In 2014, an American woman wanted to get something off her chest. Filmmaker Lina Esco released a film called Free the Nipple, about a group of women who launch a revolution to be able to go topless, like men, wherever and whenever they please.
And it’s not about titillation. “You can pay to see women topless in porn videos and strip clubs, but the moment a woman owns her body, it’s shameful,” said Esco. “Women should be able to do what they want with their bodies.”
With those words the 30-year-old sparked a revolution. “Free the Nipple” has become a global movement that encourages equality, pride and freedom. There’s even a Free the Nipple Day on March 26.
The movement poses a simple question – both men and women have nipples; why can’t women bare theirs?
“Did you know an American child sees over 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 murders on TV before they turn 18, and not one nipple?” wrote Esco in an opinion piece for The Huffington Post.
She also points out that it is illegal in 37 US states for a woman to bare her breasts, including for breast feeding.
In Australia, indecent exposure laws only relate to the genital area, but local councils and police have the power to remove topless women from an area citing such laws related to offensive behaviour, or creating a public nuisance.
In the UK, it is not illegal to strip to sunbathe, for example, but there are still laws that restrict women from baring their breasts.
Many celebrities have rallied behind Esco, including Miley Cyrus, who appeared with Esco in the 2012 film LOL. Cyrus has regularly posted topless photos of herself on Instagram, only to have the nipples censored by the social media giant.
“The nipple, what you can’t show, is what everyone has,” Cyrus told Jimmy Kimmel. “But the jug part that everybody doesn’t [have]… you’re allowed to show. I’ve never understood the way it works.”
Neither to other celebs such as Cara Delevingne, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, who have all put their best front forward for the campaign.
“Lately, it’s like I’m either braless or I have my bra out … I’m all about freeing the nipple,” Jenner wrote on her website. “I just think it’s cool to show off what’s under your shirt—whether that’s a cute bralette or just skin.”
On most social media platforms, women are facing frustrating restrictions.
The social media giants Facebook and Instagram don’t allow women’s nipples to be posted as it breaches their nudity rules. But men’s nipples are fine. (Some women have countered Instagram’s policy by photoshopping images of men’s nipples on top of their breasts.)
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said the company censors nipples due to Apple’s policies: to keep the Instagram app available for iPhones, you must abide by the tech giant’s standards.
Still, the Free the Nipple campaign has its knockers too. Many women are opposed to getting their boobs out, because that’s exactly what men have been harassing them about for years.
But Esco thinks they’re making a big fuss over nothing.
“If it becomes legal to show your nipples in public, do you honestly think all women are going to run around topless?” she said. “‘Free the Nipple’ is simply about having the choice.”
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