Two Russian feminists walked through the center of New York, exposing their breasts

Journalist Anastasia Karimova and sex evangelist Elena Rydkina went topless to Times Square for the sake of an experiment: in New York, women are allowed to publicly strip to the waist. On August 30, Rydkina told about the action on her Facebook.

(7 photos in total)

Source: Facebook

Three minutes later, four of us posed with our T-shirts up, two more girls decided to abstain (legal right!) and they filmed us. Everything was fun and cute. We said goodbye to our dear photographers and decided to move on."

Elena Rydkina

Anastasia Karimova suggested "to complete the experiment" to walk without T-shirts in a crowded place, and the girls chose Times Square.

First of all, because even in the center of New York, you can often run into catcalling (when the local "macho" in their shabby manner show you signs of attention by whistling and other humiliating gestures and words).

There was one suggestion that bare breasts could cause even more aggressive attention. Secondly, due to the large crowd (which means a very small distance between people) of the square, there was a fear that people would start groping us with might and main. Nastya was also worried that our breasts might offend someone's religious feelings."

Elena Rydkina

The reaction was positive: passers-by smiled, asked for permission to take pictures together and found out why the girls were doing it.

Elena Rydkina

Elena Rydkina (pictured on the left) is the co—founder of the Sexprosvet18+ educational project and brand ambassador of the Fantasy dating app, and in the past, the evangelist of the Pure app, designed for anonymous search for sexual partners. Anastasia Karimova is a former Kommersant journalist and a spokeswoman for Transparency International — R, now she is an intern at UN Women.

Women in New York were allowed to publicly strip to the waist in 2013. It was not forbidden to go topless before, but the police detained me for it.

Now the city holds the Go Topless Day campaign every year, when women and men are naked to the waist. Activists advocate for equal rights and against double standards: "Why are men allowed to get naked, but women are not allowed? We should have the right to do this, and that no one harasses us. It's just a breast, it's natural."