Barechested
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Going bare chested refers to a man wearing no clothes above the waist, exposing the entire torso. It is also known as "stripped to the waist", or "being shirtless". The term topless is usually only applied to women, since it is much more common for men to be bare chested than women, and the male chest is usually considered less erogenic than the female breasts; yet both are forms of partial nudity.
Cultural attitudes
Throughout history, many men, especially labourers such as farmers and miners, have worked bare chested. This was, and is, particularly normal in warmer climates, with the exception of very hot climates where protection from sunlight becomes more important than ventilation. But various times and places have been more strict and uneasy about the practice. During the Victorian period, polite society in Western cultures deplored nudity of any degree, even bare-chestedness, and people took great pains to cover themselves up. In societies so affected, attitudes began to relax in the 20th century. Going bare chested in public was again acceptable. At first, the rules relaxed only for men on beaches and swimming pools — in New York City, a man could be fined for removing his shirt in Central Park as late as 1960 — but permissiveness gradually grew and crossed gender lines. Most recently, it has become quite common for women on beaches in Europe, the Caribbean, and Australia to go bare breasted, though it is by no means universal. It is still unusual on most beaches in North America.
Throughout much of Asia, bare-chestedness in either men or women is generally disapproved of, and may be highly offensive, even at the beach. In many of these regions, for example South Korea, most adults still swim almost fully clothed. Some countries, such as Thailand, though they disapprove of toplessness among women, condone it in order to keep attracting European tourists. In Muslim countries, women are religiously encouraged (or required, as in the case of Iran) to cover nearly all of the body. In Europe and North America, people remain who take offense at bare-chested men, and many shops will refuse to serve bare chested people, having policies of "no shirt, no shoes, no service".
Famous bare chesters
-->Famous bare chesters include:
Musicians
Many male artists perform bare chested. This may add to the visual attractiveness of the musicians and their performance, and is also practical because of the intense heat from the studio/arena lights. Tattoos and body art such as nipple piercings are often displayed by bare chested rock musicians.- Every band member in the rock group The Red Hot Chili Peppers is somewhat known for playing bare chested in music videos/concerts.
- Brandon Boyd, lead singer in rock group Incubus
- Kenny Chesney usually appears without a shirt in his music videos.
- Phil Collen, lead guitarist of the British band Def Leppard
- Phil Collins prefers to drum topless
- David Gilmour, Pink Floyd guitarist, performs topless in their concert film
- Ian Grushka, bassist in punk group New Found Glory
- Keziah Jones, Nigerian guitarist and singer, he states "You have to be free, you have to be loose. I want nothing to restrict my body when I'm playin' music."
- Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of rock band Tool, performs topless covered in blue body paint
- Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician and outspoken rebel figure
- Marilyn Manson, performed shirtless in most live performances until 2003, where he wore shirts more often.
- Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen
- Jim Morrison, singer of The Doors. While he did not perform bare chested often, his shirtless appearance in publicity photos accompanying the Doors' 1967 debut album cover was extremely influential in male fashion
- Ted Nugent, was shirtless while performing in concert and on his album covers.
- Shavo Odadjian, bassist of rock group System of a Down
- Nick Oliveri, ex-bassist in rock group Queens of the Stone Age
- Robert Plant, lead singer in legendary rock band Led Zeppelin
- Iggy Pop, punk rock singer
- Gavin Rossdale, lead singer of Bush removes his shirt halfway through most live sets
- Bon Scott, late singer of AC/DC
- Lars Ulrich, drummer from Metallica, is frequently seen shirtless while performing.
- Morrissey, during The Smiths years, he was known to remove his shirt during a set.
- Grace Slick performed topfree as lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane at outdoor concerts in the late 1960s.
Other Performers
Other performers, such as actors and models, and sportsmen, such as wrestlers, also often appear bare chested.- Alec Baldwin in most of his films can be seen barechested for one reason or another.
- Clark Gable, actor
- Salman Khan, Indian Bollywood actor
- Flávio and Gustavo Mendonça, stars of Brazilian soap operas
Fictional bare chesters
Some characters in TV shows or films are well known for their shirtlessness.
- Tarzan is usually featured shirtless.
- Bonehead (Keith Allen) and Foyle (Peter Richardson) from worked shirtless all the time.
- Randy (Patrick Roach) in Trailer Park Boys is always shirtless.
- Obelix in the Asterix series is always shirtless, although his trousers come up to half way up his chest, so he is not entirely bare chested.
- John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), often fought shirtless.
- Johnny Bravo loves to show his muscled chest at Cartoon Network.
- Angel (David Boreanaz) appeared without a shirt throughout the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Samurai Jack has the top of (and indeed usually the whole) of his clothes ripped off in almost every episode.
- Male Smurfs never wore shirts.
- Ned Flanders, while usually wearing a green sweater, is often show shirtless in various situtations, exposing an uncharacteristically muscular body.
- Groundskeeper Willie likewise has a very muscular physique, and is often without a shirt, in numerous occasions his shirt having been torn off.
- Namor the Sub-Mariner is always shirtless in his comic strips.
- The character Deadwood in Little Dracula never usually wore a shirt.
- None of the male Gargoyles usually wore shirts.
See also
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