In Canada a woman can walk around topless any time she wants to . . . although most women would probably prefer to wait until the warmer months.
Women’s top freedom, like many public nudity laws, sits in a precarious position in Canada. While the infamous Gwen Jacob case, where a Guelph woman was charged and later acquitted for public indecency, is widely interpreted to give women the same rights as men where toplessness is concerned, it would seem that public opinion is, unfortunately, against women’s top freedom, and many women choose not to exercise their right for fear of shame and public judgment.
Nude art model and activist Serenity Hart wants to give women’s top freedom the attention it deserves, so she’s going on the Topless Tour de Canada.
From May to the end of July, Hart will be travelling across the country to various cities and landmarks, baring her breasts to bring attention to women’s top-freedom rights. She’ll be working with artists and photographers, documenting the journey and keeping supporters up to date through social media. Leading up to the tour, Hart will be fundraising to put the project in motion.
Hart has been modelling in the nude for six years, and nudity has been part of her journey towards realizing what body beauty can be and how it can empower women: “I used to think that beauty was a skinny white girl on the cover of a Cosmo magazine, until it dawned on me that beauty is an illusion. My ideal beauty was not a black woman with curves and dark skin. And it took me a long time to be comfortable with my own appearance. Being naked does not have to be attached to sex and shame.”
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