News Feature...Cover the boobs; leave the guns at home ...

[spin]

By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | April 28, 2010

Spring has barely started, and I was expecting a few of the usual seasonal assaults to the eyeballs: crusty, dirty-nailed toes in open-toe sandals; lumpy bodies stuffed into spandex; out-of-towners making the lines longer at my favorite ice-cream joints and fish shacks. But before April was done, we had two surprises in Portland: topless women marching from Longfellow Square to the Old Port, and a bunch of open-carry gun lovers having an armed barbecue near Back Cove.

At the risk of offending either group, one of which could smother me and the other of which could ventilate me, both events were assaults to the eyeballs, and general sensibilities. Breasts are natural and wonderful and great for feeding babies as well as serving some pleasurable needs. Guns have their uses and their places. But these events were very much in the faces of the wider public, and unnecessarily so. (And then the people at each event professed surprise about why others might stare, protest, or complain.)

Both events put me in mind of a recent column by Tim Wise, a white guy who speaks very eloquently on race issues, who challenged readers to imagine how Americans would have reacted to the open-carry demonstrators recently in Washington DC, had they been mostly black folks armed to the teeth and talking about revolution.

***snip***

Let’s take some of those gun-rights advocates, many of whom weren’t from Portland, and place them in their communities where it’s not a big deal to walk around with a gun. Now let’s have liberal activists who want to encourage sexual empowerment stage an event there openly displaying sex toys at a park. Sex toys aren’t illegal. No one is having sex. Would conservative gun owners be comfortable with that? I have yet to hear of anyone escalating an argument with a sex toy, or having a vibrator accidentally put a hole through a child’s head, or an angry spouse murdering his or her partner with a dildo.

***snip***

Yes, baring one’s breasts in Maine is not against the law. Nor is openly carrying a firearm. But the fact that it’s legal doesn’t make it appropriate to flaunt your goods among people who consider breasts private parts, or to have loaded guns and boast that you have 12 rounds in the clip and one in the chamber, while telling people they shouldn’t be afraid of you. Context is important. And so is common sense.
http://thephoenix.com/Portland/news/101456-cover-the-boobs-leave-the-guns-at-home/

[Mother Smuckers]

1. More blather from an elitist with a hyphenated name...

:shrug:

[burrfoot]

2. Complete and utter hogwash!

Seriously? The author has a problem with boobs and a problem with guns? That almost makes my head explode :nuke: :evilgrin:

Really weak, trying to give a guilt trip to two groups of people who were engaging in lawful activity. Did they want some attention? Probably. Does that make them bad or crazy people? Not so much. Don't want "those kids of people" out in public where you or your kids are forced to see them? Change the laws. Otherwise, it's your choice to walk away when you see one coming.

(slight tangent- I completely refute the idea that there is any kind of gun distortion field. It's entirely possible, however, that there is a mammary distortion field that would slow my thinking and, god forbid I was driving by this rally, cause me to crash into a lightpost. :shrug: )

Further- in relation to the comments at the end- if the black people in hoodies or Somalis you mention were at an organized demonstration, with guns over their shoulders or on their hips I think that many gun owners would be just fine with it. It's the attitude of the individual that causes concern, not the color of their skin or the clothes they wear.
On the flip side of that, if I saw somebody with a pistol sticking out of their waistband or somebody who pulled their gun out and put it away a bunch of times (i.e. recent Wal Mart ND guy) I'd probably keep an eye on where that person was or leave the area; whether they were black, white, red, blue, or green notwithstanding.

[spin]

3. I laughed at your "slight tangent" ... that was funny...

The article caused me to laugh and I posted it in hopes of getting some humorous responses.

[rrneck]

4. False equivalency!

It's an apples and, uh, melons argument.

[EvilMonk]

7. Just what I was thinking.

Besides, I 'm not wholly convinced that "boobs" are an effective Implement of Degradation. Most woman are quite proud of their breasts (that I've known), and most men seem quite fond of them as well.

[paulsby]

5. baring boobs and carrying guns - should be legal

nearly everywhere

with the understanding that some boobs are better left covered. just sayin...

[AtheistCrusader]

12. I don't want to see any AMT's, Jennings or Ravens either.

[spin]

6. Perhaps a topless armed march might attract some real attention. (n/t)

[Euromutt]

8. What's the "news feature" here?

Some columnist for a free weekly whines for seven paragraphs about stuff she doesn't like looking at, and that's just about everything. Who gives a fuck?

[spin]

10. Posted for the humor ...

I got a good laugh from the piece and wanted to see what others thought.

After I read it, I envisioned a group of topless ladies with "assault weapons" marching down the street. Such a march would have really garnered attention.

[Euromutt]

11. I'm not faulting you for posting it, spin

I'm just rather astounded at the author's inability to reflect that perhaps the same disapproval she applies so liberally to stuff other people do might, with equal validity, be applied to stuff she does. The gut reaction both my wife and myself had was "well, if other people offend you so much, why don't you stay the fuck indoors with the curtains drawn?"

And I'm starting to develop an aversion to the kind of people who say "just because it's legal doesn't mean you should do it" because of the sheer hypocrisy of it; it's essentially saying "there ought to be a law against it," but the individual doesn't want to be seen as someone who would advocate for such a law, and therefore insists people should self-censor their behavior.

[Kurska]

9. "Yes, baring one’s breasts in Maine is not against the law. Nor is openly carrying a firearm"

Then quit bitching, not your business.