US woman could be forced to register as a sex offender after appearing topless in front of step-children

[stumbledin]

If convicted, Ms Buchanan could be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years. Her husband was not charged.

Ms Buchanan's lawyers appeared in court on Tuesday to ask a judge to overturn the charges, arguing that they are unconstitutional.

The lawyers cited a previous court ruling that overturned a Colorado ban on women going topless in public.

However the prosecution said that in the US, nudity is commonly understood to include women's breasts.

The judge in the case, Kara Pettit, declined to rule immediately on the case, saying it was “too important of an issue”. A ruling is expected in the next few months.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/21/us-woman-could-forced-register-sex-offender-appearing-topless/

More policing of women's bodies even in their own homes? Or maybe some agree?

I don't know about the equality aspect of it, but how come women working in the London Fire Brigade are expected to strip off in front of strange men in unisex showers at work and yet a woman cannot take her clothes off at home when surrounded by her family.

I can't quite decide what to make of this. Nudity in families varies a lot by culture and the age and sex of the kids involved seems relevant.

I would have been seriously creeped out as a kid had my step dad been naked in front of us, and I can imagine a boy might feel similarly about a step-mom.

The sex offender registry program in the US seems to have a lot of problems in general.

For me its this weird double standard about women's breasts.

Would there also be and investigation if say the dad had left porn magazine lying around with photos are bare breased women?

And I am often one to say not everything is about trans, but I can never forget an article in the Guardian (or course) which was about how brave this women had been to transition to male. And in all honesty (and I read it twice to check) the decision to transition was nothing to do with body dysmophia or self identity. It was because the woman concerned was cross that she couldn't walk round in public without a top on in the summer!

A while later there was a short follow up at her exhiliration at being able to go topless on the beach and not be stared at. (And the Guardian thought fit to publish an article praising a woman for mutilating her body because current social norms mean some parts of a woman's body aren't acceptable in public spaces)

somehow it is always about women's body being at fault, and inflicting this fault on others.

There are a significant number of people who already believe that not all sex offenders are sex offenders. Rare instances (mistakes) like this contribute to muddying the public's understanding of the term and support offender's common efforts to minimise their offences.

It'll be: "All I did was walk from the bathroom to the bedroom. I didn't even know the kid was watching! Poor poor me, punished for nothing!".

There's a few factors here- CPS we're already involved- obviously article doesn't state for what. How long is she been their step mother. Unrelated children probably shouldn't be seeing adult female breasts, I don't believe that it is the same as male breasts (shoot me) She can go topless, in her own home- but I don't think she was standing up for feminism bu being so in front of unrelated children.

Will this alter the breast feeding laws? It is currently legal to breast feed in public in the US.

There is nothing particularly feminist about going topless in a garage - it just sounds bizarre. In the context of some other concerns being reported, I would hazard a guess that this is not just about her going topless (which I think was inappropriate).

I think breastfeeding is different - aside from anything else, you don’t usually have both breasts fully on display to do that!

The prosecution version of events are different from hers though. She was allegedly drunk, stripped in front of the children and refused to put her clothes back on unless her husband showed her his penis.... So depends what version is true

I would imagine there is more to this and don't see it as a feminist issue to get worked up about.

Someone mst have been uncomfortable enough to have reported her

If you know an activity is distressing your DSCs, why persist in it?

I 'm not at all sure that what she did should be criminal, but it was certainly wrong

I agree with Goosefoot. We're quite a naked household but my kids have grown up with that so it's normal to them and I'm not doing it to, 'make a point', I just cba putting clothes on a lot of the time. I would never be naked in front of other children, even relatives, because I know they wouldn't view it as normal. It doesn't seem like it was normal in this family.

And I've never taken my clothes off to clear out the garage.

This all sounds very odd.

And yes, in the UK, leaving porn mags lying around certainly counts as CSA by negligence. Whether a single act would lead to a prosecution is beside the point.

According to other reports it is as Catapultaway said. They both removed their shirts and she also removed her bra.

I suppose if the work was making them very hot they might remove a top layer of clothing but why her bra also? Unless she were flat chested, which she isn't, wouldn't free swinging breasts be a bit of a hindrance when doing manual labour?

I think she was reported by the children's actual mother. So possibly a whole other story as it is implied that she had already raised safeguarding issues about her children and their step mother and when told about this by her children raised this as well.

