Breasts, the public display of

There is controversy afoot in New York surrounding the right of people to go topless in public.  There is, according to one Ruben Diaz, a minister and politician, a problem with topless women being in Times Square where they attempt to get tips for being in photographs with tourists.  (Also presumably locals, but that probably isn't a thriving business.)  They aren't *entirely* topless necessarily as body paint is often strategically used to apply minimal covering.

Diaz, realizing that he can't push through legislation specifically targetting and limiting the rights of women, has decided that he should just aim to prevent anyone regardless of sex from going topless.  Won't somebody Please think of the children?



While we should celebrate that we finally live in a time when politicians feel obligated to hose everybody in an attempt to be sexist assholes instead of just explicitly targetting women, this is still really awful.  I mean, it is great that Diaz knows he can't just make a law that explicitly limits women's rights because he personally views them as sex objects but I wish he had to give up instead of pushing this terrible workaround.

Nipples aren't dangerous.  Nearly everybody gets to view them many times throughout their lives, though admittedly men's nipples have a fairly flat distribution while women's nipples get seen a lot more by the very young and by those who are old enough to figure out how to use the internet and not get caught watching porn.  If Diaz wants to run in a panic away from topless women he is welcome to.  He is even welcome to keep his children away from Times Square where all this wanton toplessness is located.  I will laugh at him and call him a bigoted idiot for doing so but he would be well within his rights and I certainly wouldn't want to trample on those.  Unfortunately he doesn't see this the way I do and thinks that police officers armed with guns are the appropriate response to nipples rather than simply letting other people do what they want.

Usually the US is really big on letting private transactions between individuals be none of the government's business, but boy that sure goes by the wayside when somebody might be getting turned on by it.  Can't have that!

Normally this would be where I take some cheap shots at Republicans but Diaz is actually a Democrat.  A Democrat who is against abortion and marriage equality, mind, so he is firmly in the 'asshole' category, but not a Republican nonetheless.

I am just so far away from this sort of viewpoint it is hard to fathom it at all.  I think the idea of having it be illegal to be naked is an astonishing and evil thing - my body being seen for what it is should never be grounds for imprisonment.  Of course private institutions should be free to have whatever dress codes they want on their grounds, but on public property the idea that my body being seen is grounds for violent assault upon me is ludicrous.