Free the Nipple

Free the Nipple

Nudity laws have been in place in the United States and abroad for decades and most have their roots in the Victorian era.1The reign of Queen Victoria of England has oft been associated with public moralizing, particularly in the arena of sexuality.2The views of sexuality and morality that permeated society eventually made their way into American law, and public indecency laws in the United States.34These laws were particularly repressive of women, who were expected to subject themselves to their husbands.

As the laws preventing indecency grew, however, certain inconsistencies in the way they treated men and women may have had a hand in their very demise. For instance, in New York City, female toplessness had been legal for some time—a law prohibiting only women from exposing their nipples was stricken as violative of equal protection rights, thus making it perfectly legal for women to go topless anywhere in New York.56

Why is it illegal? Some philosophers posit that it is because nudity is distracting.7Some argue that the very fact of making it illegal is a vicious cycle—we ban nudity because we find it indecent, but we find it more indecent the less we sanction it and are exposed to it. Thus, simply legalizing and actually practicing nudity might help break down the barriers of discomfort that some experience in seeing nude women.

In the United States, different states bear different laws with regard to nudity, and often these laws include exceptions for breastfeeding women.8From the pinnacle of what many believe to be moral public nudity of breastfeeding, to the nadir of strip club dancing, public nudity has seen gaining legal support.9However, the freedoms afforded topless women still make bystanders uncomfortable, and some suggest that a better solution would be a law that outlawed toplessness for both sexes. Furthermore, women find the laws inconsistent, insofar as they would be allowed to be topless in Central Park, but if they take a photo of their outing, they would be prevented from posting such images on social media.10As a solution, some women have copied and pasted male nipples on their topless photos to comply with online terms of service.

  1. See Marjorie Heins, “Not in Front of the Children: ‘Indecency,’ Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth,” (NY: Hill & Wang, 2001), pp. 18-26.
  2. Jan Marsh, “Sex & Sexuality in the 19 th Century,” Victoria and Albert Museum, http://www.laura-cenicola.de/brithist2/brithist/8-1-introduction-into-v….
  3. Laura Cenicola and Mareike Aumann, “Introduction into Victorian Morality – What exactly was the Victorian Era?”, British History 2: From the French Revolution to World War II, http://www.laura-cenicola.de/brithist2/brithist/8-1-introduction-into-v…, last accessed June 1, 2016.
  4. “Fact Sheet on Sex and Censorship,” The Free Expression Policy Project, http://www.laura-, cenicola.de/brithist2/brithist/8-1-introduction-into-victorian-morality-what-exactly-was-the-victorian-era.html (updated April 2009).
  5. New York v. Santorelli, 80 N.Y. 2d 875, 600 N.E.2d 232, accessible at: http://naturisteducation.org/Toni_Egbert_Library/State_Supreme_Courts/N….
  6. “The Weird, Wild Legal History of Breasts and Nipples,” Yahoo Health, Dec. 12, 2014, http://www.yahoo.com/beauty/the-weird-wild-legal-history-of-breasts-and….
  7. Brian Palmer, “Why is Public Nudity Illegal?” Ask the Explainer, Slate.com, Nov. 28, 2012, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/11/why_i… ciple_the_bible_and_taboos.html.
  8. “Nudity and Public Decency Laws in America,” (outlining state-by-state public indecency laws) HG.org, http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=31193, last accessed July 1, 2016.
  9. David L. Hudson, Jr., “Nude Dancing,” FirstAmendmentCenter.org, Sept. 13, 2002, http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/nude-dancing. (highlighting the legal boundaries placed on the free speech of public nude dancing by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has held that nude dancing can constitute a protected art form subject to reasonable time, manner, place limitations).
  10. James C. McKinley, Jr., “Topless in Times Square: A Legal View,” The New York Times, Aug. 20, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/21/nyregion/topless-in-times-square-a-le….

REGIONAL ETHICS BOWL CASES FALL 2016
Prepared by:
Rhiannon D. Funke, Chair
Case Writers:
Susanna Flavia Boxall
Michael B. Funke
Gretchen A. Myers
Jamie Watson