About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Toplessness

Encyclopedia : T : TO : TOP : Toplessness

 

Topless and its synonyms redirect here. For the Miles Tredinnick play see Topless (stage play)
Going topless or "bare chested" means not wearing any clothes above the waist, exposing the entire torso. The term "topless" is nearly only applied to women, since it is much more common for men to be bare chested than women. "Bare chested" itself and the euphemisms "stripped to the waist", and shirtless are commonly used for men.

A topless bar is a bar where, as an attraction, servers (usually female) are topless.

Contents

Attitudes towards topless people

Men are typically described as 'barechested' or 'shirtless' rather than 'topless'.
Enlarge
Men are typically described as 'barechested' or 'shirtless' rather than 'topless'.

Many cultures disapprove of (or even punish) a woman who reveals her breasts in public. A movement, topfree equality, aims to remove these restrictions.

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 and it is still unusual on most beaches in North America.

Scene from an anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. September 24, 2005, a topless political protest.
Enlarge
Scene from an anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. September 24, 2005, a topless political protest.

In parts of Africa, such as Nigeria, women protesting an injustice, especially middle-aged and older women, will go topless as a way of shaming the authorities.

Throughout much of Asia, bare-chestedness of either adult 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".

In the US, a brief moment of partial female toplessness during family entertainment television (the Super Bowl) generated considerable outcry.

Legality

Topfree equality is a North American social movement that seeks to legalize toplessness for women where it is legal for men. It has achieved success in several locations, most notably in Ontario, Canada (since 1996). While there are a few cases of women asserting their right to be topless in Ontario, mostly in swimming pools and beaches, the effect on the level of toplessness has been small.

Toplessness for both men and women is also legal in parts of Europe and Australia.

Famous bare chesters (men)

-->
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.
Many sports, such as rock climbing, can be or are done barechested
Enlarge
Many sports, such as rock climbing, can be or are done barechested

Other performers, such as actors and models, and sportsmen, such as wrestlers, also often appear bare chested.

Fictional bare chesters

Some characters in TV shows or films are well known for their shirtlessness.

Famous topless (female) celebrities

Partial bareness of the trunk

A bare-breasted goddess holding snakes based on a Minoan statue for the 2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony (in this case the woman is wearing a skin-tight leotard simulating toplessness).
Enlarge
A bare-breasted goddess holding snakes based on a Minoan statue for the 2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony (in this case the woman is wearing a skin-tight leotard simulating toplessness).

More covered than topless is wearing a bikini or crop top / bellyshirt, thus having a bare midriff.

Also clothing may have a low neckline, for women also referred to as cleavage, and/or bare shoulders.

Dress codes sometimes address these options.

External links

MSN Groups

Yahoo! Groups

See also

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: