Nudity continues at the University of California San Diego, as alumna Anni Ma announced plans to “free” her breasts and led over 100 participants, male and female, in a “Free the Nipple” protest Wednesday.
In early May, eyes were on the University for a naked final exam required as part of a class in the school’s visual arts department. In March, UC students stripped down at a UC Regents meeting to protest tuition hikes.
Aubrey Oxley, a junior at Thurgood Marshall College, told the UCSD Guardian that she believes the movement began at a 2014 Topless March in New York City.
However similar protests date much further back. In 2011 James Rich, led topless women at Venice Beach under the “Go Topless Day” protest for “equal rights,” according to the Huffington Post. “Free your breasts, free your mind” was chanted at a 2009 Go Topless Day event at the same location reported L.A. Weekly. Such protests harken back to the 1970s and displays of public nudity in political and social protests.
On Thursday, topless protesters in San Francisco shut down traffic as part of “Black Lives Matter” protests, Gateway Pundit reported. The rally was organized under the premise of protesting police brutality against black women and transgender women. Rows of topless women in San Francisco’s financial district appeared in pictures tweeted out with the hashtag #SayHerName. Chants in one video posted included, “Who taught you to love yourself?” with the responding chant: “Black women.”
Three naked protesters were arrested in San Francisco in February, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “We used to be considered the kinkiest city in the country–and I mean that in a good way: sexual freedom, public nudity,” said veteran nudity protester George Davis regarding a recent city nudity ban.
Similarly, 30 naked bikers in San Francisco joined in a sixth annual World Naked Bike Ride in March protesting world dependence on oil, DailyMail reported.
A May 19 post to a Facebook account for Anni Ma read in part, “I can’t wait to share awkward, yet unforgettable moments with everyone during this social experiment…Let’s have compelling discussions and open our minds to new feelings, ideas, and experiences.”
A May 6 Twitter post read:
#FreeTheNipple Movement @UCSD May 20th Wednesday 12pm. pic.twitter.com/WM274XSL29
— Anni Ma (@AnniMa1016) May 20, 2015
Ma described her event as a “topless movement.” She told local ABC affiliate 10 News that it’s about “equality,” and that her purpose in exposing female chests is to make the world a “better place.” She said, “It felt, actually, really normal, and everyone just did it and it wasn’t a big deal, like, that’s how I felt.”
10 News reported that public nudity does violate San Diego municipal codes and the UCSD student code of conduct, but the University told the news outlet that they support the students’ rights on the basis of the First Amendment.
Photo: File
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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