If women have to hide their nipples then so do men.

That's the rallying cry of GoTopless.org , the organisers of the National Go Topless Day held at various locations in the USA last Sunday, 21^st August. Their argument is why is it OK for men to go topless in public when it is not OK for women; surely a case of sexual inequality! Either both sexes should be made to cover up or no one should.

To make their point the male protesters wore bikini tops while the female ones were topless, wore fake nipples over their own, or wore pasties either bought or made out of stickers or gaffer tape. N.B. For our Cornish followers can I point out that the women were wearing pay-stees (stick on nipple covers) not pass-tees (delicious pastry covered snacks).

Oh no! You've missed it? Never fear... the Canadian National Go Topless Day is this Sunday, 28^th August!

The only dubious part of this admirable campaign, from my point of view, is the people behind GoTopless.org... an organisation know as the Raelians. Who are these Raelians? In short they're an international religious movement, based in France, that believes in the alien origins of human beings. Rael (real name: Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon) had a vision in the early '70s where a group of humanity's purported creators (called Elohim) gave him the secrets of the universe.

Ah well... which of us isn't slightly potty? As a sign of good faith we at cleverthingies house are prepared to start an online protest site. If all our female readers can send us a topless photo of themselves we will post them on a specially created web page. Oh... blokes can send us photos of themselves in bikini tops as well. Use the 'suggest a story' link to get in touch.

Once again Emily misunderstood what was going on...