Meet the Woman Fighting to Normalize Toplessness
EndFragment
Warning: Photos of bare breasts in this article.
On Wednesday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives is scheduled to debate a bill that would allow towns in the state to "regulate attire" in public areas as a way of criminalizing female toplessness. The legislation was proposed after another New Hampshire bill, which would have banned exposed female breasts outright, was shot down in March.
While it's legal for women to be topless in many parts of the United States (you can find a full map here), people aren't exactly comfortable with it yet. Chelsea Covington is fighting to change that. Covington, 27, started going bare-chested about three years ago. (She prefers the term "bare-chested" over topless, because "topless [implies] you are lacking something.") Now, Covington gardens, bicycles, picnics, walks, and sunbathes sans shirt, wherever legal and whenever comfortable. She also keeps a blog, Breasts Are Healthy, where she documents the everyday outings of her nipples. I spoke to Covington about how the police and laypeople react to her bare chest, and what she hopes to achieve by choosing not to wear a shirt.
EndFragment