The United States is rather alone in the Western world in how it deals with topless situations. Unless the incidents occur in established nudist areas, women in the United States are not allowed to have their nipples exposed.
And that position puts the U.S. in a place where Canada does not exist: female nudity above the waist is illegal.
Now, we have a situation in Washington, D.C., of all places, where male topless behavior is now being wrapped up — as in a shirt.
The Washington Nationals ballpark was the scene. Benjamin Correia takes it from there in a letter to the editor of The Washington Post: "Around the third inning, a ballpark employee informed me and a friend that we would have to put our shirts back on."
"We pointed out the many other shirtless men," Correia continued, "and she assured us she was getting to them as well. We were dumbstruck."
(In a truly cruel irony, the Nationals used to be the Montréal Expos.)
It is my understanding that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women can be topless in Canada. I'm pretty sure, ironically, that at the time of that ruling, the head of the Court was a woman. The term "topfree" is preferred in many circles over "topless." But I do know that some parts of Canada are more free about it than others, especially British Columbia and Ontario. And going to the supermarket in most areas wouldn't work.
Seeing a nipple as evil or immoral, regardless of gender, is truly a U.S. phenomena. It's only been fairly recently that laws were passed allowing public breastfeeding, though we see stories of women being harassed for feeding their children in public. In many other countries throughout the world, including Canada, nipples aren't a big deal.
But for North America, Canada is much more progressive than the U.S. on being topless. And that goes for men as well.
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