Eolake Stobblehouse
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Letter of the week, from Sloan

I would like yout views on the issue of topfreedom for women: Do you think that a woman should be free to go without a top in any place or situation where a man is allowed to?

I am a woman who was raised on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, in a small village off the beaten track, not yet discovered by the tourists. It is quite warm the year around, and while growing up, my usual daily attire was a pair of shorts and a pair of sandals. Even during our high school years, my close friends and I never wore tops except to school, and after graduation, to work. When I went to college on the mainland, I missed being able to be topfree, and I still think it is unfair that I can not take off my shirt in places where a man is free to do so.

During my junior year, I started dating this very nice but very shy guy about a year younger than me. After several dates with Sam I decided that this was a relationship worth pursuing.

That summer, one of my friends and I were asked to house-sit for her parents who own a house with a large backyard. I invited my boyfriend to come out one Saturday morning and spend a day with me.

It was an unbearable hot morning, and I knew that it would only gett hotter as the day progressed. The idea of wearing any kind of top seemed unbearable. I told my friend that when Sam arrived she should tell him to join me in the backyard.

When Sam arrived he found me waiting for him in the backyard wearing only my shorts and my sandals. At first he seemed at loss for words.

I told him that this was how I had grown up and this was how I was most comfortable. When he still seemed uncertain as to how to respond, I teasingly said, "Some on, don't tell me that you have never seen breasts before." He replied "Never this close; and never any as beautiful as yours!" I said, "I am glad that you think that they are beautiful; I think so too. And since beauty is for looking at, feel free to look as much as you like."

That was the first of many days that I have spent with him without a top. I have been married to him now for three years, and I am glad to have someone who appreciates me fully: Mind, soul, and body. I still go topfree whenever a can get away with it, and during the summer, I am always topfree at home. We are very happy, but I still wish that I had the same freedom to go shirtless as he does (he wishes it too).

--Sloan