Going Topless? The Naked Truth About Women and Bare Breasts

7 Responses to “Going Topless? The Naked Truth About Women and Bare Breasts”

1. Anastasia on May 1st, 2008 11:36 am

   I think certain cultures who sexualize breasts, or tend to focus on the pornographic (and exclude all other functions of the breast), have more issues about breasts because they have somehow conditioned themselves to only see breasts in relation to sexual intercourse or sexual arousal, and breasts are so much more.

   For myself, the experience of breastfeeding altered my view on everything. I ceased to be hung up about my breasts because there was something more important in their function; breastfeeding provides antibodies to newborns, and lessens the chances of them contracting common colds, that can make any new mother nervous. I remember experiencing odd looks if I even tried to breastfeed in public. On occasions when I would find a room in a shopping mall, I’d feel comfortable, but babies are fed on demand, that’s how it is, and times when I had no choice but to feed right there and then, I’d receive various reactions, everything from curiosity to outright derision, and I thought it incredible that people can only label breasts as sexual objects, or some vulgar object that only gains importance during sex, which is what occurs when people behave in an adverse way when they see a mother breastfeeding or they see breasts on a nude beach. There are double standards, and I think it is possible to lessen or eradicate double standards, but the very thing that enables the double standard is commerce, particularly sexual commerce or images that are sexualized in almost all films.

   Here in Australia (a few years ago), there was a national furor over a female Member of Parliament feeding her newborn son in the House of Representatives. On television, one journalist decided to take a stand on a panel television program, and had her son with her (a newborn), and when the time came for him to be fed, she just fed him on national television; the newspapers went crazy, people even lodged complaints to the network saying it was inappropriate, and the thing that people (who have issues, because a person has to have deep seated issues to sexualize breast feeding - which may offend some people, but I don’t care, they need to grow up) don’t get is that treating a newborn baby like a Pavlovian experiment does not work, and is inhumane.

2. Ted on May 3rd, 2008 2:55 pm

   In Canada , as in most countries, women have the legal right to go topless if they want (unfortunately, very few do) and they also have the legal right to breastfeed in public. I don’t think we’re as hung up on the issue as other nations, I.E., the US, seem to be.

   Anyway, boobs are boobs, and men like to look at them. I’m all for women showing off the goods, but they will definitely draw notice if they do. If a woman is comfortable with the attention, then who cares if she goes topless?

   Ted (happily married to the winner of a wet T-shirt contest)

3. Kenny on May 8th, 2008 9:07 pm

   I agree with a lot of the double standards but not all. I definitely think that women should be allowed to breast feed in public there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That is how babies get healthy, it’s almost like saying well feed your babies bottles so they’ll need more health care later. However for women to be able to just walk all over the place bare is going too far.

   Think of the consequences please. The fact is that in African tribes where women bare all all the time, this is normal because the woman really has no importance in many tribes ( I am black BTW). The woman is simply a vessel for a man’s use, so the breast really have no importance. All that is important is the actual sexual organ (which is often covered!!..think about this for a while).

   Therefore, I believe the reason why this is thought to be immoral is because breast are important!! When women get aroused, their nipples get erect. Imagine a scene where the majority of women walk around with erect nipples (the same way guys may get aroused at any time of day). Would they be comfortable showing off to the entire the world that they are aroused? It is different for women because, although a man’s chest turns a woman on, it is not as important during the act as is a woman’s chest. Do we get angry if a woman doesn’t play with our chests and nipples??

   Plus I also believe that it would lead to a lot of competition between women, because women compare breasts as much as men compare penis sizes. If a woman’s breasts are not as perky as another pair she sees on the streets she may quickly decide to do something about it (namely implants). Men like (relatively) big and perky breasts as much as women like (relatively) big and strong penises (don’t deny it you know it’s true!). If men were to walk around baring all these enlargement products would sell like hot bread. Now I don’t think implants are immoral or anything but, just like anything else, there is a risk involved.

   Therefore I believe that baring a breast is not such a huge offense, but to belittle the woman’s breasts to a man’s chest is unfair. Therefore, women please don’t bare all, your breasts are to be treasured. You should pick and choose who sees it, it’s not just some fruit on the market that everyone can just watch and feel and test to see if it is ripe.

