Chelsea Handler on Why She's "Always Topless"

From Harper’s BAZAAR

Chelsea Handler is used to causing a stir. The 41-year-old comedian, whose new Netflix show, Chelsea, debuted on May 11, has been ruffling feathers since 2014 when she first posed topless on Instagram. Disappointed at the backlash that ensued, Handler vowed to push the envelope further and continued to post topless images of herself in the name of gender equality. Here, to kickoff of Bazaar.com’s week-long issue exploring all things nude, she tells Hannah Morrill why women should have the right to go topless in public.

There was never a moment when I was like, “I’m going to enter the public conversation on the importance of female nudity in the public eye.” I text my friends naked pictures of myself. I ruin group pictures by pulling a boob out. Everyone has seen me naked; good for them. When I go on dates, I’m glad that we’ve gotten that out of the way so they already know what’s coming.

The first naked picture of me that really made “news”-which, in my opinion, me posting a naked picture of myself should never be news-was when I posed like Vladimir Putin shirtless on a horse. I was in Santiago horseback riding with my brother and cousin and thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we took a picture on this horse and mimicked Putin and put in on Instagram?” I think nudity is funny, as long as you are doing something silly. I always try to make my pictures silly and funny. I am not lying on a bed trying to lure someone inside of me.

My brother took the picture, my technologically savvy cousin put together that side-by-side, and we posted it over drinks that night at the bar. Then we forgot about it and kept drinking. When we checked back and saw that it had been taken down by Instagram, we thought it was ridiculous, and so we put it back up. And it was taken down again. So we put it back up. I have to be honest that it was more my brother who put a spotlight on the double-standard: Putin is topless in his photo, I was too, why should that be different? We’re both human beings. We both have the same parts. Why is it different? That’s where it kind of started.

The reaction to that one picture made me feel like I had to keep pushing the envelope and exploring the issue. People were annoyed, like, “Oh God, here she goes again.” I was so surprised that something like nudity on a social media platform-where people are voluntarily following me-caused such a reaction. It just didn’t make any sense to me, so I vowed to keep making the point over and over again so that the next time I post a topless picture, it is not news. It shouldn’t be news. It should just be okay.

Just because women have bigger breasts, we can’t be seen nude? We provide life and food to people and we’re shamed for that? If I was flat-chested would it be okay? If I’d had a mastectomy, would that be okay? Is it because we are going to arouse people that we can’t walk around with our boobs out? It just seems like a strange double-standard between men and women. I wanted to desensitize it, so I [posted topless pictures of myself] over and over and over again. It shouldn’t make news when I pose naked. It should just be okay. If we want to walk around with our boobs out, I think that’s our prerogative.

I also think desexualizing something is much more interesting than sexualizing it. It’s a fresher take, and I guess that’s the one difference-the only one-between Kim Kardashian and I. She’s trying to be sexy. Putting yourself out there in that way has a different motivation. I’m trying to lessen the sexiness of it and make it an actual human body thing.

Posting nude pictures may have seemed like an impulsive move, but it was actually something that had been festering for years. As the youngest of six kids, I grew up spending summers on Martha’s Vineyard and I was always topless. All the pictures are of me in jean shorts, no shirt; with my brothers playing football. I remember one day, my dad came out on the balcony and said, “She’s getting little buds, shouldn’t we put a shirt on her?” And my mom said, “You put a shirt on that girl and she will never be the same.” And she was right. She was so right. Because the second I had to start wearing a shirt, I felt self-conscious. Then when I actually did get my boobs, they were too big. I was a tomboy and I felt embarrassed.

I’ve never been the girl that loved my boobs-or my body-which is sad because we should always be happy about our bodies but none of us ever are. We never listen to the nice things people say. I had a boyfriend who told me my boobs were too big and they made me look fat in pictures. Over the years, I thought about getting a breast reduction. And then, when I turned 40, which is such a cliché, but I just finally accepted them and I do love them now. I’m proud of them.

I’m not trying to be a role model to kids, because I don’t have any children, but I do think everyone should have a free spirit. I also think that it’s great that after all these years, I’ve finally found a way to utilize my great boobs.