RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Women Professor Mary Valentich and Breasts

CALGARY - A study into why women flashed crowds of Calgary Flames fans during last year's NHL playoffs should shed light on current Canadian attitudes about female nudity, says a Calgary professor.

"There are gender role issues here," said Mary Valentich, of the University of Calgary's Faculty of Social Work.

"These women are doing something unconventional and yet they're using the traditional sexual route to express whatever they're expressing."

She said Ontario student Gwen Jacobs started the ball rolling in 1991 when she was convicted of indecency for walking bare-breasted down a street in Guelph, Ont. She was protesting the inequality of a law that allowed men to take their shirts off in public and not women.

Five years later the Ontario Appeal Court reversed her conviction.

"It took Gwen Jacobs in Ontario to protest by taking off her shirt on a hot summer day and she had five years of legal troubles," said Valentich.

At a sex research forum last fall, Valentich heard a report on Canadian attitudes towards female toplessness that suggested that while most Canadians were comfortable with women baring their breasts at the beach, they were ill at ease when it was done on the street.

Further proof that Canadians are still favouring a more Victorian attitude about female toplessness came from a handful of phone calls Valentich received from the Calgary public.

"Certainly I've received my share of nasty phone calls already about even wanting to ask women what their experience was like," chuckled Valentich.

"There are clearly prohibitions in Canadian society about even talking about matters that are sexual. Think about women that are breastfeeding (in public) - there are still people who are invariably upset and are uncomfortable about this," she said.

Valentich is seeking women who flashed crowds of fans last spring along Calgary's famous Red Mile - the site of huge parties and celebrations as the Calgary Flames marched into the Stanley Cup final.

When Valentich was questioned by reporters about the behaviour of the women, she realized she didn't have any answers.

"I finally thought this is unfair to the women. I need to be able to have better data to respond more accurately," Valentich said.

The research will be released at the World Congress of Sexology being held in Montreal in July.

There are several possible scenarios as to why these women were lifting their tops including peer pressure, said Valentich who spent a bit of time on the Red Mile herself last year.

"Some women didn't do it so clearly there are still lines that were drawn. Some women chose to cross over the boundary - others didn't. What was the difference?", she said.

There is also the question of whether there were any short or long term consequences from the act and whether the booze and party atmosphere played a role.

"People mention drinking almost invariably, but I would say there's a lot of drinking going on in a lot of circles and people don't always engage in this kind of behaviour," said Valentich.

The professor declined to say how many women have contacted her to take part in the anonymous study so far, but she needs between 10 and 15 participants.

Valentich said women have flashed their breasts at folk festivals and other musical events in the past, but it is not an activity usually associated with hockey.

"We need to hear from women what was happening to them in that particular setting," she said.

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Steve T said:
i don't care why, where's the fuckin' pictures!

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Fused said:
titties all day

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rex said:
Is this something that needs to be studied? Can't we just accept and enjoy it?

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Wednesday said:
It is something that must be studied so we can stop women with F- bazookas from flashing themselves everywhere.

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