4. Dan and Jennifer on May 8th, 2008 9:23 pm

   Therefore, women please don’t bare all, your breasts are to be treasured. You should pick and choose who sees it, it’s not just some fruit on the market that everyone can just watch and feel and test to see if it is ripe.

   Kenny, wow, thanks for the really well thought out and articulated points.

   I have to say that I agree with you - women’s breasts are special, and frankly women’s breasts have brought me enormous joy over the years (Dan here). If I saw breasts all the time, all over the place, then they would certainly not be as special. So for me, this may not be a winning proposition.

   And while my enjoyment of breasts is important to me, it’s not enough of an argument to make it criminal for a woman to show her breasts. The issue here is not so much one of preference - whether I particularly feel like seeing breasts everywhere or not - but one one of a double standard where a woman is discriminated against whereas a man is not.

   Again, we’re not talking about women - OR MEN for that matter - suddenly shedding all their clothing. We’re talking about times when men feel they can go without a top, while at the same time women would get arrested. Think: sporting activities, think beach sun bathing, that type of thing.

   Of course men do take off their tops in “inappropriate places” and get looked at funny, but they don’t get arrested. See the double standard?

   Here’s another interesting perspective… let’s say that I personally may not get much joy from seeing very obese men walking around bare chested all over town - men with breasts larger than many women’s. But guess what - they don’t. Neither would women. The obese man however wouldn’t go to jail for it if they chose to take their top off, regardless of my preference for seeing their breasts or not.

   So that’s the issue, one of discrimination… and men are immediately inclined to selfishly think “gee, don’t know if I’d like to see breasts all the time, they wouldn’t be as special”. Yep, been there, had the same thought. But that’s irrelevant. It’s my own personal preference, NOT a foundation for legal action and criminal charges.

   And Kenny, I’m absolutely not in any way picking on you, thank you again so much for the great comments.

   Further thoughts? Please share, it’s important to get these points in the open.

   ** Be sure to check out our LIVE Video Show this Sunday - 5PM Central on UStream.TV - where we’ll be covering this very same controversial issue…
   Should women be allowed to go topless if they choose to do so? - watch it here. And chime in - we’ll be taking questions and comments live through the live viewer chat.
   **

5. Kenny on May 9th, 2008 10:11 am

   Ah yes I overlooked the legal aspect of the discussion lol. I totally agree it should not be a criminal offense for a woman to bare all. I am a French citizen but have grown up in an English speaking country. In France, it is absolutely OK for a woman to bare her breasts in public. Every other ad on tv (especially perfume or shampoo ads) have women baring her breasts, even though I don’t think you need to see breasts to buy shampoo…
   So yes these laws should be revised, no doubt about it! I was so shocked when they gave Janet Jackson so much pressure for her little slip. As a matter of fact, the entire French public was shocked. It cost her her dignity for something that is really petty.
   Thank you Dan&Jennifer for everything and I know you are not picking on me lol.

6. Anastasia on May 9th, 2008 12:00 pm

   On Kenny’s thoughts on women getting aroused and their nipples becoming erect?

   Yes, arousal does cause this, but there are other things that cause nipple erection: things like weather/temperature. When it’s cold nipples become erect. So if a woman is walking outdoors, or having a coffee at an outdoor location, she may have erect nipples. It doesn’t mean she is sexually aroused. She may be cold, and her nipples erect due to a brief temperature flux.

7. Kenny on May 13th, 2008 2:18 pm

   Yes well I think we all know that here but when we see a woman’s erect nipples the first thought that comes to mind is not that she is cold! I think this goes for both men and women.

   Besides, sometimes men get erect without being aroused! Usually when we sit down for too long for some reason we tend to become erect. So if a woman was to see a man erect would she say “Well maybe he sat down for too long”?…I don’t think so.

   Furthermore, most women aren’t even comfortable when their nipples show through their clothes, even if they are just cold.

   So I still think that while this thing about women walking around completely topless may sound good in theory, it is a horrible idea in reality. However, a woman being topless is not criminal or shameful in any way. This useless discrimination needs to stop!