Toplessness: It’s about equality, not publicity

Ater three women were stopped by police last Friday night during a topless bike ride, Alysha Brilla wanted to talk about equality.

She never sought out the media, other than her own social media where she posted about the occurance that night. She had hoped to have a discussion about gender equality within her own city.

“I was not expecting it to explode the way it has and it’s wild. I am glad people are talking about the issue(s) though,” says Brilla.

Those issues, she says, are the sexualization and body-shaming of women and their breasts, even though in Ontario it is legal for women to be topless in public. Brilla attributes how people are mentally socialized as playing a part.

That mental socialization, she says, even plays a part in another issue, which is police accountability around the world and here at home.

“Here, [being topless] it’s obviously not something you see frequently, so I can empathize with the fact that the cop might have been surprised. I understand,” says Brilla. “Had he pulled us over and the dialogue was different, it would have been different.”

That officer has been on Brilla’s mind since the story broke and she says, none of this was meant to attack or embarrass him. In fact, she emphasizes that she has had many positive experiences with the Waterloo Regional Police Service.

“I just want him to be accountable.”

As far as being shocked or surprised, Brilla says it is okay, but just because someone doesn’t like seeing breasts in public, it doesn’t mean people don’t have the right to do it.

Since her and her sisters did it, it has become a national hot topic.

While the women have been receiving support, the encouragement has been met with both racism and sexism. This is something that Brilla says has upset her, but at least it’s opening up a discussion.

“I can’t help but think that when something like this comes out, they are reading the other comments as well and even if they don’t agree with them or might never change their view point, they are somehow influenced by it,” says Brilla.

Some of the comments also suggest the topless bike ride was a publicity stunt to further her career, which Brilla says is simply not true and when they initially took off their shirts and put on their helmets, they were doing it for themselves; three women who are equal and not three women who wanted attention.

But since then, it has become something bigger.

With article after article talking about them and the thousands of comments and opinions that followed, Brilla is not trying to force anyone to agree with her.

“It is not about taking one value and replacing it with another, it is learning how to respect both values.”

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