Turning a Corner on Breasts?

On some days I wonder if the United States will ever mature enough to accept topfree equality for women, but there are events taking place that indicate that perhaps we are beginning to turn a corner where female nipples might lose their criminal status in society.

Linda Meyer has spent more than a decade fighting for topfree equality and is proof that one person can indeed make a difference.

"Linda Meyer is the most successful top-free activist in North America in that she has won more court cases than any other activist," says Paul Rapaport, of the Top-free Equal Rights Association based in Ontario. Ten years ago, the most common complaint was that topless women were walking pornography, but today, people are more concerned with their own right not to have to see a top-free woman in public, he says. To that, he argues the right not to be offended is "not really a right at all."

The "right not to be offended" is a pet peeve of blogger EJP over at Gymnophiliac. My position is that society always finds ways to limit things that the majority of people find offensive, such as cigarette smoke, loud noise, public urination, and nudity, and it takes political activism and hard work to change public perceptions, one way or the other.

It's going to be a long time before Americans will be able to walk down the street completely nude, if ever, but men already have the right to take off their shirts just about anywhere, and there is no constitutionally sound reason for women not to have that same right. New York and Ohio are two states where topfreedom exists because of court cases that upheld the first amendment, but women are still reluctant to exercise their rights.

And why is this? It's all about body image - most women are unhappy with their breasts, but society as a whole cannot seem to get enough of female breasts. Susan Seligson examines the dilemma in her new book, "Stacked: A 32DDD Reports from the Front: "It's amazing how much of it is women's own obsession with their breasts," says Seligson. "They're not happy with their breasts, they want to change their breasts, their breasts are too big or too small."

And there is also the fact that most people in America think of a female breast as a sexual organ, which it is not, but is has become a sexual object, and many women are undergoing breast augmentation in an effort to boost self-esteem and enhance physical attractiveness. Seligson also writes about how the female breast became such a sexually powerful icon.

- Healthy appetites. Lactating females needed lots of food. Males who brought back meals were thanked with sex, which led to more babies who inherited mother's traits. Seligson is unconvinced.

- Breasts Butt. Zoologist Desmond Morris argues that early humans mated mostly from behind, and big chests remind males of buttocks. Seligson doesn't go for Morris' theory, and she's not the first to dispute it.

- Nursing. Anthropologist's Elaine Morgan posits that breasts evolved for nursing - and they've stayed big due to modern high-protein diets. This is where Seligson puts her money.

The female body has many, many erogenous zones - the mouth, the tongue, the nape of the neck, the small of the back, the backside of the knee, the soul of the foot, etc., basically anywhere there is skin. Through the centuries, humans have developed different perceptions on what is or what is not erotic on the female body depending upon social customs of the day. A glimpse of an ankle was once scandalous, and when Claudette Colbert lifted her skirt to catch the attention of a passing car in "It Happened One Night" she changed the mindset of a generation, as did Clark Gable when he took off his shirt in the same film.

I believe that Janet Jackson intended for her "wardrobe malfunction" to be a cultural milestone, which it did become, but not in the sense that she planned it. And don't tell me that it was not intentional, the exposure was well planned and executed, what was not anticipated was the false indignation of the conservative moralist right which flooded the FCC with complaints and succeeded in sparking a new era of over reactive censorship, rather than an era of topfreedom. Had Jackson been brave enough, she would have admitted that the exposure was intentional and meant to be a political act, but rather she took the cowardly road and hid behind the "malfunction" lie.

Nobody can accurately predict the future, but generally society reacts to conservative eras with cultural revolution. The Victorian era was followed shortly by the Roaring Twenties. The nuclear family of the fifties and early sixties was replaced by a sexual revolution and the swinging seventies. Today's Christianist attempts at legislating morality is largely a reaction to these sexual freedoms.

But is the conservative egg beginning to crack? Democrats are on the rise, not necessarily because of their political expertise, but rather as a public rejection of the moralists. We could be entering a new era of liberalism.

Nudism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourist industry. People are realizing that society has been too restrictive, and the shedding of clothes is one of the best ways to throw off stress and equalize the classes. College students are hosting nude parties. Every day there seems to be a new story about someone showing up nude on the Internet, from teachers, to police, to American Idol contestants. Sooner or later these activities will cease to be shocking to people, and people will not lose their jobs simply for having a photo taken of themselves in the nude.

Which brings us back to breasts. We are living in a society where the female breast is ubiquitous, cleavage is abundant on television and in magazines, but it is the actual nipple that is standing in the way of true topfreedom. As Susan Seligson noted, it is likely that the female breast has developed to such a large size due to nursing. Society is slowly coming back to the realization that these fascinating orbs that have been exploited by Playboy for the past 50 years are really sources of food.

Do not underestimate the power of the lactivists who are changing laws all over the country. As with nude photos on the Internet, there seems to be a story every day about a woman who is hassled in a restaurant or a mall for breastfeeding a child, and each incident serves to re-educate the public over just exactly what a female breast is primarily designed for. Just today Kentucky passed breastfeeding legislation and similar moves are being made in Ohio.

In the world of celebrity, from which any cultural shift in attitude is likely to originate, more and more actors and actresses are coming out and saying that nudity is no big deal. Drew Barrymore has admitted to running nude through fields and proclaims herself as a nudist free spirit. Christina Aguilera says that she and her husband spend at least one day a week in the nude. I am waiting for the day when an actress is photographed topless on a beach, and instead of suing the photographer, she laughs it off.

Surveys have shown that most people are comfortable with designated areas on beaches for nude or topfree sunbathing. This is where progress can be made today. In Las Vegas, topfree sunbathing is a rapidly growing trend, and many top hotels have separate pools for this, so there must be quite a demand.

I've previously written about America's readiness for topfreedom, but I feel more strongly than ever that this can indeed come to pass. If it does, it will happen on America's beaches. Who will be the brave ones who pioneer the removal of bikini tops en masse? When women burned their bras in the sixties and feminism became a movement, the female breast was only partially liberated in America. It's time to show people that the female nipple is nothing to fear.

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