Among the many questions to which I have never received a satisfactory answer is why a woman’s chest is considered to be something “dirty” that must be hidden while a man’s chest is not given a second thought — well, at least not in this particular context.
Shirtless men appear in G-rated films, while a certain number of frames worth of topless women will get a film an “R” rating, even if said film contains only the “PG” level of sex, violence, profanity or other “adult” subject matter.
At the beach or pool, we expect to see topless men, but if a woman removes the little triangles covering her “dirtypillows,” she will be arrested for indecent exposure to the sound of much tsk tsking about traumatizing children and how such displays of immodesty are contributing to society’s long ride to hell that old proverbial handbasket.
What sort of attitude is this in the land of the free and the home of the brave in the the 21st century? In other parts of the world, the female breast appears without fanfare on the beaches and near the pools and even in some clever television commercials. But here in America, the people get up in arms over a “wardrobe malfunction” which caused a part of a breast to be exposed on television for a few seconds.
Of course the really annoying aspect of all of this is not so much the Puritanism as it is the hypocrisy — case in point: that infamous “wardrobe malfunction” was one of the most often recorded and viewed events in TiVO history — of a good number of Americans who will publicly denounce such “smut,” while enjoying it immensely in private.
So, here I am, with my drawer full of little triangles, wondering why I still have to wear them to the beach in order to keep myself out of jail.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - gonzo marx
hey..i'm totally with you on this one...
all for women to go topless if they want to...
no worse than when some guys wear g-strings...(ugh!!)
but then..i have always hated double standards
i'm silly that way
Excelsior!
2 - SFC SKI
oh, I'm sorry, were you saying something?
j/k
Seriously, I have no real good reason for holding to such a Puritan atitude other than it is a holdover from a darker time.
I hate to say it but it draws comparisons to some Muslim cultures, who value a women's modesty so greatly that I have seen women wade into the ocean fully clothed, and only as high as their knees, to avoid showing so much as a calf or knee, and spare men from temptation.
I have been to the Europena beaches and while I never tire of topless sunbathers, it loses its "shock value" pretty quick. I don't see where allowing it will bring the downfall of civilization.
Every summer a few woman around the country will get arrested in protest of this restriction on their own bodies.
I don't really have a point, but if I did, it might be that women will bbe considered se objects, or not, no matter what they are wearing, and at the beach there is even less left to the imagination, so it is pretty silly to make woman stay covered in that or any other environment where man would not wear a shirt.
3 - SFC SKI
How did this thread get split in two?
4 - SFC SKI
Considering the subject, maybe two is the right number of threads, but they could turn out to be a handful.
5 - uao
I just want to note that when I came to Blogcritics today, at the top of the discussion list in the right sidebar was the following:
On Female Breasts by SFC SKI
Considering the subject, maybe two is the right number...
I sprayed a mouthful of coffee all over my monitor.
6 - Tristan
perhaps three would be better:
for two hands and a mouth .........???
7 - Z.Z. Bachman
[Among the many questions to which I have never received a satisfactory answer is why a woman’s chest is considered to be something “dirty” that must be hidden while a man’s chest is not given a second thought]
Anthropologists will tell you there is no good reason. It's simply a cultural "group think" social phenomenon.
All you need for the proof is to look at other cultures. What is "taboo" in one culture, is mainstream in another. Victorian era was hung up on "hidding" and creating "mystery" about what was at the end of a "courting" journey.
Consider for a moment that MTV hip hop would never have made it to the airwaves in 1955. A mere fifty years ago. But don't get too excited. With the religious right flexing it muscle, we could be back to 1880s before we know it. - zzb
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ZZ Bachman / ZardozZ News & Satire Portal
8 - Rodney Welch
Obviously, a man's bare chest doesn't cause the same reaction in a woman that a pair of tits causes with a man. I mean, let's say we live in this little erotic Disneyland of your imagination where women walk around showing their tits. The message this sends to most men is that the woman wants to fuck, and they will act upon that information -- in droves. So, if you want to show your tits and don't mind having to multi-task your way through a million poolside conversations with guys with full-bore erections, go for it.
9 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Rodney Welch wrote: "Obviously, a man's bare chest doesn't cause the same reaction in a woman that a pair of tits causes with a man."
As a heterosexual woman, that is not obvious to me at all. I may be a bit long in the tooth to produce the mass poolside sensation you described, but I am still young enough to swoon at the sight of well-built, shirtless young men.
If your hypothesis that a topless woman is sending a certain message to men is correct, then what message are men sending when they come to the poolside, cast off their shirts and freely display their pectoral pulchritude in all of its wonderous masculine glory?
