Anatomy of a Topfree Activist - Andrea Simoneau

PHOTO BY AMBER WATERMAN, SUN JOURNAL/AP

When Andrea Simoneau was seven years old, she took her shirt off because she was hot. Her father came outside and told her she could not do that in public. When she asked why, he said, "I think its really stupid, but the rest of the world thinks that girls should not go shirtless."

That memory stuck with Andrea, and when she marched topfree with Ty MacDowell and others in Portland, Maine, a few weeks ago, she was inspired to take action.

At 1 PM on Friday, April 30, Andrea Simoneau and a crowd of both men and women will exercise their topfree rights in Farmington, Maine. The march will begin at Meetinghouse Park on Main Street and will go about a half mile to Abbott Park. Andrea says that 60 people have signed up on her Facebook page, but due to all the publicity it's impossible to predict the number of people who will participate.

"If we're protesting anything, its that societal double standard of women's chests being considered sexual, no matter what context they are presented in, and men's chests are only sexual in certain context", said Andrea.

The 22 year-old University of Maine Farmington senior, who has been on the Dean's list for academic excellence, has been walking topfree through the town handing out flyers for the event, with the word "Freedom" written across her chest. As for public reaction either pro or con to her free expression, Andrea says that it's "pretty evenly split, and there have definitely been uncomfortable confrontations. You just have to keep on going, and ignore them and do not engage with them or escalate the situation in any way, as that hurts the cause far more than helps it." In a radio interview today, Andrea says that most of the negative reaction comes from people who oppose her on moral grounds, and, of course, for the sake of the children.

"I believe no religious group should have any sway in lawmaking, as it promotes special interests for certain groups. Morality is subjective. Therefore, I feel that morality is not a grounds to stand on to make policy, and should never be."

Ms. Simoneau believes there is "no time like the present" to promote women's topfreedom, and credits Dr. Paul Rapoport and TERA for "great encouragement and assistance". She hopes that other organizations interested in equal rights for women will also pick up on the movement.

The April 3 topfree march in Portland, while successful in generating lots of publicity, descended into somewhat of a circus, with hoards of men tripping over each other to take photographs, and some of the female participants obliging with some cheesecake posing. "There's nothing that can be done to stop men from taking pictures or making inappropriate comments. However if any inappropriate touching occurs or assault, the participant must report it to the police. There are going to be a lot of counterprotesters present also, I am told, and the police have expressed that they will be present to hold order."

As for anyone acting in a sexual manner, Andrea makes it clear that she wants none of that. "Anyone I catch doing that I will personally ask to leave, with great admonishments about them undermining our cause. Those women's actions disgusted me about the Portland march far more than the men taking pictures and leering."

Although there are no laws in Maine specifically prohibiting the exposure of female breasts in public, Andrea admits her actions could result in a backlash, and people are already calling for laws prohibiting topfreedom. "The town of Farmington has decided not to take an official position on the issue, and has decided to defer it to the State legislature to be ruled on, possibly even put to state referendum. Since support seems to be so evenly split for it, I feel confident that even when that happens, we stand a good chance for it to be officially legalized, as I believe the law stands now that only genital exposure is "indecent" exposure. I will do my part to speak out to the legislature as well, as I hope women's equal rights organizations in Maine or even national ones will do the same."

Perhaps the most high-profile opposition to Ms. Simoneau's protest comes from conservative activist Michael Heath of the American Family Association of Maine, who is seeking records from UMF regarding a recent campus event for EqualityMaine.

Heath said he draws a connection between the upcoming march in Farmington and his records request because "the promotion and presentation of public nudity is a staple of the homosexual rights movement." Heath's recently founded organization is a chapter of the Mississippi-based American Family Association.

"We see an organic connection between the two," Heath said. "Many still confuse sexual license, and indifference to the gospel of Jesus Christ, with true freedom and liberty."

Calling the march "more typical of San Francisco than Maine", Heath joins other religious groups who plan to counter-protest, including women from local churches holding a silent prayer vigil, and Rev. Bob Emrich who recently helped to overturn Maine's gay marriage law.

But Simoneau says all of the criticisms of the march are off-base. For instance, the march will be held while children are in school and will follow a route that is away from schools, Simoneau said.

And in a way, Simoneau said, "we are doing this for children -- to create a more equal world for them by presenting a female body that is not a sexual contest."

"This is for a noble cause of gender equality," she said. "Giving up has not crossed my mind."

Adelle Shea, Canadian topfree activist and naturist, has come to Andrea's defense.

It is curious that it is not enough in our society that something not be illegal but instead must be made specifically legal in order to be enjoyed freely? In North America a woman going topfree risks being charged with anything from ‘causing a disturbance’ to a sex crime. Breastfeeding women faced, and in some cases still face, the same discrimination and many States and Provinces had to enact laws to make breastfeeding a child in public specifically legal. In some cases even this was found to be insufficient and laws had to be enacted to make harassment of a nursing mother (by passers-by, business owners, police) illegal. In this case the attending constables were a great help in protecting Ms Simoneau’s legal right and informing the public that she was doing nothing illegal. In my opinion, it isn’t topfreedom that is immoral but the systemic discrimination of women that surrounds it.

Andrea understands the wide societal ramifications of women's topfreedom in America. She says, "it saddens me greatly that nursing mothers are particularly discriminated against in this matter. I encourage nursing mothers particularly, as well as breast cancer survivors and those who have been victims of sexual assault to come out and experience the empowerment and freedom of going topless in town."

Eventually the topfreedom movement will need a leader, or an organization, which can mobilize women nationwide. Is Andrea up to the challenge? "I'm not a leader by nature, but if that role falls to me, I will do my best to fill it. I cannot do it alone, not by a long shot. I'm having a terrible time trying to handle this myself, though I have had help in advertising, definitely, from UMF students and friends."

If you would like to help Andrea, or participate in her march this Friday, you can contact her on her Facebook page here.

Bingo Vigilantes

A woman's art show in Bakersfield has been vandalized after a bingo group sharing the hall complained about the nudity on display.

After she hung some of the initial art, the Tuesday night bingo group complained, she said. So (curator Nyoka) Jameson took sheets of plastic to the hall at 2801 F St. the next day and covered up the pieces she thought would be most offensive. Apparently that wasn’t enough, she said.

On Saturday, when Jameson returned to the hall, she was horrified when she entered the building.

The plastic had been removed from several pieces. Some of the art was missing from the walls and others were missing from the building entirely. She found some of the art stuffed into the equipment closet, and one large piece in the bathroom.

Guns and Boobs

I'm sorry, but this is really one fucked-up country. I don't like to use expletives, but this issue requires it. An 18 year-old girl in Keene, New Hampshire, topless with a handgun holstered to her hip, was arrested for indecent exposure during a protest with other armed people affiliated with the Free State Project.

In an online video of Nicosia’s protest and arrest, she explains why she decided to go topless in public.

“I chose to do it because this is one of the most important issues to me is equality … men can walk down the street … and, you know, not get harassed at all but yet somehow this is dirty,” she says.

New Hampshire's state motto is "Live free or die". It's absolutely astounding that New Hampshire does not require residents to have permits on openly carried firearms, but the mere act of baring a breast can land a woman in jail. This is the heart of the topfree movement, it's not about getting women to take off their tops, it's not about immature males drooling over naked breasts, it's about the decriminalization of the femalel breast, and that if men have the right to take off their shirts, then a woman should have the same right. Arresting women for exposing nipples is misogynistic, irrational, cruel, unnecessary, and just plain stupid.

New Hampshire Courtroom Legal Opposition Group
Cassidy Nicosia's Twitter Account
Cassidy Nicosia's MySpace Account

Photos from GoTopless.org Event in Columbus, Ohio, 8/23/09

Kenyon Women Fight for Topfree Equality

A story today in the Kenyon College Collegian newspaper describes how topfree women were kicked out of a "Shock Your Mom" party event on campus, which sparked a protest by a group calling itself "The Women Behind the Boobs", who hung photos of their own naked breasts along an area called Middle Path. A letter was circulated from the protesters, who said, "We love our bodies and we want you to see why! We just wonder why 'common decency' requires us to cover a part of our bodies that not only do men not have to cover, but that is a natural, integral part of ourselves."

According to students interviewed for the story, nudity at the annual event was expected, even though officially prohibited, and that the Campus Department of Safety decided to crack down this year. One student with flowers on her nipples was "grabbed by the shoulders" and told to leave.

According to (student Emma) Lippincott, between 50 and 75 women were involved in the demonstration in some way. While perhaps not all participants saw the demonstration as feminist, Lippincott said that she did. "For me, the true definition of feminism is about egalitarianism between the sexes," she said. "If one gender's chest is viewed as completely sexualized if it's exposed, if it's viewed as pornography when it's just breasts... that's an issue of equality."

Kenyon College is a liberal arts school with 1600 students located in Gambier, Ohio.

UPDATE: The Kenyon Collegian has an editorial supporting the students. It's a little awkwardly written but the point is clear.

We sympathize with the students who felt degraded by the comments they heard when they were asked to leave. Many students in the past have seen Shock Your Momma as an opportunity to expose themselves. These students find liberation in revealing their bodies in a relatively safe environment. When students feel as though they are invited into that environment and then they are pulled away from it, they may feel an understandable amount of shame from putting themselves out into exhilarating and uncomfortable nudity and being pulled away from it by a shaming force that says they are behaving inappropriately.

Topfree Protest Announcement from Liz Book

This is an official protest announcement to the media.

I do intend to enjoy another topless protest in Daytona Beach this year. Typically, I will do one Topfree Stand protest per year during Bikeweek in Daytona Beach. This is the event when they would arrest thousands of women for daring to bare their breasts. Biketoberfest was always targeted with these arrests, too. So I have decided to expand my venue into that event, as well.

Recently, I filed a 14th Amendment lawsuit against the city through my attorney, Mark Tietig. Although I am approaching the 14th Amendment, I still plan to utilize our hard fought for and hard won rights to First Amendment Protection in topless protest.

I fished during my last protest. They wanted a peaceful protest. So I gave them a peaceful protest. You can't get more peaceful than fishing. I actually caught a little red snapper (it snapped in the front) and a great white double dd. It was a funny and joyous protest. I will keep all of my future protests in the same vein.

I will be doing this next protest on Sunday, October 19th, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. I will be on the west side of the Main Street Bridge in Daytona Beach, right by the river. I would put a banner across the roadway, but Daytona wants $750-$850 to do that. I am a single mother with a limited budget. So that is out of the question for me. Yet, I do plan to have some fun and funky protest signs out there with me. Topfreedom for women rocks and the Topfree Stand is certainly out there to prove it. Maybe as more women see that they will not be persecuted or harassed they will come to join me, as well.

It would be nice for people to get over their fear of tits and focus on the things that they should be afraid of, like big government and foreclosures. Does it make any sense to you that breasts are illegal and yet the biggest crooks in America are allowed to run rampant over us? We should criminalize them and their activities, don't you think? What they are doing and have done seems quite treasonous to me.

By the way, does anyone know who actually owns the Federal Reserve? I heard recently from some very high up political sources that it is owned lock, stock, and barrel by the Bank of England. Hmmmm? Isn't that where every one of our Federal Tax dollars goes? Old Mother England is one smart bitch, isn't she! It seems she still has a strangle hold on her subjects. While I am on this topic, does anyone know where there ARE any Federal Laws that state that we must even pay Federal Tax? Just a thought.

Please feel free to join me in October for the protest. It is a beautiful time of year in Florida and a great place to make a Stand.

Topfree and Lovin' It In Daytona Beach,

Liz Book

(note from nudiarist: while I wholeheartedly support Liz in her topfree protests, her political views are not necessarily shared by me.)

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

All Nudist Women Are Whores

No, no, no, that's not my opinion, but it's the only conclusion one can draw from this statement:

Traditionally, good taste dictates that one should display breast or leg. Only prostitutes flaunt both, so have a care, unless you are looking for more adventurous ways to supplement the housekeeping.

So says etiquette "expert" Mrs. Mills of the Times Online, who is quoted in a new article on "big breasts".

This media driven frenzy about body parts is truly out of control.

Claudia Croft, the writer of the article, goes on to say:

I abide by three rules: 1) Getting them fully out is a no-no, even if you're in the south of France. It's nothing to do with unsightly saggage - only sluts go topless. 2) Using them in the boardroom is provincial. A girl in a suit with tidemark foundation and big boobs out for all to see is the female equivalent of a short, balding businessman with two mobiles. Just watch the next series of The Apprentice. 3) Never, ever, wish to have small ones. Ever! Even in the face of a tank top. The French say that a woman without breasts is like a bed without a pillow, and they are right. A friend who tried big prosthetics for a day reported that large ones were “very, very fun - everyone perked up when they saw me”.

Case closed.

Excuse me while I vomit. When it comes to women's breasts, this is the most offensive article I've ever read. Not even Hugh Hefner at his most sexist would have ever insulted women in general to such a degree.

I'm really at a loss for words here. As a naturist who has nothing but respect for all bodies, this is just impossible for me to digest.

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Why Do Women Get Breast Enlargement Surgery?

Bethan Cole in The Daily Mail wants to know.

'Breast surgery has become just another part of the beauty regime - like applying make-up - and it's unnecessary and unpleasant,' says the writer Joan Smith. 'It's treated the same as getting a haircut. It's become normalised. I think any woman considering breast surgery for cosmetic reasons should spend a month in Darfur and then decide if body image is a really important issue.'

Former Cosmopolitan editor Marcelle D'argy Smith agrees.

'Fake breasts have become inescapable, but I think the main reason why women do it is to please men. They're trying to fulfil a male fantasy.

'It might make women feel more confident - but it is, ultimately, for men.'

But do men really like the bowling balls on an ironing board look for women? Tony Parsons in GQ writes about the "Fear of Fake Breasts".

'They are not there to be fondled, kissed or felt; they are there to be admired, discussed, lusted after and photographed. The moment they are touched - and I mean in the heat of passion, rather than out of curiosity or in the interests of scientific research - then the spell is broken.

'And this is true of all fake breasts, no matter how much money has been spent on this act of female selfmutilation.'

Of course, in matters of mastectomies, deformities, reductions and other medical reasons, breast augmentation or reconstruction is a life-saver for many women. But if you are looking at a new pair to please that special guy, take note that if he does not take notice of your Manolo shoes or Gucci handbag, he really isn't going to care if you turn your fun bags into designer accessories.

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Sexism and the Female Breast

The obsession with female breasts continues. On the one hand, advocates of public breastfeeding and topfree equality argue that they're "just breasts" and its no big deal, but on the other hand breasts dominate all modern media as sexual objects used to sell virtually everything.

It is generally considered that a woman who displays cleavage, or bares here breasts, will not be taken seriously as an actress, or in the business world. Contrary to this widespread belief, one blogger believes the opposite.

As the debate is often had whether or not feminine wiles are to be displayed during working hours, (surveys have discovered it's mostly women that object to other women displaying it), it becomes plain to see that a little boobage might in fact help women get ahead from the men. Of course no self-respecting women will be taken seriously when they cross the line between pornography and art, but at least it's good to know how to get the promotion over a male co-worker...

Let's go back to one year ago when Hillary Clinton appeared in the Senate showing the slightest bit of cleavage.

The cleavage, however, is an exceptional kind of flourish. After all, it's not a matter of what she's wearing but rather what's being revealed. It's tempting to say that the cleavage stirs the same kind of discomfort that might be churned up after spotting Rudy Giuliani with his shirt unbuttoned just a smidge too far. No one wants to see that. But really, it was more like catching a man with his fly unzipped. Just look away!

I don't think that Hillary showed even the slightest bit of cleavage since that day because of the uproar it caused.

If cleavage is indeed something that can help a woman get ahead of a man, then Hillary would have won in the primaries.

It's ludicrous to suggest that the size of a woman's breasts, and sexy display of cleavage, leads to success. Oh sure, there are infantile men who will salivate (think of Jack Nicholson's character Jonathan in "Carnal Knowledge), and those who would exploit breasts for profit (think Hugh Hefner), but if you honestly assess the number of women who have rode to the top exploiting their breasts, it's a lonely mountaintop.

Women like Dorothy Stratten, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith all died tragically. The only woman that comes immediately to mind who achieved success while displaying her assets was Erin Brockovich, but her story was immediately exploited by Hollywood, putting Julia Roberts in to the role of the sexy legal clerk.

Yes, America loves female breasts, as long as they can be used to sell products, magazines, television shows and movies, otherwise put them away where they belong, under a turtleneck sweater, if you want to be taken seriously.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked