Nipple Non Grata: Bring Out The Boobs

friskyman68
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 06:06 am: [report]

not dinging the artists work here….I find those photos boring. Honestly I like seeing the real thing, not something photoshopped.  And personally, I don’t understand the hangup about a women not being able to be topless in America.

EastCoastMale
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 06:13 am: [report]

I personally think that by just covering over the nipple you are not doing anything really, just circumventing certain laws and staying within zoning codes most likely. It seems like a puritan relic that needs to be examined with modern times in mind. Besides, who wants to blur out the nipple? thats half of the best equation.

Mainer
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 06:18 am: [report]

I agree with this. It’s not like you can see a photo of a penis with just the cap cut off and everything will be fine. I would guess that it is more or less a trickle effect. Mere cleavage was even a no-no back in the day - when the first movies came out showing cleavage there was an uproar. So I guess over time, the media has revealed more and more of a woman’s chest and we’re left at the point where nipples are still out. I guess the idea behind it is if you don’t see the nipple, you don’t see the whole boob. These pictures obviously challenge that claim. Who knows, given the progression of censorship (i.e. they can say any curse work minus the f-bomb on shows like TNT and FX now, if it’s late enough), perhaps we’ll see nipples in advertising before we hit the quarter century mark.

Little Lamb
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 06:18 am: [report]

Yeah, but that’s the point. 

The point is to not have sexual images available for children.  By saying, you just want to see the nipples, that proves that when those are available, it changes from just a picture of a girl, to a sexual picture of a girl.

(And of course, the “bring ‘em on"s are gonna come from the mouths of dudes.  I say-I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours!)

Riley
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 06:52 am: [report]

@Little Lamb.  They show men all the time, I don’t get the “I’ll show you mine” argument.  That is kind of the point of the article, no?

How about the parents do their job and keep their children from watching material they deem offensive or too mature for their child?  I mean, the government could continue raising everyone’s kids - working out great so far, right? 

I’m not debating the sexuality of women’s breasts, they are great, but censor-worthy?  Plenty of more offensive material on tv.

And yes, I’m a guy.

Rose
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 07:22 am: [report]

I’ve always thought the nipple/breast distinction in terms of what you can show is pretty stupid.  I don’t dispute that both are sexual, but then I think alot of men find their nipples an erogenous zone, and they don’t have to cover them up.  I also find it interesting that I could show any any amount of cleavage without negative reaction, yet breastfeeding my baby in public caused all kinds of freaking out.  My point is our culture has an incredibly conflicted attitude toward women’s breasts, and Nipple Non Grata is exploring that.

emflow
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 07:42 am: [report]

@ Little Lamb
I disagree - I think a big point of the article is that the nipple censorship is arbitrary. And that a photo can be highly sexual or non-sexual (as in clinical photos) regardless of degree of nudity. How sexually charged the photo is depends on the context, poses and viewer. But since those are hard to regulate we end up with photoshopped nipples.

Also if the point is to keep sexual images away from children then we’d better photoshop a whole lot of the internet, cable TV and clothing/perfume/makeup advertisements. Just saying: removing nipples won’t solve this issue.

TotallyRidiculous
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 07:43 am: [report]

I think the thing is, because men think breasts are sexy, they are deemed sexual images. Women think men’s chests are sexy but THOSE aren’t deemed sexual images.  So my thinking is, men must like nipples, as in: the nipples make the boob for them. Therefore, sans nipples, it’s not sexual.  Basically it’s a bunch of crap.  And I don’t see why anyone should have a problem with their kids seeing breasts.  If they saw them all the time, it wouldn’t be a big deal to them, just like seeing men’s chests.

retro chic
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 07:58 am: [report]

Very funny, Simcha… “As our own editor Amelia has shown…” What a Frisky tease you are.

Anyway, it’s so beyond silly, since woman-nip marks the source of food designed for suckling. It’s only been artificially sexualized by our evolved, learn-ed male masses—perhaps they miss Mommy? Breast image in general needs to be restored to its natural female ref, away from the porn one.

Even the breast itself evolved to stay full after the child’s suckling age to keep the male close to the female to continue providing for the family—not a sexual thing. The really silly part is that nip is equated with peen in ads and movies, so needless to say, we women are getting ripped off.

And Mainer, there was puh-lenty of cleavage and braless nip under clingy clothing in movies, esp precode, but no hint of nip and def no navel action postcode ‘til the 60s. You’d really howl at some of the precode stuff, ie, is why they brought it in!

Mainer
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 08:01 am: [report]

@ retro chic: I agree, I don’t think boobs are censored because us men think they are sexy. They’re censored because they are a functioning part of a females body. Our nipples don’t do anything, they are like wisdom teeth. We have them but don’t use them. And yes, I saw Indie Sex too, so I know

Boobs sans nipples are just plain scary looking. When a woman wears clothes that cover part of her boob (including the nipple), it is sexy because it sparks the imagination - there is some ambivalence on what a girl’s breast actually look like. The male imagination is capable of creating a much sexier image than seeing real life (i.e. if she were to flash us right there and then, it would most likely not be as sexy as we had in our minds). Therefore, in some ways, a partial covered boob is sexier than a bare breast. There are only a select amount of boobs that are sexy when they are fully exposed, but for the most part they’re not. But what this artist is doing is exposing the entire breast without the nipple. That’s not sexy, it’s freaky. It reminds me of that Marilyn Manson album cover.

brandyalexander
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 08:03 am: [report]

This whole thing is ridiculous.  What is so offensive about a breast, something that provides comfort, nourishment, and pleasure?  More nipples, please, and less guns, violence, and rape in media. 

LadyAlys
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 08:12 am: [report]

Our tv, internet, etc shows way more sexually explicit stuff, just without showing actual sex organs. It’s not seeing a breast that makes it sexual, it’s in how the breast is portrayed. Either as a normal part of the body or as a sexual plaything.  I have no problem with my kids seeing a naked body in a tasteful artistic or scientific way, but they are too young to be looking at sexual stuff even if everyone in the photo is fully clothed.

retro chic
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 08:24 am: [report]

Mainer, I saw that doc too, but check out the actual mainstream two-reelers of the day… nudity, open marriage, group sex, abortion, surrogacy, gay love/sex, an on, topics openly discussed in the dialog making films avante garde, not perv’d like now—and goes way beyond the Reefer Madness and porn clichés that make the indy circuit decades later. We gone backwards, son.

Mainer
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 08:38 am: [report]

Retro: We have gone backwards and it’s sad really. People today are so overly concerned with offending someone or protecting their kids that we are obsessed with censorship. People have become way to sensitive; we live in a overly protective world that is scared of pushing the envelope because someone, somewhere, may get their feelings hurt, or offended, or have a family member/friend/child/mail man get offended. It’s sad how much we are missing out on and the limitations that are brought on when it comes to artistic expression, such as movies and photos.

retro chic
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 08:52 am: [report]

^ Yep, backwards like the Temperance Movement triggered Prohibition—forced regulation on pseudo-morality issues, except this time we’re talking about a different nip.

The silver lining?—there will be another renaissance. And this round, I look forward to sharing equal-time with full-frontal men.

develange
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 09:01 am: [report]

Maybe if we get used to seeing REAL naked boobs in public, people will stop being all OMG BOOB about it. I doubt breasts will lose their sex appeal (just as shirtless men haven’t lost their sexiness), but at least women will stop getting arrested for “indecency” and everyone will shut up about nipple slips.

Furthermore, maybe women will stop having such hangups about their own breasts. Practically NO ONE has a symmetrical rack, and the boobs we see in porn and photographs are usually fake or photoshopped. Let’s see some real f’in breasts!!

Mainer
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 09:08 am: [report]

@ retro: Mere stages in history we’ll look back on and think of the way life “use to be.” One could get heroine shots from their doc, alcohol was banned, seat belts were not required, and tits use to be covered.

Though I’m not shy with nudity in the least, I’m not sure the male full frontal will ever be as sexy and the female. Something about the male hang-down doesn’t really seem able to capture a “classy” photo. But I suppose the requirements will be the same as they are for female models showing their goods, so we’ll just have to wait and see….

