Argumentative Essay

In the summer of 1996 Gwen Jacobs enjoyed a topless summer stroll during
which she was seen by a local O.P.P officer, was apprehended and subsequently c
harged with indecent exposure. Gwen Jacobs pleaded not guilty in court and won
the right to go topless in Ontario. This incident brought up an excellent quest
ion: should women be allowed to go topless on public beaches and in other public
areas? The answer is strictly no, women should not be allowed to go topless an
ywhere outside of their own home.
One of the many reasons why I believe that women should not be allowed t
o go topless is with respect to the safety of women. Men and boys have, in rece
nt years, been using short, tight, skirts and shirts as an excuse for rape or da
te rape. Men have said that the girl was wearing a tight shirt and short skirt
and it was obvious that she was easy and wanted the attention. This statement
leads me to my next point.
The average human being upon first contact with a stranger bases his ini
tial impression of that person solely on the person's appearance. This is only
natural as the only thing that we know about this stranger is what we see of the
m the first time we meet. We all are aware of the sayings "Preppy","Jockish","S
kater","Sluty" etc. This final saying, "Sluty" is interpreted by 90 percent of
North Americans as a tight skirt and tight tank top which happens to be the usua
l ensemble of a prostitute. This first impression of a girl in nothing but a sk
irt and a bare chest will no doubt elevate to the new version of a "Slut" and a
girl that wants it.
My second point is, what kind of questions will a mother be asked by her
son when he sees a half nude woman walking down the street. The first question
that this child will ask is why do these women have no shirt on and you do? Yo
ur reply will be well ahhh go talk to your father. This dilemma will no doubt b
e brought about as these and other questions about the sexual nature of the body
will be put forth by young children. Questions that you as a parent do not fee
l should be answered truthfully to such a young child.
My third point begins thousands of years ago when man first walked on th
e earth. When man first walked he hunted and his wife(clothless) cleaned the ga
me and took care of the young. As centuries have progressed women have stepped
forth into a new era of equal rights. We've seen the first women doctors, astro
nauts, business owners and many other firsts in numerous professions. Women hav
e made giant leaps when it comes to respect from men in their professional field
. This respect which women have been fighting for over the past century, is on
the verge of collapse. Women seem to be taking this new law allowing them to go
topless to an extreme. Walking their dogs, walking on the beach and strolling
through public places with no tops on. This display of nudity, in the average p
erson's eyes, whether they admit to it or not, will cause men to look down agai
n on women. If, for example, the first woman astronaut (Sally Ride) were to sta
rt going topless in public places it would be plastered on the front page of eve
ry newspaper. This in turn would lead to her fellow colleagues looking down on
her. This would be a giant step backwards in respect to equal rights for women.
Following the changes to this law allowing women to go topless our citie
s will slowly begin to diverge into places that encourage nudity and places that
do not encourage nudity. Our economy will begin to collapse, as store owners a
ppalled by this nudity will be forced to close their stores and move, if this nu
dity is surrounding them. This also applies to stores that want to have workers
that want to go topless, they will be forced to relocate to places of nudity.
As this begins to happen slowly our cities will become two sided and our economy
's stability will collapse beneath our feet. An excellent example of this situa
tion is taking place in Quebec. A law in Quebec states that a women may work in
nothing less than lingerie. So a Quebec barber shop run by a well endowed wome
n decided to charge an extra ten dollars per haircut and she'd remove her shirt
so they could watch her cut their hair in just a bra. She also charged an extra
fifteen to remove her bottoms so she had only her underwear on. This new busin
ess skyrocketed and now there is currently 15 of these hair dressers presently i
n Quebec. The neighborhoods surrounding these barbershops are appalled by what
is going on and many people have relocated there families away from this nudity.
In conclusion to the question: should women be allowed to go topless in
public places? It has been clearly shown that women should not be allowed to g
o topless anywhere outside of their own home.