'Go Topless Day' and its Raëlian Connection

This past Sunday, August 28, 2016 was International Go Topless Day, and women through out the United States bared their breasts in protest against laws that prohibit women from going topless in public. Compare this to the situation in France where women are being prevented from dressing modestly due to attempted bans on the wearing of burkinis on beaches.

I became aware of a strange twist to this when I read a recent article on sputniknews.com. Sputnik news is reporting that, according to French writer Roger Gonnet, Go Topless Day is not motivated by a support of "women's rights", but is actually a recruitment drive for the UFO cult, Raëlism.

Raëlian priestess and President of GoTopless, Nadine Gary, in an interview, told sfgate.com,"Monotheistic religions are the culprit for the guilt humans feel about their naked body, their sensuality, their sexuality with of course a woman as the ultimate instigator of 'the original sin'".

Is it merely a coincidence that the movement to ban the rather modest swimwear know as birkinis and the movement pushing for women being permitted to go topless in public, both have their origins in France.....as does the Raëlian religious cult.

I'm not saying that the Raëlians are behind the birkini ban, but there is a French connection behind all this.

No Bathing in Burkinis

After posting an earlier piece on France banning burkinis on beaches, I came upon this cartoon on sputniknews.com.

It seems like everyone agrees with me that banning the burkini isn't the way to go. Even the Jerusalem Post says we should ban men, not burkinis.

France Bans the Burkini

In France, where liberté,égalité, fraternité is the national, tripartite motto, (as opposed to the U.S.A., where the tripartite motto is sex, drugs, rock&roll) a number of freedom loving communities have issued a ban on the burkini - a modest, full bodied swimsuit worn by some Muslim women- calling the swimming attire part of the "enslavement of women".

Mayors in some French towns considering the ban, have never actually seen a burkini. In France, apparently, a liberated woman must be immodestly, never modestly, dressed at all times.

Those supporting the ban maintain the issue is not Islamophobia, but about some folks desire to control women's bodies. Just like abortion, I guess.

In the country where I live, the women are inclined to wear more modest beachwear compared to the typical American or French woman. Although not prohibited, by any means, because of their concern for modesty, as well as skin protection, one is more likely to see a Filipina dressed in a bulky t-shirt and shorts, while swimming, rather than a skimpy bikini. If given only two choices of swim wear - a tiny, skimpy bikini or a burkini - I suspect the average Filipina will choose the more modest swimsuit.

However, if we're talking women's liberation, the Filipinos have managed to do something neither the French or Americans have done - elect a female President, twice.

So much for liberté, égalité, fraternité.

No Time for Morning Beauty Regime, Woman Dons Rubber Mask

Wearing a niqab on a subway in Canada may get you accosted by strangers, and I shudder to think what might happen to anyone idiotic enough to try boarding a subway in the U.S. wearing a Ku Klux Klan mask or hood. No matter your motive, people can be uncomfortable with masked individuals.

Least we assume that North Americans are more easily upset over facial coverings than folks in other parts of the world, we have the case of a women in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China who had taken to wearing a black, rubber mask because her busy work schedule was cutting into the time she had for making herself presentable to the public.



In China,the photos of her appearing on subway and bus stations with the mask on her face taken by passersby have gone viral on social media.

"Since she didn't have time to take care of herself at night, she came up with the idea of using the facial mask on her way to work. She said she never thought her decision will grab so much attention".