Baffled About Breasts

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last decade, you probably remember seeing this lovely little dress. On national television.

And who can forget this? I'll spare you the image of what came next. Whether you were offended or not, it just wasn't pretty.

No doubt you've seen something like this or this in all kinds of public places. Museums, restaurants, schools, churches.

And you can always find these anywhere near water.

When it's very public, as it was in the first two instances, many people are offended. They write angry letters. Conservative action groups chime in with cries of "Off with their heads!"

But even those who are offended are usually glad to let these things blow over.

When the skin-baring is right in front of us, we wouldn't dream of saying a word. Especially not to the person's face.

That would be rude.

First of all, it's none of our business.

And it's just a little skin, right? They have a right to express themselves.

And what's wrong with being sexy?

Truly, the extent to which the female body is exposed and exploited in our society is staggering.

We're exposed to a mind-numbing daily stream of skin.

Breasts, it seems, make cameras especially happy.

Breasts are really very useful. Add a little cleavage and you can sell anything.

Cars.
Hamburgers.
Clothing.
Magazines.

Those breasts are quite versatile.

And lucrative!

Ask any advertising exec. A couple of double D's can come in really handy.

Most of us go placidly and unquestioningly along with all of this.

That's just the way it is.

Many would argue that the baring of skin and a fascination with the nude female body is hardly a modern, western phenomenon.

And they'd be absolutely right.

From the dawn of time the body of the female, the goddess, has been painted, sculpted, passionately honored and adored.

The earliest societies were filled with images of the nude female.

And most of those societies went far beyond our level of fascination. They worshipped the female body outright.

Some might bandy the word "worship" around when describing our society's current attitude toward women's bodies.

They'd be wrong.

There's a vast difference between worship and fixation, between appreciation and exploitation.

Once upon a time, both men and women held an endless sense of awe and gratitude for all that a woman's body could do. Intimacy was sacred. There was deep adoration and reverence for a woman's ability to bring forth and nurture life.

Last month, a woman named Emily Gillette found out just how much attitudes have changed over the centuries.

Apparently this is a perfectly acceptable way to associate breasts with food.

But this is offensive, inappropriate and disgusting. Grounds for being asked to leave an airplane.

You see, as a society, we are mostly interested in what a woman's body looks like and what that kind of eye candy can sell for us, or do for us, especially for men.

And that has turned a woman's body from something sacred to an object of either passion or disdain.

We can see a woman's body as dirty or lucrative, provocative or beautiful.

But many of us are completely incapable of seeing a nursing breast, whether covered or not, as amazing, nourishing and worthy of simple respect.

I'm astonished at how far we've come.

And I'd like to think that we're better than this.