Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Yesterday’s Democrat and Chronicle printed a story by Leuri Githens Hatch… Commentary: Top-free summit reveals emotions… which reported several dozen women who came top-free to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their right to do so.

You may remember the protest in 1986, when seven women sought the same rights as men by deliberately showing up topless in Cobbs Hill Park . Their risk led to a ruling that women could go bare-chested in public as long as it wasn't for vulgarity or money.

In spite of mixed feeling… questions… and confusion… the writer concluded: “I loved watching this unfold, and I loved these women — the tattooed ones, the grandmotherly ones, the nearly flat, the pendulous, the reconstructed, the shy, the bold. I loved their happiness and their chutzpah.”

Jill Anderson, 51, told how she sunbathed topless only at her home in Fairport, but has never received a complaint. "I really think women are starting to understand that it's OK to love themselves as they are," she said, shirt-on, before tops came off.”

During the event … about 40 topless women along with 20 men posed more than one hour… for nationally known photographer Jordan Matter for an upcoming book.

When men were asked what they thought: “A shrug. A sheepish look. Then a comment of this ilk: I was hoping some would be hot and some are. But some are kinda scary, and I know I'm not supposed to say that. “

Wait a minute… Is this not the opposite response women were trying to accomplish…? What do you think…?

The author put it this way: “If we're ready to stand up at Ralph Wilson Stadium and peel off our tops in joy at a Bills touchdown, we have to be open to hearing "Auugh!" as well as "Yeah baby!"

She also pointed out that while “These responses may not be welcome. They may not be politically correct. They may be infuriating. Even so, they certainly shouldn't be covered up…?” 

This raises two questions for me:

1. Why does equity require such a fight for some people in the first place…?
2. Why are we not looking more to the amazing news about biological and physiological differences in men’s and women’s brains… that show us winning ways to value all humans more…?

What do you think?