In our last post we shared photos from friends in Australia — where it’s currently summer and a nude beach provides relief from both the heat and the need to wear clothes — and Florida, where we wrote that the climate is colder both in terms of the weather and the attitude toward women’s body freedom. (Yes, yes, we know: some parts of Florida are open-minded. But not all, and not the one our friend’s from.)

We subsequently heard from people in other parts of the world that offer women similarly few options. In Serbia, for instance, we’re told that there are only one or two beaches where toplessness is allowed. Aside from that, the taboo against women going shirtless is strong enough that even breastfeeding mothers get nasty looks if they don’t hide themselves somewhere out of view. Of course, that’s true in many parts of the U.S. as well. Not New York, though. We’re grateful to live somewhere where only the temperature prevents us from reading our books out in open air.

An ocean away in Venezuela, political protests recently have sometimes involved public nudity, but if you simply want to be topless and not have tear gas lobbed at you, good luck. Some of our correspondents were nervous even about showing their faces on our site, but they shared these at-home images in solidarity.

NYC, meanwhile, has finally broken out of the polar vortex cold snap that had us all huddling in quilted parkas and under comforters. Yesterday was a balmy 40 degrees! The thaw is coming.

May it come soon to other parts of the nation, and other parts of the world.