Toplessness - the one Victorian taboo that won't go away
Continue reading the main story In today's Magazine The man who seemed not to notice danger The disabled children locked up in cages The pearl fishers of Arabia Holiday offer for convict tip-off Current taboos against female toplessness date from the 19th Century. Is it ever likely to change, asks the novelist Sara Sheridan. When I talk at book festivals and libraries about the restrictions faced by our many times great grandmothers, audiences invariably find the stories amusing. Most fascinating of all is looking at what was forbidden. Sexual fidelity generally features at the top of the list of required female behaviour but running down that list uncovers a plethora of Dos and Don'ts for our female forbears. Read ON