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TexasTowelie

(111,278 posts)
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 10:00 PM Jun 2014

Local women go topless to raise awareness for equal rights

McAllen, Texas -- A young McAllen woman said she decided to take on the status quo by taking off her shirt.

Sara Longoria, 22, organized a picnic Saturday in Archer Park where she invited men and women to remove their shirts in a collective expression of equality and freedom.

They are set to gather again at 6 p.m. this Saturday in an attempt to “spark a dialogue,” Longoria said, about equal rights, rape culture and the role of the public in changing attitudes and social norms.

“This whole thing, yes it’s about being able to be topless in a space where men are allowed to be topless, but it’s also tied into equality and taking control of our bodies,” she said. “We have no voice in the debate about the control of our autonomy, our reproductive rights, our medical decisions — all of that is primarily (decided by) older people, primarily men — who have no idea what it is to struggle day to day as a woman in the Rio Grande Valley.”

More at http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/local-women-go-topless-to-raise-awareness-for-equal-rights/article_61562acc-eb85-11e3-88e4-001a4bcf6878.html .

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