Michelle Braunstein, Bangalow
On Saturday night, I went as a punter for the second time to a Byron Bay nightspot that was hosting a dance party. While having a dance and a chat with friends, I was confounded when someone on the dancefloor (I do not assume to know their gender) with breast tissue, who had removed their top, was instructed to put it back on by security. I was then dismayed when, despite having put their top back on, the person was still swiftly ousted.
This occurred despite the fact that the previous time I’d been to an event at this venue several weeks before, there was a topless hula hoop performer, also with breast tissue. This person moved freely and legitimately about the club, breasts exposed but for a bit of body paint, and danced on the stage, still without a top.
It seems likely that according to this venue, breasts are fine as long as they glitter and are part of the entertainment – ergo commodities.
I must be transparent here and declare I hail from a colder clime where clothes generally stay on in nightclubs and I admit I prefer this to brushing up against strange naked sweating torsos.
However, if a person with breasts feels safe enough and free enough to spontaneously remove their top on a dancefloor, why on Earth can we not celebrate this, as so-called progressive people of Byron Bay?
I’d be curious to know whether there were topless men also dancing there. Were they ousted too? I know many men with bigger boobs than women. It’s time we stopped judging people on skin. Free the nipple! … and anything else for that matter. The body is a natural beautiful thing.