Sexism and the Female Breast

The obsession with female breasts continues. On the one hand, advocates of public breastfeeding and topfree equality argue that they're "just breasts" and its no big deal, but on the other hand breasts dominate all modern media as sexual objects used to sell virtually everything.

It is generally considered that a woman who displays cleavage, or bares here breasts, will not be taken seriously as an actress, or in the business world. Contrary to this widespread belief, one blogger believes the opposite.

As the debate is often had whether or not feminine wiles are to be displayed during working hours, (surveys have discovered it's mostly women that object to other women displaying it), it becomes plain to see that a little boobage might in fact help women get ahead from the men. Of course no self-respecting women will be taken seriously when they cross the line between pornography and art, but at least it's good to know how to get the promotion over a male co-worker...

Let's go back to one year ago when Hillary Clinton appeared in the Senate showing the slightest bit of cleavage.

The cleavage, however, is an exceptional kind of flourish. After all, it's not a matter of what she's wearing but rather what's being revealed. It's tempting to say that the cleavage stirs the same kind of discomfort that might be churned up after spotting Rudy Giuliani with his shirt unbuttoned just a smidge too far. No one wants to see that. But really, it was more like catching a man with his fly unzipped. Just look away!

I don't think that Hillary showed even the slightest bit of cleavage since that day because of the uproar it caused.

If cleavage is indeed something that can help a woman get ahead of a man, then Hillary would have won in the primaries.

It's ludicrous to suggest that the size of a woman's breasts, and sexy display of cleavage, leads to success. Oh sure, there are infantile men who will salivate (think of Jack Nicholson's character Jonathan in "Carnal Knowledge), and those who would exploit breasts for profit (think Hugh Hefner), but if you honestly assess the number of women who have rode to the top exploiting their breasts, it's a lonely mountaintop.

Women like Dorothy Stratten, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith all died tragically. The only woman that comes immediately to mind who achieved success while displaying her assets was Erin Brockovich, but her story was immediately exploited by Hollywood, putting Julia Roberts in to the role of the sexy legal clerk.

Yes, America loves female breasts, as long as they can be used to sell products, magazines, television shows and movies, otherwise put them away where they belong, under a turtleneck sweater, if you want to be taken seriously.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Politics of Appearance

How many times have you heard or read that most nudists are people who should not be seen naked? The fact is that the vast majority of people simply don't look like Tom Cruise or Scarlett Johansson - they more closely resemble John Goodman or Kathy Bates. Truly, one of the most wonderful things about nudism is the way that people accept each other, no matter what they look like.

As a society, we are getting to a point where our obsession on looks is beginning to obscure anything else that is truly important about a person. Today, the truly despicable Rush Limbaugh took politics to the most extreme, actually wondering out loud if Hillary Clinton simply looks to old to be President of the United States.

Everybody's trying to make themselves look different -- and in that situation, in that case, they think they're making themselves look better. It's just the way our culture has evolved. It's the way the country is. It's like almost an addiction that some people have to what I call the perfection that Hollywood presents of successful, beautiful, fun-loving people. So the question is this: Will this country want to actually watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?

The photo of Hillary in the upper left corner of this post was run on The Drudge Report today with the caption "The toll of a campaign". Have we really sunk this low as a society? In 2004 the neocons managed to turn an American war hero, John Kerry, into a bungling, lying, flip-flopper, and now they are trying to plant the seed that this accomplished woman, a United States Senator, a former First Lady of the United States, a woman who was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America, is somehow unqualified simply because of her appearance.

At some point it would seem that the American people will begin rejecting the politics of appearance. I truly hope that as a society we are above this sort of personal attack, but perhaps that is a false hope, that perhaps we really have become a sexualized superficial society, where cruelty knows no bounds. If we let the Rush Limbaughs, Matt Drudges, Michell Malkins and Michael Savages dictate the terms of what is acceptable in society, then we are lost, because these hate merchants only seek to provoke and divide us against ourselves. Shame on them all.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked