August 26, 2012. I saw an article in the newspaper where the town of Asbury Park, NJ denied women the right to go topless at one of their beaches. Checking further I ran across a website called gotopless.org which planned a rally in New York City on August 26th; which is also the anniversary of Women's Equality Day. This information led to my visiting Bryant Park in New York city.
The event started at noon and there were more cameras at the park than I have ever seen in one place. The go topless leader drew a huge crowd.
Shortly after noon, other topless females joined the group. One guy wore a bra in solidarity (he was the only male at the park wearing a bra !).
After a few short remarks and thousands of photographs later, the women moved the rally along the streets of Manhattan toward Times Square. Using a megaphone the leader kept chanting: "Free your breasts, free your mind" and all the photographers said: "right on".
Looking for a height advantage, many photographers stood on objects along the street and on building supports. (pointing to the guy in the photo at the far right, one of the other photographers said: "he must be a high society wedding photographer" ?).
Being in New York City one expects to see unusual people: 1. The profit of doom was following the topless girls religiously, 2. Tonto (with drum but no sign) must be advertising underwear, 3. the statue of liberty was for hire (have your picture taken with the Statue of Liberty), 4. a cheerleader was handing out brochures to a Broadway show, 5. a man, whose face became artwork, was displaying his unique tattoos', 6. two guys, lacking a gym, were working out using a street sign.
Well, the women finally arrived at the heart of Times Square to a huge crowd of supporters.
What's this? In the middle of a topless event, a fully clothed female drawing attention. Very pretty indeed !!
Another what's this: a young photographer asked the leader to pose with a flip-flop on her right breast ??
At this point, I took a lunch break and later rejoined the rally at Bryant Park which was still going strong.
A guitar musician showed up and the girls started signing.
It occurred to me that '3 of a kind does beat a pair' !
Seriously, could there ever be a better photo ad for Poland Spring water?
A young woman, testing the waters with 'timid nipple syndrome' tried her best. Maybe next year.
I admit to not knowing jewelry, but this woman had what looked like a Star of David with a Swastika inside???
2024 UPDATE: There is a great deal of news today about the Israel war and as I came across my old webpage I wondered if the Star of David with a Swastika inside was antisemitic. It turns out it is not, instead. It is a religion called Raelism. “Before he was Rael, Claude Vorilhon was just a race car and music enthusiast. However, after a visit from extraterrestrials, his worldview shifted and he founded Raelism — the religion that says humanity is an alien experiment.”
According to the website gotopless.org, the following cities have been "topless tested":
A most unusual event. The women were serious, and a large number of people were made aware of their cause.
Click HERE to checkout the gotopless.org webpage.
