Canadian attitudes toward female topless behaviour: a national survey.

ABSTRACT: This study examined Canadian attitudes toward the acceptability of women being topless in three different contexts: at public beaches, in public parks, and on city streets. It evaluated the predictive value of several demographic variables (gender, age, education, religiosity, marital status, and region of Canada) in explaining attitudes toward topless behaviour. The data were obtained from a Compas Polling survey that asked Canadian adults (N = 1479) questions about relationships and sexuality. While Canadians differed in their views about legal acceptance of toplessness in public, context played a major role with acceptance greatest for toplessness at public beaches and least on city streets. Logistic regression models predicted a significant but modest amount of variance for each of the three topless contexts with gender and religiosity consistently being the most significant predictors of attitudes.

Key words: Female toplessness Sexual attitudes National Canadian survey

INTRODUCTION

In 1996, the Ontario court of appeals ruled that women going topless did not imply indecent or sexual behaviour as defined by the Canadian criminal code (R. v. Jacobs, 1996). Similar rulings were made in Saskatchewan in 1998 and in British Columbia in 2000. This chain of events began in 1991 when University of Guelph student Gwen Jacobs, walked in downtown Guelph without a top, thus exposing her breasts. She was arrested and charged with committing an indecent act (DeLonghi, 1992). Jacobs stated that she went topless because it was a hot day and she believed that women should have the same right to go topless as men. She said her behaviour was about empowerment and not just about taking off her top (Canadian Press, 1992). As a result of the Ontario Court of Appeal decision, female toplessness is not considered an indecent act, yet few women go topless in Canada (Murdock, 1996).

The present study used national survey data to document Canadian attitudes toward female topless behaviour in different contexts and to identify demographic variables associated with such attitudes. The literature review that follows provides the background and rationale for the study.

RESEARCH ON FEMALE TOPLESS BEHAVIOUR

Cultural norms regarding body exposure vary widely. In their analysis of anthropological research from 190 different societies, Ford and Beach (1951) found that, in many cultures, women were not required to cover their breasts. They also found no relationship between the importance of breasts in sexual behaviour and requirements for breast concealment.