Did we mention we love to read?
We do. We’re not the sort of book club where everyone reads the same book at the same time and comes prepared to discuss Chapter 27 — but we are a book club, and we all come prepared with whatever book we’re reading at a given time.
For some of us that means schoolwork — a study guide to the MCAT, for instance.
For others, it might be a graphic novel like Peepland by Christa Faust and Gary Phillips, all about New York in the seedy, pre-Giuliani days of live sex shows in Times Square.
Or SoHo Sins, an art-world whodunit by Richard Vine about an art collector who confesses to murdering his wife (but did he really?), which got a bunch of angry 1-star reviews on Amazon.com because of a Lolita-ish subplot (“Avoid this pedophile-friendly trash!”) but is actually really, really good.
The point is, we love to read, and don’t draw a line between respectable reading and scandalous, between high and low. Or between what we ought to read and what we read as a guilty pleasure. All reading is good.
Similarly, all reading is good whether you do it fully clothed or half naked — and if anyone is scandalized by that, well, that’s just too bad. Sometimes the world is better for having a little scandal in it.
Speaking of high and low, all reading is also good whether you do it lying flat on the grass by Manhattan’s waterside–
–or up on the elevated park (once a railroad for deliveries to the meat-packing district) called the High Line. Though admittedly we did more walking than reading up there.
Not to mention on our way to and from.
Hats off (and shirts!) in particular to our two first-timers, who joined us proudly and had their first day of outdoor topless pulp fiction appreciation. We have a feeling they’ll be back. 🙂
If you’d like to join them sometime — if you’re a body-positive woman and either bold enough to do this enthusiastically or curious enough to maybe try it a little timidly — we’d love to hear from you. Email us at toplesspulpfiction@gmail.com.
Everyone needs a little more reading time — and a little less bra time.
Helloo guys! Do you ever go to gunnison beach??
Some of us have gone; we haven’t gone as a group, though. Just a bit too far!
Ah yes, all reading is good, and a little scandal is good, and walking is good, and less bra time is also good. Spread those values, ladies!
Love to see more and more first timers! I don’t think that the little boy really cared what he was looking at. Keep up the good work. Would like to see you in different parts of New York state.
righteous!
Is this co-ed or for women specifically?
Our group is primarily (and intentionally) a women’s group, addressing a women’s issue. We are a co-ed group in the sense that we usually have one or two men at each of our events — but rarely more than one or two, and only ones we already know well and trust to behave well (usually the boyfriend or husband or long-time best buddy of one of our female members).
It’s always great to see new faces in the group. However, we don’t get to see many of the previous first timers back. Is that due to jobs, timing, people moving away or, is there a large number of first timers who didn’t feel comfortable enough to go back again and exercise their right?
I hope that the numbers are growing so that bare breasts in public will become a normal and welcome sight.
Just curious.
Most people who come once do come back again. Sometimes, if they don’t, it’s because they don’t live in NYC and were only visiting briefly on vacation or something along those lines. Other times someone can only come on weekends because of work, and most of our get-togethers are during the week. And sure, sometimes a person will try it once and decide once was enough for her. But I do think the number of women comfortable going bare-breasted in public is definitely growing. Even just walking on the street in Manhattan you see breast freedom a lot more often now than you did when we started in 2011 — back then, even in 90-degree summer weather, every woman was fully covered, top and bra, and now if you walk down the street at least a third of the women are bra-less, backless, swinging free, and maybe one in ten is wearing something like an armless t or an overall top or loose halter that exposes her full breasts from the side or when she bends forward. It’s not the same as walking around with nothing on above the waist, but it’s a big step in the direction of comfort, equality and destigmatization of women’s bodies.
So, it is vital that groups like the O.C.T.P.F.A.S. continue to flourish and provide this low-key, no-pressure atmosphere for women to find their courage and exercise their right.
I do hope that we may see other groups with similar goals to sprout all over the land. I cherish personal freedom, respect for others and the unique beauty of the human form. Here’s to your health, many more outings and lots of new members!