10 - Rodney Welch
The message they're sending is that they think they're gorgeous. Or that it's hot. But so what? It's not like it's going to put him in any danger. With a woman -- DIFFERENT STORY.
11 - gonzo marx
so let me get this straight, Rodney..you are saying that the sight of a woman's breast will be so intoxicating that it will drive men to lose control and place said woman in danger of assault?
interesting..that's the same argument the mullah's use for the bee keeper suits they keep their women in
i think most men will need drool buckets perhaps..but the "shock and awe" wears off quickly...once it is normal for such behavior at the beach etc... you will find the "titilation" ceases to be so "pressing" an issue against the male zipper
Excelsior!
12 - Rodney Welch
Well, obviously, it depends on the woman. There are many breasts that have the opposite effect. But a fetching, beautiful young woman -- yeah, she's putting herself in danger. All it takes is one stupid guy, and you know as well as I do that tits absolutely make guys stupid. That's their purpose, of course -- to attract men, keep the species going. As a man, I'm all for seeing nudity. But as a practical realist, I think it's insane.
13 - Scott
Boobies!
14 - Paul Roy
It's really just an American hangup.
15 - Mark Saleski
and there's the opposite 'rule' in movies (i wanted to say 'double standard' but that comes very close to pun-ville) where it's ok to see a woman topless and/or fully nude...but not to see a uncovered male member.
weird.
16 - Richard Porter
Mark
And the problem with that would be...?
And Margaret, something tells me you should keep those triangles at arms-length...you really don't seem like the Britney Spears type! With you, it may not be so much a crime, rather a punishment.
17 - Rodney Welch
There may no uglier sight than a penis.
18 - Elizabeth Book
Why do men automatically believe we are striving for topfreedom to please them? This is for our comfort not their entertainment. By the way, our breasts are not here to attract men and their sexual attentions. The one and only biological function of our breasts is to nurture our young. Sometimes male arrogance just blows me away.
I am a Topfree Activist (protestor) in Daytona Beach Florida. They have made millions of dollars in revenue from the American breast, due to their outrageous ordinances and fines levied through them. No man, city, or state should ever see our breasts as a means of revenue. It's because of this that we are fighting back. You can join me in October for my next protest if you are in the area.
If we allow the religious right to rule our government and overtake the Authority of our Constitution then we are doomed. Why not have the Muslims telling us all to wear burkas?
Typing Topfree in Fl, Liz Book
19 - L. Cue
"There may no uglier sight than a penis."
Mine is mad at you for calling him ugly! He says "Yo mamma" but I told him to be nice.
I was watching a show on The National Geographic channel where they mentioned how women in early Crete wore dresses with the breast area exposed for all to see. Talk about your advance civilazations!
ps..is Gonzo Marx Stan Lee in disguise? "Excelsior"---if so, The Black Panther says what up homie!
20 - Mark Saleski
And the problem with that would be...?
it just makes the movies seem artificial.
it's a little like an intentional continuity error.
21 - Richard Porter
Mark, the sound you hear is me scratching my head, because again I am confused by what the problem is. You do mind having movies temporarily interrupted by beautiful naked women? Hmmm...I am more annoyed by the annoying commercials that air before the movies for a good 20-25 minutes.
22 - Mark Saleski
????
look, during the course of many a movie, folks may (or may not) get naked for a variety of reasons.
it just strikes me odd that certain parts (of the male anatomy only) are always covered.
23 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Rodney Welch wrote:"The message they're sending is that they think they're gorgeous. Or that it's hot. But so what? It's not like it's going to put him in any danger. With a woman -- DIFFERENT STORY."
"That it's hot" (referring to weather conditions) is the primary message I would be sending if I was topless by the poolside -- well, that and "I wish to avoid those unattractive tan lines that spoil the look of a strapless or backless evening gown."
I am curious about how Rodney Welch and other homonally intoxicated gentlemen manage to control themselves at the poolside when the only thing covering an attractive woman's voluptuous chest is a thin string and pair of little triangles.
I also wonder about the logic behind the idea that women should be arrested for appearing topless in public, not because it is "indecent," but rather because doing so places women in danger from men who might be unable to contain themselves -- as if there are not any legal repercussions for men who force themselves upon the women who reject their advances.
24 - Richard Porter
As I understand it, there are a number of male posters on this site that would gladly point you in the right direction for some good old fashioned male anatomy.
Can someone give me my copy of "Embrace of the Vampire" with Alyssa Milano please?
25 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Elizabeth Book wrote: "Why do men automatically believe we are striving for topfreedom to please them?"
I do not know about all men, but Rodney Welch seems to think that women are striving for topfreedom not to please men, but to debauch them, causing them to experience uncontrollable lust that will turn them into dangerous sexual predators.