Overview
The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society was a group of several dozen women and a few men that had, since August 17, 2011, organized regular gatherings around New York City, meeting to read and discuss books in public while topless. The primary objective of the group, besides enjoying the sun and book reading, was to create awareness that New York law allows toplessness in public and to change social attitudes to the exposure of women's breasts. The group's blog had reported that there had been no harassment of the participants by the police and very rarely by the public. Around March 2021, the group deleted their web site, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. The group's current status is unknown.
Membership
The group invited any woman (and a small number of men) to join them and had received a generally favorable reception in the media and by the public. The group had more than 100 individuals take part, but depending on the event, typically 3-15 women and one or two men attended.
Meeting locations and types
The group formerly gathered in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; at Madison Square; on the High Line; at Bryant Park and the New York Public Library Main Branch; in Sheep Meadow, Cedar Hill, and the Strawberry Fields in Central Park; Battery Park and the attached East River Esplanade; and Washington Square Park, among other locations. They had also been allowed to use the roof top deck of the "nude-friendly, gay-friendly, everything-friendly" Colonial House Inn in Manhattan's Chelsea District. The group engaged in a wide variety of topless activities, including reading in public, going to restaurants and plays, cycling around New York, visiting beaches, and having snowball fights. As well, totally nude activities including sunbathing on private rooftops and visiting spas.
Public reaction
While they had attracted a few oglers, the members chose to ignore the stares and picture taking. They emphasized that what's important was their ability to exercise their right to go topless.
Reading material
Group members generally read pulp fiction and had received advance copies of books from a number of publishers, including Hard Case Crime and the Feminist Press, as well as authors such as Elmore Leonard. The group loved "good books and sunny days and enjoying both as nearly in the altogether as the law allows".
Purpose
The former members largely prefer to remain anonymous. The founder, who uses the alias Alethea Andrews to protect her privacy, has spoken to media openly about the group: According to a former group member who was interviewed by the Village Voice, " m ost of the time women are too nervous or anxious to take advantage of" New York State law that permits public toplessness. They chose reading books in public because they felt it was more innocuous than just lying around topless and would attract less attention. On Twitter the group participated in advocacy for body-positivity and body-freedom, including the Free the Nipple campaign, as well as sharing and promoting full female nudity. The first explicit mention of sexual activity in the blog was in August 2017.
All-female production of The Tempest
In May 2016 in Central Park, and September 2016 in Prospect Park, the Society performed a version of Shakespeare's play The Tempest with an all-female cast and incorporating full nudity and body painting. The Society took advantage of the fact that full nudity is legal in public in New York when "performing in an artistic performance". The production, co-directed by Alice Mottola and Pitr Strait, was widely reported upon and well received.
All-male production of Hamlet
Torn Out Theatre presented a version of Hamlet with an all-male cast, and including full nudity, in August 2017 in Prospect Park and in September 2017 in Central Park. Actor Jake Austin Robertson stated in a New York Daily News interview "I hope that audiences will push past the shock of nakedness on stage, and see what it tells us about Hamlet." Other articles focused on the body-positive, body-acceptance goals of the performance.
Relevant law
It has been legal for women in New York State to appear in public without a top "for noncommercial activity" since July 7, 1992. The women and five others (Nikki Craft, Kathleen Reilly, Deborah Seymour, Elsie Jo Tooley, and Lynn Zicari) were originally cited in 1986 when the women had a picnic in a Rochester park, during which they all bared "that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola". That law had originally been enacted to discourage 'topless' waitresses. Santorelli and Schloss successfully argued that the law was "discriminatory on its face since it defines 'private or intimate parts' of a woman's but not a man's body as including a specific part of the breast." The NY Court of Appeals (the highest court of the State) ruled in favor of the two women.
In their ruling, the two judges wrote: The court also noted in its ruling that "expert testimony at appellants' trial suggested that the enforced concealment of women's breasts reinforces cultural obsession with them, contributes toward unhealthy attitudes about breasts by both sexes and even discourages women from breastfeeding their children." More than 10 years later, Jill Coccaro tested the law when she went topless on Delancey Street and was arrested. She reminded the officers of the appeals court decision but was held for 10 hours. She sued the city and won $29,000 in a settlement.
Police action
In 2013, New York City police officers were formally reminded during 10 consecutive daily roll calls that they should not arrest a topless woman. The official memorandum stated that women should not be cited for "public lewdness, indecent exposure or any other section of the penal law." A woman can only be cited if her actions are lewd. Holly Van Voast, a Bronx photographer and performance artist, cited the memorandum when she filed a suit after the police detained, arrested or issued summonses to her on 10 occasions during 2011 and 2012. The police department did not reveal what inspired the change in policy.
See also
* Topfreedom * Naked party, another type of social gatherings aimed at normalizing nudity