Topless
As a topless is called in the German language colloquially showing the nude female usually upper body with bare breasts . Other slang terms are topless , topless , breast free and barbrüstig . Be differentiated is topless on the nudism (FKK) , in which the entire human body is uncovered (see FIG. Nudity ).
history
In other epochs too - for example in the Minoan culture and after the French Revolution - there was always the fashion not to cover the breasts.
In physical education classes, bare-chested gymnastics was also propagated for girls in the 1920s.
More recently, the term has been limited to swimwear . For example, the Austrian fashion designer Rudi Gernreich designed the "topless" swimwear in the USA in 1964 as a further development of the bikini - the presentation of the design on June 30th on the beach in Chicago was completed after three minutes by 15 police officers.
On April 22, 1969, it happened in the Goethe University in Frankfurt a. M. on the so-called breast attack on Theodor W. Adorno.
Bathing with panties but without a bikini top was tolerated more and more on Europe's public beaches during the 1970s. The avant-garde was a pioneer, for example on the beaches of Saint Tropez (France) or Ibiza (Spain) as early as the 1960s.
Current behavior
Topless on the beach
Since the 1980s in Western Europe topless on the beaches and public swimming areas and in a few outdoor pools outside, hotel pools and parks tolerated, although the boundary between lawful and unlawful in this matter varies regionally. For example, the English Garden in Munich is known for its topless culture.
Reasons for (sun) bathing topless include the desire for a complete tan or health reasons (e.g. lower risk of colds due to less wet fabric).
Especially in non-European countries there are still moral or aesthetic concerns. In countries where religion plays a major role, especially in the Arab world, topless and nudism are even prohibited. In Cuba , topless is a sign of western decadence .
Topless in other public contexts
Form of protest
Outside of beaches and bathing areas, topless is not very common in the European-Western cultural area. It is often used as a form of public protest, e.g. B. on demonstrations. In 1968, the year of the student protest, women dropped their outerwear in a courtroom to protest "class justice".
Since 2010 members of the Ukrainian women's movement Femen have been protesting topless against sex tourism, among other things.
Topless equality
In Anglo-American countries, topless women are either declared socially unacceptable or even prohibited as a criminal offense, this sometimes even applies to the beach. But also in continental Europe there are situations in which a free male torso is seen as acceptable, whereas this is not tolerated in women. Resistance to this practice has recently been formed by various groups who, especially in the USA under the collective name “topless equality” or “topfreedom” , advocate equal treatment before the law. The demand is there, that there will be women everywhere permitted there must be topless to move where men this also allowed. With the Free The Nipple campaign, the USA is demanding that women, like men, be allowed to legally show their nipples in public.
In Sweden , the neo-feminist movement Bara Bröst formed in 2007 to implement topless bathing in swimming pools. With similar objectives across occurs USA the topfreedom movement to: You criticized the unequal treatment of women and men in terms of topless legislation. As in many other countries, men are allowed and socially accepted in many contexts to show themselves publicly in this form, whereas women are forbidden when threatened with punishment. Demonstrations and events are organized against this form of discrimination and public relations work is carried out.
admissibility
United States of America, New York
New York is a state in the United States of America, in which women are legally allowed to move "topless" in public. In 1992 the highest court in the state ruled this. This means that every woman can move freely "topless" in the city, anytime and anywhere.
Europe
Germany
In Germany, public nudity and thus the nudity of the breasts - as in most countries - are not explicitly prohibited. Due to court decisions, "nudity near the beach" is factually legalized in Germany and largely tolerated.
Nudity in the great outdoors is a legal borderline case - it actually depends on whether someone claims to be harassed and therefore demands criminal prosecution. Although there are no laws that would prohibit "topless", there are regular requests from security services and regulatory agencies to cover the breasts. As a rule, reference is made to Section 118 of the Code of Administrative Offenses , "Harassment of the general public", which is used as a so-called " rubber paragraph ". In the case of green spaces or open-air swimming pools that belong to a municipality or a private company, house rights are added. Since in these cases women are often required to cover their upper body while men are not, these regulations are increasingly perceived as discriminatory.
On the other hand, nudity is generally allowed in one's own apartment and on one's own property, even if the apartment is visible. Only in “extreme exceptional cases” can nudity be forbidden on one's own property, for example if it is associated with moral or sexual harassment.
Austria
In Austria topless is allowed, but is now practiced relatively rarely. Only at some Carinthian lakes , at Pleschinger See in Upper Austria, at excavator holes or at Lake Constance in Vorarlberg and in some Viennese outdoor swimming pools (such as the Old Danube or the Gänsehäufel ) is topless still sometimes practiced. Lately there has also been a decline in freedom of movement in the outdoor swimming pools. In the summer of 2017, a man whose girlfriend was lying in the sun without a top was threatened by a group of men with the rape of the two.
