Who should make morality rules?

"Indecency" is one of those notoriously subjective words.

Its definition is constant, but its interpretation has evolved as society's generally accepted standards of what is appropriate and what is not have shifted over hundreds of years.

Battles will always be fought in the grey area between "decency" and "indecency", but, generally, their definitions are determined by the weight of society's majority view.

In Auckland, the city council seems determined to overthrow that common view and ban the annual Boobs on Bikes parade.

About 50,000 people line the streets to watch the parade each year and the Auckland City Council has done everything within its power to block the event. Last year, a district court judge a woman, as fate would have it threw out the council's legal bid to stop Boobs on Bikes, saying it was not unlawful for women to walk down the street topless.

The council is now wasting more public money by pushing for central government to pass a law enabling local authorities to ban events that are not deemed suitable in the public domain.

In the face of tens of thousands of parade supporters and a district court ruling, it's about time the intransigent council accepted the weight of public opinion is that exposed breasts are not indecent.

A little closer to home, Palmerston North Girls' High School is fighting a battle of similar futility, albeit on a much smaller scale. As reported in today's Manawatu Standard, students attending the junior girls' dance are subject to a rather puritanical dress code no sleeveless tops, skirts below the knee, no showing of stomachs, and backs are to be "appropriately" covered.

Of course, the event is a school function and Girls' High is entitled to impose whatever restrictions it likes. Girls' High is an outstanding school and takes seriously its role in instilling social standards in its girls. It should not be criticised for that but in this case, just like the Auckland council, it is rowing against currents beyond its control.

The mere fact that girls hoping to attend the dance can't seem to find outfits in stores that comply with the dress code suggests Girls' High is out of step with what society deems acceptable for young women to wear.

Decency, morality, propriety what these things mean is not defined by institutions or individuals, however well-meaning their intentions are. They are defined by all of us, collectively, and it seems the consensus is that the occasional naked breast is nothing to cause a fuss about, never mind sleeveless tops. Good on Feilding Developments Limited for doing all it can to keep its employees in work during these tough economic times. With a drop-off in work, 50 employees are only working four-day weeks. Redundancies loom but the company seems determined to look after its workers. And that's good business.

- © Fairfax NZ News