Justice

New Hampshire Lawmaker Thinks It's OK to Grab Women's Breasts

January 3rd 2016

New Hampshire state Rep. Josh Moore (R) has come under fire after writing on Facebook that men should be able to grab the nipples of women who expose their breasts in public. Moore was referring to a piece of proposed state legislation that would make a woman face misdemeanor charges if she “purposely exposes the areola or nipple of her breast or breasts in a public place and in the presence of another person with reckless disregard for whether a reasonable person would be offended or alarmed by such act.” This piece of legislation excludes breastfeeding mothers, but has been called unfair to women as the state currently allows both men and women to be topless in public.

Moore and state Rep. Al Baldasaro (R) made headlines after taunting state Rep. Amanda Bouldin (D) on Facebook for her opposition to the piece of legislation. Bouldin wrote that all of the sponsors were male Republicans and that it goes against the well-known conservative value of smaller government. She later admitted that she didn’t initially know that the bill makes an exception for public breastfeeding and does not consider it indecent exposure.

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Regardless, Moore and Baldasaro responded to her on Facebook with crude remarks. Though he voiced support for a mother's right to breastfeed, Moore argued that it's only fair for men to be able to touch the breasts of women in public if a woman is inclined to pull her breast out in public. Moore's comment below has since been deleted.

Josh Moore Facebook commentDead State - deadstate.org

“Who doesn't support a mothers [sic] right to feed?" he wrote. "If it's a woman's natural inclination to pull her nipple out in public and you support that, than [sic] you should have no problem with a mans inclantion [sic] to stare at it and grab it. After all... It's ALL relative and natural, right?"

Baldasaro personally attacked Bouldin in his comment, which has also been deleted.

Al Baldasaro Facebook commentDead State - deadstate.org

“Amanada, No disrespect, but your nipple would be the last one I would want to see,” Baldasaro wrote. “You want to turn our family beach’s into a pervert show. Liberterians [sic] want a nude beach, put your money together and buy one, if you want to expose you [sic] kids to nudity, go for it. Some of us liberty minded Reps do beleive [sic] in family values.”

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Bouldin told Slate in an interview that it's unfair to single out women in the bill. She added that men's nipples can be sexual too, even though many behave as if only women's nipples are sexual.

“The idea that a man can be topless because his nipples aren’t sexual is bizarre,” Bouldin said. "I certainly find men’s nipples sexual! If men being topless wasn’t sexual, they’d have to take off their pants to attract any women. We know that topless men are sexual. But apparently only topless men are allowed to display their sexuality. Women are not."

Bouldin told Jezebel over the phone that New Hampshire is very cold and doesn't have a nudity problem, so she finds the bill "pointless."

“There’s not, like, hordes of topless women roaming the streets and assaulting people," she said. "Everyone wears their clothes in New Hampshire; it’s cold outside! There’s no issue, so this bill is pointless."

RELATED: FIGHTING SOCIETY'S RIDICULOUS BREASTFEEDING STIGMA

ATTN: declared 2015 the year of the breast given the countless online movements to normalize breastfeeding and the female breast, generally. Many celebrities lauded the well-known #FreetheNipple campaign for challenging the notion that only men can be topless in public.

Watch ATTN:'s video below to learn more about the year of the breast:

 

RELATED: 2015 Was the Year of the Breast

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