Poland
In Poland, topless people on the beaches are sometimes prosecuted ex officio, without the victim (harassed person). According to the Polish Code of Offenses ( kodeks wykroczeń ), improper behavior can be punished with arrest , a fine of up to PLN 1,500 (approx. 350 €) or a reprimand. Usually the police levy a fine; If the ticket is not accepted, criminal proceedings will be initiated. In 2008, it came in a landmark case in the first instance on the sentencing of two topless women bathing because Ungehörigkeitsvergehen on the grounds that "the public nudity a standard break in our society," performing. As a result of the appeal and the intervention of the Commissioner for Civil Rights , they were acquitted in early 2009.
Spain
On Spain's coasts and on the Spanish islands, topless is allowed anywhere.
Cultural reception
Advertising and media
The term topless as a keyword and attention signal is often used in advertising in a figurative sense, for example in advertising for convertibles , hair loss agents or dandruff. Warnings against riding two wheels and skiing without a helmet are also secured with the pair of words topless without public attention .
In film, television, magazines and newspapers, pictures of bare breasted women can often be found, like the daily page-3 girl of many tabloids .
While topless on beaches is a self-determined decision of each individual, the showmanship and the resulting sinking level is often criticized in the representations in the media and advertising when the representation is intended to address men (sexually) in particular.
Following a political decision, which in the opinion of the Polish public Poland disadvantaged politically, the Polish magazine showed Wprost in June 2007, a photomontage in which the German Chancellor Angela Merkel topless Lech Kaczynski and Jaroslaw Kaczynski breastfeeding .
Visual arts
The representation of women with bare chests follows a long tradition in European art and goes back to ancient Greece . Particularly with the Renaissance and the associated rediscovery of ancient ideals, there was an increased number of naked and half-naked women in painting and sculpture (see also nude (art) ).
One of the most famous paintings depicting a topless woman is the work Freedom Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix . The bare bosom is here an expression of freedom and the shedding of coercion and oppression.
music
The municipal Krapfenwaldlbad 1979 was tested as Vienna's first topless -Bad, 1981 followed by the Gänsehäufel . In 1982, topless was then allowed in twelve of the sixteen municipal summer pools in Vienna, one in Innsbruck, one in Klagenfurt and three pools in Linz. This led to great media interest and many discussions. Rainhard Fendrich processed the subject in his summer hit "Oben ohne".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Melanie Keim: Culture of the topless - The liberated bosom In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung from August 19, 2016
- ↑ divers-travel-guide.com How much freedom from textiles is allowed where? ( Memento of February 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Marco Polo Travel Guide Cuba, ISBN 978-3-8297-0144-0 , p. 120
- ↑ History competition of the Federal President: Sixty-eight: Aktion Blanker Bosen. In: Spiegel Online . October 16, 2007, accessed December 23, 2014 .
- ↑ EXPRESS.DE Nude Protests Against Government (accessed on March 21, 2011)
- ↑ Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA)
- ↑ gotopless.org
- ↑ "Naked Protest in the USA", article on Bild.de.
- ↑ Half-nude women march for right to bare breasts In: nydailynews.com
- ↑ 10 successful cases recognizing women's right to be topless in certain states or cities - GoTopless In: gotopless.org
- ↑ Demented Tidbits: Naked New York In: babyboyfreberg.typepad.com
- ↑ Equality in Germany ends with your bare upper body - Vice Magazine
- ↑ Neighbors withdraw complaint against naked people in garden - DERWESTEN
- ↑ https://www.kleinezeitung.at/oesterreich/5297553/Heimlich-mitgefilmt_Wienerin-badete-oben-ohne-Sittenwaechter
- ↑ [1]
- ^ Monika Adamowska: Sąd: Topless w Polsce póki co zakazane. In: Gazeta.pl . Agora SA , November 7, 2008, accessed May 23, 2019 (Polish).
- ↑ ps: Nagi biust nikogo nie zgorszy. In: dziennik.pl . Infor Biznes Sp z oo, June 8, 2010, accessed May 23, 2019 (Polish).
- ↑ https://www.spanien-abc.com/strandregel-fur-spanien/
- ↑ netzeitung.de Polish magazine shows Merkel bare-breasted ( Memento from June 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Topless in the swimming pool? Opinion forum. In: weekly press . tape 37 , no. 14 . Vienna May 1982, p. 52 : “Since the beginning of the 1982 bathing season, visitors to most municipal summer pools in Vienna have been allowed to leave their bikini tops at home. The Innsbruck Tivoli baths, the Klagenfurt lido and three Linz baths also follow the low-textile trend. [...] Peter Schieder Vienna City Councilor for the Environment and Leisure [...] Two years ago, the spa administration declared the Krapfenwaldlbad to be a topless bath on a trial basis. Last summer, the female bathers could also use Vienna's largest summer pool. the goosefoot, take off the bikini top. With the beginning of the 1982 summer swimming season, the City of Vienna decided to offer topless in twelve of the sixteen city summer swimming pools. Four urban summer swimming pools are exempt from this regulation: the Alte Donau swimming pool, the conference swimming pool, the Höpflerbad swimming pool and the Theresienbad swimming pool. "