Taurwen
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 09:56 am: [report]

Wait, women aren’t allowed to go around topless in the United States?
Actually, come to think of it, is it legal in all of Canada? Or just Ontario?
Weird.

Mainer
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 09:59 am: [report]

It’s legal in NY - no law prohibiting a women from walking around topless, at least there wasn’t a law 4 years ago, not sure if that has changed or not.

Arty
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 10:16 am: [report]

The thing about this project that I don’t get is that the women aren’t in sexy poses, so even if the nipples were showing they wouldn’t be as provocative, I don’t think, as say a woman in a bikini in a sexy pose.

CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 10:21 am: [report]

I’d like to point out that The Naked Cowboy is not naked.

Shasta
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 03:57 pm: [report]

I don’t think the point is nudity.  I think the point is to determine the worth of the nipple.  I visited NipNonGrata, and agree. The lack of nipple completely de-sexualizes the breast.  Makes it seem like an arm.

Must be some evolutionary biology thing.

Shasta
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 04:04 pm: [report]

QUESTION FOR THE GUYS:

If a women didn’t have nipples would her breast be as sexy and alluring?

What about inverted nipples.  Those make is seem like the nipples don’t exist.

Gotopless.org
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 04:06 pm: [report]

Thanks for bringing out this ridiculous argument concerning womens’nipples and their unrighteous appearance in public… especially in the presence of children!!! (are hungry infants included too?????) Gotopless.org is a national organization claiming that women have the constitutional right to go sans shirt in public just like men and that human beings have the ability to adapt to this! (Europe is a living proof )... just like we have adapted to mini skirts, etc… (and our children have too without psychological side effects… imagine that!
There is a difference between nudity and sexuality and human males have the ability to control their urges to respect their counterpart. Yes!... the human brain has that capacity )  These restrictive laws treat men like mere animals. If I were a man I would feel profoundly offended by this.

Please join fpr at our upcoming National gotopless event Sunday August 23rd… see our website for places and details

bbpickles
wrote on June 9 2009 @ 08:03 pm: [report]

I am sorry, but that nipple-less picture creeps me out…

Elleohelle
wrote on June 10 2009 @ 12:27 am: [report]

I think that yes, loosing the nipples looses sexual appeal. But not in a good, ‘this is suddenly wholesome’ way, I think that a topless woman should be as permissable as a topless man. Those nippleless freaks just horrify me. It doesn’t seem natural.

brandyalexander
wrote on June 10 2009 @ 08:15 am: [report]

Just noticing how odd it is to see pictures of these women without nipples, but also, without the weird Victoria’s Secret model/porn star pose, sexualized facial expressions, etc.  They are happy and real.  Except for being nippleless, they are totally natural and normal.  The breast’s function is SO much more than sexual.  Breasts are just there.  Its the contextualization that makes us pervy about them.

wonder_bread
wrote on June 11 2009 @ 07:09 pm: [report]

the pictures look weird and a little offensive…. just respect the female body… if u can’t handle some nipple then leave it alone all together it is a beautiful body part a breast is a breast and the nipple is apart of it… a don’t think guy’s nipples are as sexualised as females so they don’t get alot of hype… but as a isaid if u can’t handle it or think its inappropriate then leave it alone altogether but breaking the breast into pieces so ppl can feel more comfortable is not neccssary

Hannah P
wrote on June 14 2009 @ 09:35 pm: [report]

This is hysterical! I think it’s almost as bad though as showing the nipple, but makes a very good point at just how much we focus on nipples.

deerhunter1926
wrote on June 15 2009 @ 09:08 am: [report]

i think women should be allowed to go topless just like the guys! what’s the big deal? my wifes nipples are like the big pencil erasers we had on the end of our pencils in grade school with small boobs. they look terrific but i can’t even get her to go bra less!? there’s a discrimination issue going on here if you ask me! more boobs/nipples in public!!!

blakeinlasvegas
wrote on September 4 2009 @ 11:45 am: [report]

silly repressed americans!

i love braless women…......

the more cleavage, nipples the better!!!

BlueVibe
wrote on September 16 2009 @ 09:08 am: [report]

I’m sorry—boobs minus nipples is creepy.  Like seeing a face with the eyes erased or something.