Tempest in a D-cup

Topless debate chills as novelty of baring it all wears thin

Last summer, Lisa Regimbal, left, bear it all while chatting with Connie Morden.

Last summer's heated debate over public toplessness has turned into a big bust as few women are exercising the right to bare their breasts this year.

The issue took off in late 1996 after the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Guelph resident Gwen Jacob's conviction for indecency after taking a topless stroll in 1991. The court ruled that women have the right to go topless as long as it's not for commercial or sexual purposes.

The December decision didn't have an immediate impact for obvious reasons, but last summer the debate busted out as several local prostitutes doffed their tops while peddling their wares and topless women were spotted at area beaches.

Ottawa City Council decided to prevent women from going topless at indoor public pools, but said that under the court decision they couldn't prevent women from baring their breasts at outdoor pools and beaches.

An Angus Reid poll last summer found that two-thirds of Ontarians disapprove of public toplessness.

But the controversy may have made mountains out of molehills, as local police say that they haven't had any complaints yet this summer.

"It's not a big issue," said Const. Scott Fitzgerald of the prostitution unit. "I have yet to see it myself."

Acting Sgt. Michel Hebert is stationed in Vanier, where topless hooker Joanne Gowan was fined for fondling her breasts, leaning into cars and using foul language last June. The judge in the case noted that the fine was for acting provocatively, not for baring her breasts.

"It made a big splash last year, but common sense has returned," Hebert said, adding women are smart enough to go topless on beaches or secluded areas, not on city streets where the "bottom-feeders" of the community will make lewd remarks.

Most local women who spoke with the Sun yesterday said they wouldn't do it themselves. But most agreed women, not a law, should rule the act.

"I don't think it should be illegal, and I wouldn't condemn anyone else," 25-year-old Carrie Jennings said. "But I wouldn't do it."

Jennings said it's hard to get used to showing off what we've all been taught to hide.

"Maybe in 20 years it will be normal and I'll do it," she said.

"I wouldn't do it," said Shanon Lee, adding demystifying breasts could have some benefits for women.

"Some people say breasts are sex symbols, but if more women did it that would change," she said.

Angela Justason, 26, said she believes women who bare their chests are just looking for attention.

"It's for show," she said. "It's to prove something, not because it's a hot day."

But Jennifer Daoust, 17, thinks toplessness is degrading and isn't surprised few women are going bare.

"Canadian women respect themselves more than that," she said. "They shouldn't have made it legal."

Carol Faraone agrees. She founded Keep Tops On with her sister Kathy Francaville after the Jacob decision.

Christina Cassell, left, and Helena June keep covered at Mooney's Bay Beach last week.

The Toronto group presented a 60,000-name petition to Parliament in February, demanding the federal government force women to cover up.

"We felt it was degrading to women and would hurt children," she said. "It's walking pornography.

"They're stimulating sick people who will take it out later on an innocent woman or child."

University of Ottawa sociologist Dr. Richard Poulin scoffs at the idea that bare-breasted women are at increased danger of rape.

"Boys of 16 rape 70-year-old women," he said. "It's about power, not sexual attraction."

But Poulin said it will take a long time for Canadian women to feel comfortable going topless because of the stares it draws.

"If you vacation in the south of France you'll wear your top the first day and take it off the second day because people will look at you," he said. "Here it's the reverse. We're more puritan.

"It's not a question of morality but sexual repression."

Ottawa deputy mayor Allan Higdon agreed that it's not a moral issue. It's common courtesy, he said.

"I oppose toplessness in public," he said. "It's self-indulgent and thoughtless of the sensibilities of others."

Higdon said he received thousands of phone calls from constituents, overwhelmingly opposed to toplessness.

Dr. Paul Rapoport is president of the Topfree Equal Rights Association, formed to defend a Cambridge woman charged with trespassing for going topless at an indoor pool.

Rapoport thinks that the Ottawa bylaw, like other municipal bylaws that restrict toplessness, should be fought under equality provisions in the Charter of Rights.

"It's discrimination against women," he said. "Men aren't required to cover their breasts."