Editing Toplessness (section)

== Usage and connotations ==
[[File:Paul Gauguin 145.jpg|thumb|left|''Two [[Tahiti]]an Women'' (1899) by [[Paul Gauguin]]]]

The word "topless" usually refers to a woman whose breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed to public view. It can describe a woman who appears, poses, or performs with her breasts exposed, such as a "topless model" or "topless dancer", or to an activity undertaken while not wearing a top, such as "topless sunbathing". It may indicate a designated location where one might expect to find women not wearing tops, such as a "topless beach" or "topless bar". It can also be used to describe a garment that is specifically designed to reveal the breasts, such as the "topless swimsuit" (also known as the [[monokini]]) designed by [[Rudi Gernreich]] in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bbc.adactio.com/cult/ilove/years/1964/fashion1.shtml|title=Topless Swimsuits and Dresses|publisher=BBC|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023184238/http://bbc.adactio.com/cult/ilove/years/1964/fashion1.shtml|archive-date=October 23, 2022}}</ref>

The word "topless" may carry sexual or exhibitionist connotations. Because of this, advocates of women's legal right to uncover their breasts wherever men may go bare-chested have adopted the alternative term "topfree", which is not perceived to have these connotations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ethosmagonline.com/archives/6654 |title=Busting Out: The Right to Bare It All |work=[[Ethos Magazine]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815075239/http://ethosmagonline.com/archives/6654 |archive-date=15 August 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Staff|url=http://www.007b.com/topfreedom.php |title=What is Topfreedom? |publisher=007b.com |date=20 January 2013 |access-date=12 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120232359/http://www.007b.com/topfreedom.php |archive-date=20 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Barechestedness===
[[File:Soldier running in water original.jpg|thumb|A barechested man running out of the water]]
Barechestedness is the state of a man or boy wearing no clothes above the waist, exposing the upper torso. Bare male chests are generally considered acceptable in or around the house; at beaches, swimming pools and sunbathing areas; when exercising outside in hot weather; and in certain outdoor construction work settings. However, some stores and restaurants have a "no shirt, no service" rule to prevent barechested men from coming inside.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coppolino |first1=Andrew |title=Request for proof of vaccine simple for some restaurant staff, 'exhausting' for others: Andrew Coppolino |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/andrew-coppolino-vaccine-passport-restaurants-waterloo-region-1.6203757 |access-date=9 February 2022 |work=CBC News |date=9 October 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025031813/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/andrew-coppolino-vaccine-passport-restaurants-waterloo-region-1.6203757|archive-date=October 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Braley-Rattai |first1=Alison |title=Pandemic-era retail: No shoes, no shirt, no mask – no service? |url=https://www.ohscanada.com/features/pandemic-era-retail-no-shoes-no-shirt-no-mask-no-service/ |access-date=9 February 2022 |work=OHS Canada Magazine |date=22 April 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323200642/https://www.ohscanada.com/features/pandemic-era-retail-no-shoes-no-shirt-no-mask-no-service/|archive-date=March 23, 2023}}</ref> While going barechested at outdoor activities may be acceptable, it is taboo in workplaces, churches, and other formal settings.

In most societies, male barechestedness is much more common than female toplessness, even among children. Exposure of the male pectoral muscles is often considered to be far less taboo than of the female breasts, despite some considering them equally erogenous. Male barechestedness is often ascribed to practical reasons such as heat, or the ability to move the body without being restricted by an upper body garment. In several sports, such as swimming and boxing, it is encouraged or even obligatory for males to be barechested. Barechestedness may also be used as a display of power, or to draw attention to oneself, especially if the upper body muscles are well-developed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Putin gone wild: Russia abuzz over pics of shirtless leader |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/putin-gone-wild-russia-abuzz-over-pics-of-shirtless-leader-1.639179 |access-date=9 February 2022 |work=CBC News |agency=The Associated Press |date=23 August 2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712060217/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/putin-gone-wild-russia-abuzz-over-pics-of-shirtless-leader-1.639179|archive-date=July 12, 2023}}</ref>

=== Exposure ===
[[File:Marie Louise Thérèse de Savoie, princesse de Lamballe par Joseph Duplessis.jpg|thumb|[[Joseph Duplessis|Duplessis]]'s portrait of [[Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy, Princesse de Lamballe|Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy]] baring a nipple dates from 18th-century France.]]
The cultural tendency to hide the female nipple under clothing has existed in Western culture since the 19th century.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |author=Beer |first=Todd |date=2015-05-12 |title=Social Construction of the Body: The Nipple |work=SOCIOLOGYtoolbox |url=http://sociologytoolbox.com/social-construction-of-the-body/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527024111/http://sociologytoolbox.com/social-construction-of-the-body/ |archive-date=May 27, 2015 |access-date=2015-05-16 }}</ref><ref name="Dewar">{{cite web |last=Dewar |first=Gwen |date=October 2012 |title=The sexualization of girls: Is the popular culture harming our kids? |url=http://www.parentingscience.com/sexualization-of-girls.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225144348/http://parentingscience.com/sexualization-of-girls/|archive-date=December 25, 2022 |publisher=Parenting Science}}</ref><ref name="bbc1">{{Cite news |date=15 November 2014 |title=Toplessness - the one Victorian taboo that won't go away |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30052071 |access-date=13 August 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826224407/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30052071|archive-date=August 26, 2023}}</ref> As female nipples are often perceived an [[intimate part]], covering them might have originated under [[Victorian morality]] as with riding side saddle. Exposing the entire breast and nipple is a form of protest for some and a crime for others.<ref name="bbc1" /><ref name="citypaper">{{cite web |date=14 February 2014 |title=Why Are Women Expected to Keep Their Nipples Covered? |url=http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/columns/straight-dope/article/13045218/why-are-women-expected-to-keep-their-nipples-covered-breasts |access-date=13 August 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011044718/https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/205474/why-are-women-expected-to-keep-their-nipples-covered-breasts/|archive-date=October 11, 2023}}</ref> The exposure of nipples is usually considered [[Modesty|immodest]] and in some instances is viewed as [[lewd]] or [[Indecent exposure|indecent]] behavior.<ref>D. Leder, ''The Body in Medical Thought and Practice'', page 223, Springer Science & Business Media, 1992, {{ISBN|978-0-7923-1657-2}}</ref>

