In Argentina, women drop tops to protest topless ban

Scores of women took to the streets in Argentina Tuesday in a bare-breasted demonstration of solidarity with women recently confronted by police for going topless on a South Atlantic beach.

The demonstrations in Buenos Aires, in Mar del Plata and Rosario, were prompted by an incident two weeks ago in Necochea, 500 kilometers south of the capital.

Three women in bikini bottoms were ordered by 20 police officers to put on their tops or head out.

Many in Argentina, once one of the world’s wealthiest countries, were stunned.

Now used to struggling with economic woes and corruption, they are increasingly tired of what some see as the authorities’ overreach.

“There is this macho way of thinking that just has to end,” said a protestor named Noelia, 28, who declined to give her family name. “We are the owners of our bodies and we can show our bodies if we like. We are not consumer goods.”

As older men in suits and ties scrambled out of nearby offices during the protest, some stopped to stare. A few laughed or giggled.

“You can’t miss a chance to see a bit of tit, can you?” said one man, aged around 60, to nods from others.

“Get out, man! Get out!” some demonstrators chanted, with slogans painted on their skin in lipstick.

Some of the men took selfies with the demonstrators, perhaps not necessarily in solidarity.

The leftist politician Vilma Ripoll said, “All people want to see tits on television. The real ones bother you.”

Last July, thousands of women took part in topless protests across the country after a woman was kicked out of a public area near the capital for nursing her child, triggering widespread outrage.

© Agence France-Presse