Hacker News Reader

Comment by BrandoElFollito | Hacker News Reader

Isn't there in the US a formal obligation of gender equality? In other words is it legal to state that a man can do X but a woman cannot? Or state that, say, a site will only accept pictures of men and women are not allowed? I was under the impression that at least the formal part of non-discrimination was strongly in place.

View on HN

The 14th Amendment provides for equal protection of everyone. It was the basis of abolishing slavery and of the recent Supreme Court decision requiring gay marriage to be recognized. New York state is the only place in the US that I'm aware of that's applied this principle to nipples.

There was supposed to be an amendment to our Constitution for that (look up the ERA), but it was killed by conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly.

It was actually killed many, many times. From Wikipedia:

> The amendment has been reintroduced in every session of Congress since 1982.

Supposedly.

But then again, the law they would probably be violating is indecent exposure or other such laws - and since different bits are seen as indecent/lewd, you can apply the law fairly while still treating the sexes differently unless you adjust the wording of the law.

This is something I was wondering about in regards to the US Constitution and law.

Say I have a website. I collect male nipple pictures. I reject female ones.

Am I required to provide equal opportunity?

I'd say it's my decision, because it's my website. Would the site being a business (even making just ad money) make a difference?

(I'm from Europe, so I have some blanks in understanding the US system)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com