A case in Erie, Pennsylvania, concerning the exposure of breasts and nipple proceeded to the US Supreme Court, [[City of Erie v. Pap's A. M.]]<ref name="SC_Erie">{{cite web |date=March 2000 |title=Erie v. Pap's A. M., 529 U.S. 277 (2000) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/529/277/case.html |access-date=15 February 2018 |website=Justia Law |publisher=Justia |language=en |quote=Nudity cannot be considered an inherent form of expression.}}</ref> The Erie ordinance was regulating the nipple in public as an act that is committed when a person "knowingly or intentionally, ... appears in a state of nudity commits Public Indecency." Later in the statute, nudity is further described as an uncovered female nipple. But nipple exposure of a man was not regulated. An opinion column credited to [[Cecil Adams]] noted: "Ponder the significance of that. A man walks around bare-chested and the worst that happens is he won't get served in restaurants. But a woman who goes topless is legally in the same boat as if she'd had sex in public. That may seem crazy, but in the US it's a permissible law."<ref name="citypaper" />

The legality around the exposure of nipples is inconsistently regulated throughout the US. Some states do not allow the visualization of any part of the breast. Other jurisdictions prohibit any female chest anatomy by banning anatomical structures that lie below the top of the areola or nipple. Such is the case in West Virginia and Massachusetts. West Virginia's regulation is very specific and is not likely to be misinterpreted, stating: "[The] display of 'any portion of the cleavage of the human female breast exhibited by a dress, blouse, skirt, leotard, bathing suit, or other wearing apparel [is permitted] provided the areola is not exposed, in whole or in part.{{'"}}<ref name="citypaper" />

[[Instagram]] has a "no nipples" policy with exceptions: material that is not allowed includes "some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-[[mastectomy]] scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too".<ref name="Instagram_Help">{{cite web |title=Community Guidelines |url=https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119 |access-date=15 February 2018 |website=help.instagram.com |publisher=Instagram |language=en}}</ref> Previously, Instagram had removed images of nursing mothers. Instagram removed images of [[Rihanna]] and had her account cancelled in 2014 when she posted selfies with nipples. This was incentive for the Twitter campaign [[Free the nipple|#FreeTheNipple]].<ref>{{cite web |date=17 April 2015 |title=Instagram Clarifies Its No-Nipple Policy |url=http://www.thewrap.com/instagram-clarifies-its-no-nipple-policy/ |access-date=13 August 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907162857/https://www.thewrap.com/instagram-clarifies-its-no-nipple-policy/|archive-date=September 7, 2023}}</ref> In 2016, an Instagram page invited users to post images of nipples from both sexes; @genderless_nipples, which displays close ups of both the nipples of men and women for the purpose of spotlighting what may be inconsistency.<ref name="genderless">{{cite web |last=Toor |first=Amar |date=6 December 2016 |title=Genderless Nipples exposes Instagram's double standard on nudity |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/6/13852900/genderless-nipples-instagram-censorship-policy |access-date=13 August 2017 |website=The Verge|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529074802/https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/6/13852900/genderless-nipples-instagram-censorship-policy|archive-date=May 29, 2023}}</ref> Some contributors have circumvented the policy.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 June 2017 |title=Art student challenges 'sexist' ban on nipples on Instagram with new project - BBC Newsbeat |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40170981/art-student-challenges-sexist-ban-on-nipples-on-instagram-with-new-project |access-date=14 August 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907194231/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-40170981|archive-date=September 7, 2023}}</ref><ref name="db">{{Cite news |last=Shire |first=Emily |date=9 September 2014 |title=Women, It's Time to Reclaim Our Breasts |newspaper=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/09/women-it-s-time-to-reclaim-our-breasts |via=www.thedailybeast.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226174410/https://www.thedailybeast.com/women-its-time-to-reclaim-our-breasts|archive-date=December 26, 2022}}</ref> Facebook has also been struggling to define its nipple policy.<ref name="genderless" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Community Standards |url=https://m.facebook.com/communitystandards/encouraging-respectful-behavior/ |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=m.facebook.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=24 October 2016 |title=Is Facebook going to start freeing the nipple? |url=https://www.foxnews.com/tech/is-facebook-going-to-start-freeing-the-nipple |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=[[Fox News]]|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907162900/https://www.foxnews.com/tech/is-facebook-going-to-start-freeing-the-nipple|archive-date=September 7, 2023}}</ref>

Filmmaker [[Lina Esco]] made a film entitled ''[[Free the Nipple (film)|Free the Nipple]]'', which is about "laws against female toplessness or restrictions on images of female, but not male, nipples", which Esco states is an example of [[sexism]] in society.<ref name="db"/>