00:01
NATALIE: Free the nipples and your mind will
follow!
00:09
COMM: The campaign group Free The Nipple are
out in force in the streets of New York in
their protest.
00:15
LINA: I think the most important reason this
should matter is because this is an equality
issue. I wanna have the same right as men,
if it's a hot summer's day and they're walking
around topless I wanna be able to have that
right. Just because have a campaign and a
film called Free The Nipple does not mean
that we want the whole world to be on a sexual
topless revolution, that's not about that,
it's about having that right.
00:37
COMM: The Free The Nipple campaign was born
when Lina Esco made the feature film of the
same name.
00:43
COMM: The film which is yet to be released
inspired Lina to start a global feminist protest
on subjects on censorship of the nipple online,
to women's rights in India.
00:56
COMM: The movement recently hit international
headlines when Bruce Willis' daughter Scout
staged a protest against Instagram's censorship
rules, by going topless in Manhattan's East
Village.
01:08
LINA: Scout has pretty much started the conversation
again. Y'know we've been trying to sell the
movie and trying to finish it, and then all
of a sudden she came around and did this,
y'know because she had been censored in a
big way and she just had to speak up and talked
about Free The Nipple and helped us a lot
and she's a big supporter and she's known
about it for a long time she's a friend and
uh it hit close to home.
01:33
COMM: With thousands of followers the group
is receiving global support. But that doesn't
stop them attracting controversy.
01:40
KARINA: I find it very offensive, being a
woman myself I think they're disrespecting
themselves. I applaud them for trying to bring
awareness of equality between men and women,
that women should be allowed breast feed in
public. But this is not the form to do it.
01:57
COMM: It is legal to be topless in New York
City but Free The Nipple often have to deal
with pressure from police officers to put
on their shirts.
02:05
OFFICER: I want you to cover up, you can put
your sign up and protest all you want just,
cover up. I mean if there was no kids here
there wouldn't be a problem.
02:14
LINA: This is a thing where we've walked around
New York City before because it's been legal
since 1992 to be topless in this state. So,
so...okay. Somebody complained right? Got
it.
02:26
LINA: Well first of all they came really nicely,
they were very generous, they were not being
rude at all, they want us to put our put our
tops on. I just think some mothers are complaining
because of their kids. I'm like you were just
breast feeding your child a few months ago.
02:41
COMM: Lina has been arrested on numerous occasions,
but the director of the film and leader of
the movement is confident that things will
soon change, and she has no intention of turning
down her protest.
02:52
LINA: You should take your shirt off. I really
hope that this campaign will change the hearts
and minds of people. There is nothing wrong
with the nipple and I always say that like
the boob or the nipple is the first thing
that you see when you're born, y'know it's
the firs thing you depend on, it's the thing
that nourishes us and at what point did it
become y'know an obscene thing like I always
being the violence aspect of it, how much
violence we allow in this country but a nipple
is obscene, we can show beheadings on Facebook
but a nipple is not right.
