History Main / DefiantStrip

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[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Barracuda}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maria_strips_2.png]]]]

* In the 2013 series ''Series/RedWidow'', when crime boss Nicholae Schiller thinks Marta is wearing a wire to spy on him, she strips down to her underwear to prove him wrong, saying her father (also a crime boss) killed "rats" rather than raise them. Schiller is convinced and allows Marta to leave. The catch is that Marta actually ''was'' wearing a wire, concealed inside her bra.
* A case of this happened in the French series ''Series/SerieGalante'' in the segment "Ballerina", where two girls attempt to ruin a ballet performance by snipping at the seams of one girl's tutu. During the performance, the girl's tutu keeps slipping as she dances, exposing her breasts. When she realizes that those two girls are trying to humiliate her, she promptly tears her tutu off and continues the dance naked.

* In the 2013 series ''Red Widow'', when crime boss Nicholae Schiller thinks Marta is wearing a wire to spy on him, she strips down to her underwear to prove him wrong, saying her father (also a crime boss) killed "rats" rather than raise them. Schiller is convinced and allows Marta to leave. The catch is that Marta actually ''was'' wearing a wire, concealed inside her bra.

* Music/AmandaPalmer: After one of her concerts got a review by [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the Daily Mail]] that reported only on a WardrobeMalfunction and nothing about the music, she responded with a TakeThat song entitled "Dear Daily Mail". During the middle of the song she stripped completely naked on stage, then kept on singing as though nothing had happened.

Compare BattleStrip, which is the prelude to a fight. Also compare with {{Mooning}}, where someone shows defiance by baring their buttocks, and with GivingThemTheStrip, where someone who is stuck by their clothing caught on something or grabbed by a pursuer intentionally disrobes in order to escape (which may overlap with Defiant Strip depending on the extent of the resulting exposure and how quick the character is to resort to undressing to get away).

Compare BattleStrip, which is the prelude to a fight. Also compare with {{Mooning}}, where someone shows defiance by baring their buttocks.

* Francine does this at both the beginning and end of ComicBook/StrangersInParadise.

* ''Wrestling/{{SmackDown}}'': Wrestling/TerriPoch (Tori) was once challenged by Wrestling/{{Ivory}} to an Evening Gown match; the winner is the first to forcibly remove her opponent's evening gown. Vowing not to be humiliated, Tori dropped her own evening gown backstage and tried storming the ring in nothing but a g-string and high heels. (Un)fortunately, the producers managed to stop her before the entrance ramp and convince her to put on a button-downshirt.erri

* ''Wrestling/{{SmackDown}}'': Wrestling/{{Tori}} was once challenged by Wrestling/{{Ivory}} to an Evening Gown match; the winner is the first to forcibly remove her opponent's evening gown. Vowing not to be humiliated, Tori dropped her own evening gown backstage and tried storming the ring in nothing but a g-string and high heels. (Un)fortunately, the producers managed to stop her before the entrance ramp and convince her to put on a button-down shirt.

* A case of this happened in the French series ''Serie Galante'' in the segment "Ballerina", where two girls attempt to ruin a ballet performance by snipping at the seams of one girl's tutu. During the performance, the girl's tutu keeps slipping as she dances, exposing her breasts. When she realizes that those two girls are trying to humiliate her, she promptly tears her tutu off and continues the dance naked.

* A case of this happened in the French series ''Serie Gelente'' in the segment "Ballerina", where two girls attempt to ruin a ballet performance by snipping at the seams of one girl's tutu. During the performance, the girl's tutu keeps slipping as she dances, exposing her breasts. When she realizes that those two girls are trying to humiliate her, she promptly tears her tutu off and continues the dance naked.

