âYour body is a templeâ Thatâs what we, as women, are told constantly as a way to justify the restrictions that are put on our physical appearances in the public eye. Itâs often forgotten that female modesty is not only often enforced in conservative populations, but is also encouraged in our very own country. Portrayals of the male and female bodies in media are at opposite ends of the spectrum. How many movies have you watched where a man is featured shirtless or half-naked? How often do you see a topless girl, or a girl with fuller breasts in those movies? Better yet, what kinds of movies feature these kinds of girls at all? Shows as underrated as PG provide shirtless boys and men in their content. Is this not the same kind of âprovocativenessâ that earns movies the âadult contentâ label because they may show some breasts here and there? Is this not deserving of the same censorship that a female character will receive because maybe she didnât wear a bra one day and her nipples were poking holes into the eye balls of horny little teenage boys who stayed up late to watch American Pie? (Granted, American Pie is dubbed rated R for many other reasons, but all the same, there are thousands of other movies that really donât mean to provide the sort of dirty humor American Pie does, but just want the world to know that itâs ok if a woman bears her breasts because who is it really harming anyway?). The size of a femaleâs breast often plays a factor in what kind of role she may play in a movie; younger girls with bigger chests may not fit the image of a regular child, or older women with smaller chests who audition for raunchier roles may not be sexy enough. Insecurities of breast size and shape are very common, and they are brought on, arguably, strictly by the media. Breasts are edited in magazines and on television to make up âthe perfect lookâ, and the real varieties of size, shape, color, pointiness, sagginess, perkiness (etc). of the breast is wiped from our realities.
Not only does media brandish the female body, but it gives leeway to the way women are treated in public spaces. Because of the idiotic notion that breasts are to be seen as purely sexual, breastfeeding mothers are shamed for feeding their babies, even forbidden from doing so in many places. The constant projection of female sexuality through their breasts and asses makes us forget that all they are is lumps of fat clustered in designated areas. The lumps on a femaleâs chest are often used as a source of nutrients for their babies and the lumps on our lower backs are used as.. well.. you know. The important thing is, the need for these to be more than what they really are takes away from our abilities to claim them. They are no longer ours when men are supposed to be the ones that tug on them and play with them. They are no longer ours when we canât choose where and when to reveal them. Why is it that men can walk around shirtless on a hot summer day, but women canât? Men have breasts too. Men have nipples too. They have all the components of a regular boob. Why are ours supposed to be something that we are ashamed of?
