything to help this country become a little less puritanical has to be a good thing in my eyes, LOL.

FleaCircus

What bothers me the most in this article, even more than a general lack of topless women, is this:

How does the "complexion of a protest" change? Wouldn't it still be a protest? And who defines lewd?

Is sounds like a threat, to me.

I'd expect some unnecessarily heavy-handed policing when all this goes down.

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rockzilla

Yep, although I saw many a 'protest breast' as most of the marches went right past where I was working at the time, I have yet to see a woman go topless in public since it became legal. Not that I was expecting women everywhere to throw off thier tops in celebration or anything.
It shouldn't be illegal for a woman to go shirtless, although if I were a woman, I couldn't imagine wanting to expose myself to every drooling perv on the street.

RoboBlaster

Unfortunately, the argument "if men can do it, women can do too" commits an informal fallacy called a weak analogy. The topless body of a male and female are regarded quite differently in our society. To draw an analogy between the two, therefore, is erroneous. Now, don't get me wrong, I totally agree that they should be able to go topless. However, if we want to be logical about this, we should perhaps refine our arguments.

edit God, I'm a nerd.

floydthebarber

Amen

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Skettios

Yes.

While I have a limited desire to see 'Biker Chick Boobies', I do believe that restrictions on nudity are remnants of our traditionally puritanical culture. I think public nudity is perfectly appropriate in the right places and circumstances. In this case, I would list beaches, public celebrations featuring alcohol, and a 30' ft square of grass in front of my apartment that gets quite a bit of good sun in the summertime.

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Francis

I live a 15 minute bike ride from the "event" site. Would go to it but I expect it will be a mob scene. There are probably half a million bikers roaring around now. TGIF

H12

I don't see women being in any hurry to be eligible for the draft.

I support the cause of being able to go topless though. I kinda fear the girls who shouldn't go topless will go topless, however.

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legolas

haha my thoughts exactly. great.

and yes i support it, but not to just check out women's breasts all the time (not that any of you said that at all) but i agree with you guys. men can take their shirts off (even the ones who "shouldn't be") and women should too. it might even lead to less judgement on women's looks and maybe another step towards equality.

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WarWagon

If she wants to show her boobies, let her show her boobies.

If you for some reason don't want to see boobies or similar behavior, you sure as hell shouldn't be at bike week.

shalafi

UPDATE

I heard on the radio yesterday that only about 50 women showed up to march and only the leader took here top off.

CSflim

Yes...they are percieved differently by certain societies...the question is should they be?


"Blacks should have rights, as white people have these rights, and we are all humans, and therefore equal"

"Weak analogy: Blacks are percieved differently by our society"

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Shpoop

ok...i guess my answer would be that i support this, but my view on a whole is different than most ppl's here.

Sometimes people say they want to be a goth, or a woman might say she wants to not shave her legs, to prove that society has all these little views and opinions that are baseless. Well that may be true, but wake up! society is all we've got! Humans are social animals...its what sets us apart from the beasts (most of them at least)... its the one thing that helped us to advance so far, and its the one thing that enables us to survive. Without society, humans as a species would have been extinct looong ago. Humans are humans because we live in a society, and because we care about what others think, and act accordingly. Without society's 'stereotypes,' there would be no moral code, no ethics, no laws, etc. A serial killer is making just as much of a protest to society's standards as a topless woman, lets cheer them on!

Now i know that sometimes society reaches an equilibrium at a horribly wrong place, like racism towards blacks, and in that case, it is our duty to do somethign about it. I also realize that not everyone can be the same, because we would then lose diversity and life would lose its flavor. I also realize that many people do this stuff to emphasize our right to free speach, and other constitutional rights, rather than to protest society's standards, and i hope that none of these things came across as my point...now that i realize it, maybe my point didnt come across too well, what was my point again?

oh yes: society may have some unfair opinions, but the mass's opinions are all we have... and society's checks and balances help us far more than hurt us...you cant have your cake and eat it too

kudos to anyone still reading

legolas

lol 50 women and only one topless girl. doesn't look like much progress, but anything is a start.

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ratbastid

Yeah, but admit it. A part of you was hoping that they would.

I have a hard time seeing how biker chicks flashing the goodies has much to do with gender equality. Seems to me like it's more about gender inequality, to tell the truth.

So I strongly support these women's cause, not for the political reason they've offered, but because I like tits very very very much.

agball

If a woman want to be topless, let her. Although, there is the right place & time for it.

himself

Why is everyone in the US so obsessed with when it is and is not appropriate to show boobs? They are JUST BOOBS, not like they're gonna hurt anyone??!?!

Shpoop

they might if they squirt milk in ur eye

rockzilla

Yep, guess which part.

Prince

I'm kind of tired of all these laws that maintain the fallacy that there is something mysterious about human anatomy, for which reason that said anatomy or parts of it should be covered. Guess I'm just a freak, but what's the big deal...?

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analog

^ What he said.