Why can men go shirtless, but not women?

Technically, there's no real reason.

Practically, there's a few pretty obvious reasons that make doing this a bad idea.

 

It's basically just a remnant of religious praxis. In Sweden being naked isn't illegal per se. However there are laws about unruly behaviour. I think showing your nipples in public as a woman, could possibly lead to some kind of punishment since some people might see it as an act of disorderliness. The law is actually quite opaque to be fair. It would be interesting to know more about how far someone can go without being arrested, or how such things would hold up in court.

To be honest in a country like Sweden where you are basically allowed by the law to walk around topless as a woman, it is more about the social pressure for women, in this case, of pertaining that image of how one as a woman should act. Just like it can be seen as an act of rebellion by men to wear makeup or nailpolish.

The only way I can see it change is through brave women being themselves and doing what they want. The important thing is having laws that are gender-equal and doesn't favour one over the other. Women should have the same rights as men to show their nipples.

I mean the arguments don't even hold up against it. The nipples aren't a sexual organ, neither are womens breasts any "sexier" than certain masculine body traits like pecs, biceps or abs.

 

I never understood it myself, but I imagine it's just one of those silly things culture holds on to. Sort of like why a whale has pelvic bones, just a pointless reminder of earlier times.
The only "near-reasonable" argument I've received is that straight guys can't control themselves, and even then that should be the guy's problem.

For example, my stepfather was 100% male, yet he was very large chested. He never wore a shirt and nobody ever bats an eye. My younger sister was less than half that size, if she went without her shirt for a day she'd be buried in negative comments and even police attention.

 

I pretty much agree with this, except that I'm not sure if women being 'brave' enough would really be enough to push much of a change because it's often not the case of being brave enough, but instead risking safety/being sexually harassed or abused, or possibly facing legal consequences like you mentioned.

Personally, I think it's really, really... really stupid that guys can walk around without a shirt on and women can't. I hate the fact that it's because like other posters have mentioned, women are so sexualised and especially their breasts to the point where it becomes harmful. I would be more than comfortable walking around shirtless if I didn't have to fear other men and what their reactions might be, if I didn't have to fear a law that made it alright for men but not for me.

As someone who's very attracted to other women (but experiences a fluid sort of bisexuality) I don't really see the difference at all. Guys chests can be attractive and womens chests can be attractive. Maybe if women weren't promoted in a lot of instances just like sex objects here for the pleasure of straight men this wouldn't be a big thing. But this can be found everywhere. The internet is definitely no exception.

As things are at the moment though, I wouldn't feel safe enough. And there's already this kind of justification some people hold towards rape/sexual assault and whatever, if the victim was dressed a certain way 'they were asking for it'. There's just no way that I would for this reason, and I hate it. It's not that men can't control themselves (obviously) it's that women are so overly sexualised, and men are told that they can't control themselves, or that some sort of reactions/harassment are justified. And it's not just guys who buy into this, a lot of women and people across all of society do too.

The other day I saw a guy walking around shirtless in the middle of the shopping centre (and that's not really uncommon here, especially when it's really hot) and I couldn't help really but roll my eyes at the double standard. Yeah, he was an attractive guy, but nobody so much as cared. If I pulled my shirt off people would probably stop dead and stare and give me weird looks like I might be crazy, be told to put my shirt back on, be harassed, get taken away by security. Be treated as mentally unstable.

Ahhhhh, I just hate it.

 

Because society sexualizes ta-ta's to the point of silliness.

It's stupid. There are plenty of places around the world where women can go topless without being seen as 'obscene' and we claim (over here in the States) to be so much more advanced.

 

Well, isn't it most often the case when it comes to social justice changes? Just look at the gay movement. The LGBT had to risk their safety, being harrassed, abused and facing legal consequences. But the LGBT stood strong and eventually things changed for the better.

You can't force people to change their opinion. The best way to change things is to start with ourselves by daring to be different and others will follow.

 

Woo!
I def got a chuckle out of that.
There have been times that I have thought the same thing.

 

They would never be asking this question on a hetero site LOL!!!

One reason... Because a woman's breasts are the biggest sexual turn on to straight men
and a shirtless man is usually no big turn on.

Do I want men looking and lusting after my breasts in public? Definitely NOT! It's bad enough when I have them covered!

Yes, I feel a woman's breasts are sex organs equal to the male's penis, at least in the hetero world.

 

Becuase society says so.

If meant to be sexual, it should not be done in public, but if not, go ahead.

 

Becuase society says so.

If meant to be sexual, it should not be done in public, but if not, go ahead.

 

Slightly off-topic, but I've always thought men looked best with either no clothes, or all clothes, while women have more options to go "in-between". Maybe it has something to do with women's bodies (along with their minds, sexualities, etc.) being seen and treated as being more "mysterious"? I know some societies have no issue with it, and even countries like China had times when it wasn't unheard of for women to go around topless.

 

If it were up to me, it would be the other way round so men (especially fat/tattooed/hairy ones) would not go shirtless and women would, no problem. Luckily for me, Winter is coming soon.

 

I wish everybody would just keep their top on, unless they're alone in their own house and then it's none of my business. If I'm in the same house as them and I have to be, then I will tell them to put on a top.

 

Totally agree.

 

This is one of the only things that make me think positivley of ppl like miley cirus.... they challenge society by showing 99.99% of their breasts, making u wonder if the problem lies within u for not liking it.
Although truth be said, as a gay male the problem DOES lie with me anyhow considering female breasts

 

Because females have boobs and getting them out is sexual.

 

Yeah, we've had threads like this before and all of the long-winded posts could have been replaced with this. Breasts are deemed sexual, in the same vein as penises and vaginas, so getting them out is considered inappropriate in the same way a man getting his penis out would be inappropriate.

Though funnily enough it seems the problem isn't with breasts per se but nipples. I see a lot of images where women have their breasts out but only the nipples are covered - apparently that's not inappropriate.

I don't think I know any woman who actually wants to walk around topless.

 

You know it's a double standard, that women can't be shirtless now I'm not fussed at all by shirtless women, but shirtless women are oversexualized by heterosexual men mainly because of the breast flash and other things. On the other hand, it's deemed appropriate for men to walk around shirtless to show off muscles and masculinity, despite shirtless men being perceived by women in the same way women are to men. So it's a real double standard and also shows that equal rights for women are not present in society in this way.

The same applies for gay men for men and lesbian women for women as many of us see shirtless men as sexual or shirtless women as sexual.

 

Science has proven that a woman's nipples, when stimulated, light up the same areas of her brain as her genitals. So objectively speaking, yes the breasts are a sex organ. The male nipple does not have this same function so objectively speaking they are different functionally as well as aesthetically.

 

Because society has over-sexualized breasts to the extent that equality is disregarded.