As a CSA survivor I find any prolonged nudity in front of children to be highly inappropriate even if they are your children. Breasts are sexualized and external genitalia is sexualized thus being exposed even in a non-sexual unaroused state they are still 'privates'. We try to teach children that their bodies are theirs and that exposing themselves is not appropriate and can be dangerous... but on the flip expect them to think that it is cool for adults to go full of partially nude? Let that ruminate.

With that being said, I used to help my mom bathe my great grandma and helped my grandma get her breasts into a bra (morbidly obese) - these are instances of assistance with self-care or being an active 'assistant carer'. However, if either one of them were to stand around or labor with any of their clothes off I would have been mortified and disturbed which would have been justified.

Female breasts are highly sexualized in Western cultures and that is a fact that cannot be escaped. While it is ridiculous that female breasts cannot be exposed the way male chests or moobs can be it is how children are socialized in Western cultures. It is not the job of children to carry this societal imbalance nor for them to grapple with feelings/thoughts/confusion around societal norms versus nudity at home. Considering the rate of CSA perpetrated by parents or other family members I would think that protecting children from the blurring of bodily boundaries would override any selfish need to parade around in your partial or full birthday suit.

I think this woman has poor boundaries and should receive court mandated counseling as well as safeguarding lessons and should not be alone with the stepchildren until she has completed said therapy/lessons. This isn't about her right to expose her breasts this is about the children's safety and comfort in their father's and stepmother's home. I find the sex offender registry for her to be a step too far though; I believe the registry should be restricted to actual sex offenders.

Whenever women are prosecuted for acts of nudity that men are never prosecuted for it reminds us of our place in society.

I'd not have said that it's all western countries that are very conservative about nudity, so much as English speaking ones tend to be. But there are others where it's not so unusual. I don't think either is necessarily better or worse in itself.

At least in North America though, it's become more conservative about this, at least in the case of women, so even nudity in places where it was fairly common, like changing rooms at a pool, is seen as odd, and many have had stalls put in. This seems to have been going on over the last 20 years or a little more maybe. I'm not sure it's been positive, I think it correlates to an increasing sexualisation of the body.

But I don't think that has anything much to do with this situation which seems out of place in any society.

I would be absolutely appalled if my ex ‘s girlfriend went topless at home in front of my children - who are of a similar age, and would (I know) be deeply, horribly, embarrassed and uncomfortable.

The reality is that women’s breasts are sexualised in our culture in a way that men’s aren’t. Children know this. And a 13 year old (eldest of these kids was 13) of either sex is old enough to have a sexual reaction to them, but too young to process this.

If this was a beach, it would be different. There’s an established context of topless swimming/sunbathing that disminishes the sexualisation aspect. (My family come from a culture where toplessness on a beach is normal, I know it isn’t everywhere.) But in the house? Doing DIY as this woman was? No way. The best I can say about this woman is that she has got appalling boundaries and is thoroughly irresponsible and immature. I would not want her anywhere near my children. I’d be really alarmed.

I don’t think this should be seen as a feminist issue, but a child protection one.

As a CSA survivor I find any prolonged nudity in front of children to be highly inappropriateeven ifthey are your children. Breasts are sexualized and external genitalia is sexualized thus being exposed even in a non-sexual unaroused state they are still 'privates'. We try to teach children that their bodies are theirs and that exposing themselves is not appropriate and can be dangerous... but on the flip expect them to think that it is cool for adults to go full of partially nude? Let that ruminate.

I agree that this situation is entirely inappropriate. But I disagree that incidental nudity in the family home is a problem.

My children don't think it is 'cool' to be naked. It's just what we are before we put our clothes on. They have excellent boundaries with other people and other family members and we also actively encourage them to be very clear about their boundaries with us and with one another. Our bodies are definitely not sexual in any way when anybody is naked at home.

This is a completely different scenario which seems to involve a person with no concept of other people's boundaries around nudity.

ShesDressedInBlackAgain

Incidental is markedly different from prolonged. Seeing a parent go from bedroom to bathroom disrobed isn't prolonged and is incidental. Having that same parent cook/clean/repair in the nude is prolonged exposure and bizarre IMO.

Not judging you or your family on any level, you seem to be a well-balanced individual based on your posts and I highly doubt the incidental nudity you refer to is detrimental. Just like my assisting in caring for my grandmother and my great-grandmother was incidental nudity and merely a part of carrying duties - wholly and markedly different from prolonged nudity.