For more than two years, Maui’s branch of the Free The Nipple organization has been strutting their topless selves at Rainbow Park and down Baldwin Avenue in Paia Town. This past August, they walked down towards the Cove at Baldwin Beach, and many onlookers might have been wondering, “Who are these topless hippies? And, why are they cruising through Paia with their boobs out?”
Although some might have taken offense to titties on display in public, many more (women and men) found themselves a bit envious and suddenly transformed into a cartoon character afflicted by an eye pop sub-trope. Awooooooooo-gah!
Free The Nipple is a global nonprofit organization that peacefully protests for “equality, empowerment and freedom for all human beings,” as they put it. Free The Nipple promotes international Go Topless Day every Aug. 20, which is when you’ll see the Maui Free The Nipple crew bare breasts in unison. The organization has become the foremost voice for raising awareness of how the public sees gender equality and social justice. Look up the Twitter hashtag #freethenipple and you’ll see the viral impact they’ve had in individual state legislatures.
The organization got a big promotional boost in 2012 when they released the documentary film Free The Nipple. The film follows a group of women (the founders of Free The Nipple) as they try to bring about change through various communities in the world through peaceful, topless protests and social service. The Free The Nipple film has been a leading force in building awareness about their mission and values (it’s currently streaming on Amazon). I watched the documentary and loved it. In fact, I think all women young and old should watch it, even though the organization is still battling an NC-17 rating for the film.
When organizing for a cause, the most successful groups are those that raise attention quickly. Going bare-chested in public is most definitely a way to get people to take notice fast.
When I spoke to the lead organizer for the Maui Free The Nipple chapter (who I’ll call Topless Theresa to respect her privacy), I asked her many questions about their cause. She’s clearly passionate about gender equality rights and what it means to her. Listening to her stories, and being in her company, got me thinking about my own relationship to my breasts and how social conditioning has affected me. While it’s highly unlikely I’ll go topless in public on Maui, I also don’t care what other people do. Seeing women topless in public doesn’t concern me one bit. These women are awesome and gutsy, and I respect their mission.
“I feel like we’re taking our boobs back,” said Topless Theresa. “Society wants to sell boobs. But guess what, I can wear mine for free.”
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The act of exposing breasts to the public while walking in a unified group of both women and men is a powerful message. While gender equality is the leading message, it’s not the only one that the mainstream needs to accept. Political feminism is also a huge message that’s spread by this group. After all, men don’t encounter issues for being topless in public. The women in the organization are fighting for the freedom to breastfeed in public without scrutinization, challenging the inherent sexualization of breasts and calling for the removal of bans on natural, female anatomical imagery in the U.S.
As a woman in the United States, and with President-Elect Donald Trump taking office soon, I’m actually horrified. The fact that the American public has voted in an ignorant, foul-mouthed, bullying, male chauvinist pig as our next Commander-in-Chief is frightening. After decades of protesting for the women’s right to vote and make decisions regarding our own bodies, there’s an overwhelming sense of fear that many, many women are feeling regarding gender equality in our future government.
What does this mean for all of the progress we’ve made with Women’s Suffrage, the 19th Amendment and our rights in regards to our bodies? I asked Topless Theresa how this affects her opinion regarding Free the Nipple’s mission. “With so much uncertainty hanging in the air for the upcoming years, we must face the fear of it and stand our ground,” she said. “If this election has taught me anything, it’s that we have run out of time to be complacent. I feel more empowered now than ever to be a human rights activist.”
Protesting for the right to expose one’s bare breasts is not a new fight. We don’t often think of it now, but men fought this fight, too. Once upon a time, it was illegal in the U.S. for men to bare their chests and nipples. In the first decades of the 20th century, men in the U.S. had to cover their nipples in public, most notably at public swimming pools and Coney Island beaches. It wasn’t until the 1930s, when male protesters–and Hollywood celebrities like Clark Gable and Rudolph Valentino–began baring their chests, and that’s when male undershirt sales began to drop. In 1937, a New York judge overturned the male shirtless ban in that state, and eventually the bans were overturned on a national scale.
So, you can see why the Free The Nipple organization continues to challenge the mainstream and individual state legislatures for the freedom for both sexes to be able to flaunt their tatas in public. If men can do it, why can’t women?
Breasts come in all shapes and sizes, but for women in the United States, there’s a sense of universal insecurity that’s attached to having breasts. Big ones, small ones, old ones, young ones, droopy ones, fake ones, perfect ones–our boobs are part of our female identity, and we seem to hide their imperfections and natural state as if that’s the normal thing to do.
From a young age, we’re taught to cover them, wear a training bra so teenage nipples don’t show through a t-shirt, and otherwise keep them under lock and key. Through conditioning, we’re taught that respectful ladies do not show their breasts in public. As for those women who do show their breasts in public, society is quick to judge them as exhibitionists, whores or even Europeans.
“I have never felt better about my breasts in my life until I started going topless,” said Topless Theresa. But there are social challenges to being topless in public. She told me the harshest public reaction she gets actually comes from other women. In fact, one female scrutinizer threatened to throw a rock at her head at Hana’s Wainapanapa State Park.
