Opinion from Max Cooper of Darktopography (excerpted text; to see images and the full post, click the link):
...To begin with, the crowd was ornery. It was 70% male, and most of the females were obviously wives who'd been dragged along. Lots of tourists. I showed up and fought my way to the front of the crowd, where the attention of the hundreds of people gathered was centered on the only spectacle available ...
...everywhere I went, the men were jostling for space. I've been in a lot of intense crowds, but the spirit here was very different. Despite the preponderance of wedding rings, the fact that the internet is full of porn, and that women walk around Asheville wearing next to nothing most any day of the week, these dudes seemed to feel that the boobs about to be displayed were the only ones they'd ever see. ...
One by one, women began exposing their breasts to good-natured applause from the crowd. It was an all-out, feel-good, feminist blowout. ...
It was a feeding frenzy. The prettier the girl, the more men yelled at her. Pleas to bring the boobs closer. Suggestions for what to do with the boobs. Leers and gestures.
It was the most unsettling mix of beauty, ugliness, ego, naïveté, and animal drive. ...
If you allow yourself, for one moment, to celebrate your own vulnerability--whether as an object of beauty or one over whom that beauty has power--there will be people waiting to condemn you or exploit you. The illusion of civility keeps you from seeing that they are already circling you like wolves.
But as I made my way back out of the crowd, I heard someone say, "Oh my God, she's pregnant." A very pretty young woman climbed very carefully onto the fountain, and looked back down at us without a trace of the self-consciousness shared by everyone there. She did not circle. Among all those people protesting, she seemed to be the only one celebrating.
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...To begin with, the crowd was ornery. It was 70% male, and most of the females were obviously wives who'd been dragged along. Lots of tourists. I showed up and fought my way to the front of the crowd, where the attention of the hundreds of people gathered was centered on the only spectacle available ...
...everywhere I went, the men were jostling for space. I've been in a lot of intense crowds, but the spirit here was very different. Despite the preponderance of wedding rings, the fact that the internet is full of porn, and that women walk around Asheville wearing next to nothing most any day of the week, these dudes seemed to feel that the boobs about to be displayed were the only ones they'd ever see. ...
One by one, women began exposing their breasts to good-natured applause from the crowd. It was an all-out, feel-good, feminist blowout. ...
It was a feeding frenzy. The prettier the girl, the more men yelled at her. Pleas to bring the boobs closer. Suggestions for what to do with the boobs. Leers and gestures.
It was the most unsettling mix of beauty, ugliness, ego, naïveté, and animal drive. ...
If you allow yourself, for one moment, to celebrate your own vulnerability--whether as an object of beauty or one over whom that beauty has power--there will be people waiting to condemn you or exploit you. The illusion of civility keeps you from seeing that they are already circling you like wolves.
But as I made my way back out of the crowd, I heard someone say, "Oh my God, she's pregnant." A very pretty young woman climbed very carefully onto the fountain, and looked back down at us without a trace of the self-consciousness shared by everyone there. She did not circle. Among all those people protesting, she seemed to be the only one celebrating.
Read the full article
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Yep, nothing says gender equality like "show us your tits".
By mat catastrophe
08/22/2011
Um, you're lifting my material mat. Please refer to the "Local" section. Not that I don't agree with you, but if you steal, steal from the best.
By boatrocker
08/22/2011
It sounds like the Protest Against Human Nature was a real bust.
.............................
By timothypeck
08/22/2011
After reviewing the tape, it does seem as though I've partially purloined the pattering of the boatrocker.
/unintentional.
By mat catastrophe
08/22/2011
I know one thing, from long experience: You see a man with his shirt off in downtown Asheville, that means something's about to go down very soon. It's a harbinger, usually of some small doom. Seriously, works every time. The Asheville man with his shirt off is nature's way of telling us to be very, very alert and careful. It is best not to engage the Asheville man with his shirt off directly, as he may become agitated and visit his doom upon you. You may observe him from a comfortable distance, but understand that while doing so you might witness the worst of Asheville's underbelly, so to speak. As an aside, I believe that we will not achieve true gender equality until a shirtless woman in Asheville sighting portends the same doom that a shirtless man in Asheville sighting does.
By Jon Elliston
08/22/2011
Any episode of COPS will illustrate that guys without shirts are up to no good.
By brebro
08/23/2011
No worries, I've heard great minds think alike. Every male friend I ran into the other day had this to say- "Hey, were you downtown today to see the boob parade?". I guess consistency is a good thing.
By boatrocker
08/23/2011