LILLIAN LOVER

Founder of BOOBS AREN'T REAL.

I always loved being topless. It gave me a sense of freedom, embodiment, and connection to myself. But growing up, it also sparked a quiet jealousy. I envied my brothers who could rip their shirts off on a hot day without a second thought. I envied the men who moved through the world able to embrace their bodies without shame, without sexualization, and without fear.

I kept asking myself: why couldn't I be topless like them? Boobs are literally food. Who deemed my chest to be inherently sexual, and why did it trigger rules, reactions, and restrictions that men's didn't?

It all hit me at a park. I wanted to be topless on a hot day, but legally, I couldn't. If I walked ten feet across the street to a strip club, however, a woman's topless body suddenly became legal as long as it was for a man's enjoyment and for the profit of the man who owns the club.

My body is not a commodity. I decided then that it wouldn't be treated like one.

And that's the moment BOOBS AREN'T REAL was born. A movement reclaiming the body from censorship, shame, and profit and giving it back to the people it belongs to.

Two people standing together for body equality
Lillian Lover, a quiet moment on the road at night

“The body is not simply biological. It is shaped, constrained, and interpreted through the meanings a culture gives to it.”

— Susan Bordo

“Boobs Aren't Real is created to bridge the gap between how we are told to exist and how we actually do. Society is comfortable selling the female form, yet uncomfortable seeing it in public. Our work explores these contradictions, the friction between the ‘sanctioned’ image and the ‘forbidden’ reality.”