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Female breasts aren’t just beautiful muscles that separate women from men, they’re also what gives life. Breast feeding babies is natural. It’s what all mammals do to feed their young, and as humans this is how we give life.
Historically, ample-bodied women with large breasts and large hips have always been seen as desirable, fruitful and life-giving. If you’ve ever studied art history, then you’d be familiar with the “Venus of Willendorf,” and other prehistoric Venus figurines. The figurines are typically engraved calcite or limestone reliefs that depict women with large breasts, wide hips and exaggerated abdomens. These historical pieces are believed to express the importance of matriarchs in the family; their ultimate purpose of being the procreators of the human race. Venus figurines are some of the oldest relics in human history, dating from as far back as the Gravettian Period (26,000-21,000 years ago).
Topless and ample bodied Venus images symbolize femininity, strength and power. Just like the women in the Free The Nipple troops.
Maui residents know where to find local nude beaches: Makena’s Little Beach, the stretch of sand between Paia Bay and Baldwin Cove, and other little pockets of nakedness. But going topless at a beach is not the same thing as being nude. Breasts are not considered primary genitals (reproductive or external sex organs). For that reason, going topless at any beach in the State of Hawaii at large is perfectly legal.
If you see women topless sunbathing in their own private peace and glory at a non-nude beach or public place, it’s perfectly fine for them to do so. It’s best for you to just allow them to sit happily in their topless rights. If you feel uncomfortable seeing a woman topless on the beach, move. If you don’t feel comfortable with your kids seeing a woman topless on the beach, that’s your own issue. Accosting or otherwise attempting to intimidate a woman who’s sunbathing topless is harassment, which is illegal. Before creating an uncomfortable and possibly illegal confrontation, you may also want to consider what kind of example you’re setting for your kids and social circles. You might even want to ask yourself, “Do I have nipple envy?”
When Maui’s Free The Nipple crew organizes in topless protest, they come prepared with a flyer printed with the words “Hawaiian Law” across it, noting the specific Hawaii Revised Statutes that support their mission. When they’re out, they hand this flyer to anyone who takes offense or is confused about what they’re doing.
There are two relevant state laws. The first, Hawaii Revised Statutes 707-734, states that “A person commits the offense of indecent exposure if the person intentionally exposes the person’s genitals to a person to whom the person is not married under circumstances in which the actor’s conduct is likely to cause affront.” The second, Hawaii Revised Statutes 712-1217, states that “ A person commits the offense of open lewdness if in a public place the person does and lewd act which is likely to be observed by others who would be affronted or alarmed.”
Neither of these two laws mention exposing breasts in public. Sunbathing and being topless in public does not constitute lewdness, but throwing your genitals in someone’s face would definitely be considered “lewd.”
So if you want to sunbathe topless on Maui, go for it! Just don’t obscenely shake what your mama gave you in a stranger’s personal space.
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Topless Theresa told me that one of her biggest challenges when being topless is the public’s lack of knowledge. She said this even extends to the Maui Police Department. She said she’s been verbally accosted by MPD officers who threatened to arrest her on charges of disorderly conduct and indecent exposure. But the problem isn’t just about police officers intimidating an American citizen lawfully exercising her rights–it’s also that too many people simply don’t know Hawaii’s laws. An arrest for disorderly conduct due to topless sunbathing or driving around on your moped topless wouldn’t stick in Hawaii’s court of law. It doesn’t fit the statutes and there are not constitutional issues involved.
Hawaii is one of just five states in the U.S where it’s legal to be topless in public. “No shirts, no shoes, no problems,” Topless Theresa reminded me.
Of course, if you’re at a restaurant that requires shirts and shoes, this applies to both sexes. And, every business has a right to refuse service to anyone they don’t see fit in their establishment. If you’re cruising a taco truck near South Maui beaches and you see a man order a plate in just board shorts (no shirt, no slippahs), it’s okay for women to do that, too. But it probably won’t work out very well for you if you walk into Flatbread Co. on a Friday night with your boobies swingin’ out.
Truth is, there’s a fine line between peaceful activism and exhibitionism. If you feel passionate about creating awareness about women’s rights and gender equality, remember that you’re setting an example to the public. The best way to support Free the Nipple’s mission is by creating awareness for some very serious issues in our world: women’s rights and gender equality.
While Maui’s Free The Nipple chapter isn’t actively recruiting new members, they’ll certain welcome like-minded folks with open arms. And yes, the chapter does much more than topless protesting on the annual Go Topless Day. They also participate in statewide events like the Pride March in Honolulu and various Breast Cancer awareness projects. Maui Free The Nipple is even planning an upcoming Topless Car Wash in order to raise funds for future events.
For more information about Maui’s Free The Nipple chapter, you can reach Topless Theresa at GoToplessMaui@gmail.com, or at Facebook.com/FreeTheNipMaui. If you’d like to learn more about the overall mission and goals of Free The Nipple, visit FreeTheNipple.com.
Cover design: Darris Hurst
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