* A female student at Cornell wore shorts to practice her thesis presentation and was advised by her professor to dress more modestly, claiming that showing that much skin would distract people. [[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/letitia-chai-cornell-student-strips-underwear-thesis-professor-rebekah-maggor-attire/ She gave her actual thesis presentation in her underwear]] as an act of protest.
* After one of Music/AmandaPalmer's concerts got a review by [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the Daily Mail]] that reported only on a WardrobeMalfunction and nothing about the music, she responded with a TakeThat song entitled "Dear Daily Mail". During the middle of the song she stripped completely naked on stage, then kept on singing as though nothing had happened.
* [[https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/passenger-strips-at-portland-airport-in-tsa-screening-protest/ A passenger at Portland International Airport decided to strip naked in protest of invasive TSA security screening]]. He was arrested, but as non-sexualized public nudity is not illegal in the state of Oregon he was eventually released without being charged with a crime.
* The World Naked Bike Ride is (or was, prior to the pandemic) an annual event held in many cities speaking out about environmental and public safety issues such as dependency on fossil fuels and the danger of pedestrians and bikers being hit by cars (since no amount of clothing can protect bikers and pedestrians from the impact).
* In UsefulNotes/{{Wellington}}, New Zealand in 2012, a youth environmental group [[http://web.archive.org/web/20191022085237/https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/86865109/acting-on-carbon-what-youth-has-to-say staged an underwear protest]] on board the city's trains. A video of the protest can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NcGISguFB8 viewed on YouTube]].
* Ukrainian feminist group [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femen Femen]] very often stage their protests topless, writing their messages on their chests, knowing full well that these will get [[MaleGaze a lot of attention]] in the photographs of the event.

* In the Ray Bradbury short story "Sun and Shadow", a man named Ricardo stops a photographer from using the poor neighborhood he lives in as a prop for his photoshoot by dropping his pants every time the man tries to take a photo.

* One episode of ''Series/BostonLegal'' features a group of women protesting for feminism by marching through the streets of the city topless. They're all arrested and charged with indecent exposure; if a jury finds them guilty, they would be forced to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. It falls to the firm to protect them; it is ultimately Shirley who gets them off the hook by invoking the spirit of protest that lives in Boston's history. [[BunnyEarsLawyer Denny]], meanwhile, is frustrated because he expected the women to ''still be topless'' at the trial, complaining to Alan that "You took me to the circus and didn't let me see the elephants."

* A variation of this trope plays a major role in the climax of ''Film/StickIt.'' At the National Gymnastics Championships, Mina performs an incredibly complicated routine on the vault without making a single mistake, but doesn't get a perfect score because one of her bra straps inadvertently started showing, which makes her lose points. Protagonist Haley is the next to go, but instead steps up to the horse used for the vault, pulls down her leotard to show her bra strap, and taps the equipment. This action, known as a "scratch," [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight immediately disqualifies her.]] The other contestants realize what Haley is doing and join the cause, with each woman stepping up, showing her bra strap, and touching the horse, forcing the judges to award Mina the gold medal by default. The gymnasts then team up to deliberately subvert the judges' archaic rules by unanimously deciding the best athlete in each contest and then disqualifying themselves to ensure that she wins the top prize.

* One episode of ''Series/BostonLegal'' features a group of women protesting for feminism by marching through the streets of the city topless. They're all arrested and charged with sex crimes, which would force them to register on sex offenders' registries for the rest of their lives. It falls to the firm to protect them; it is ultimately Shirley who gets them off the hook by invoking the spirit of protest that lives in Boston's history. [[BunnyEarsLawyer Denny]], meanwhile, is frustrated because he expected the women to ''still be topless'' at the trial, complaining to Alan that "You took me to the circus and didn't let me see the elephants."

* One episode of ''Seris/BostonLegal'' features a group of women protesting for feminism by marching through the streets of the city topless. They're all arrested and charged with sex crimes, which would force them to register on sex offenders' registries for the rest of their lives. It falls to the firm to protect them; it is ultimately Shirley who gets them off the hook by invoking the spirit of protest that lives in Boston's history. [[BunnyEarsLawyer Denny]], meanwhile, is frustrated because he expected the women to ''still be topless'' at the trial, complaining to Alan that "You took me to the circus and didn't let me see the elephants."

* ''Film/CabinByTheLake'': Mallory is chained in a basement by psychotic screenwriter Stanley Caldwell, who at one point takes her clothes and gives her a robe so she can bathe. Mallory defiantly throws the robe off and stands naked, as if daring him to make a move. [[EvenEvilHasStandards He doesn't.]]

* Ukrainian feminist group [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femen Femen]] very often stage their protests topless.