Toplessness and the Sexualization of Breasts

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:hibiscus: | Introduction | :hibiscus:

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The sexualization of women’s bodies,

particularly as pertaining to their upper

half, has a long and complex history.

Toplessness refers to, “the state in which

a woman's breasts, including her areola

and nipples, are exposed, especially in a

public place or in a visual medium.

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In hunter-gatherer cultures in warm climates

nudity had been the social norm for both

men and women. With this, it’s no surprise

that Toplessness was a normal and socially

accepted practice in much of early

history and in ancient, as well as

indigenous societies.

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However, western countries have social

norms around female modesty, often

enforced by legal statutes, that require

women to cover their breasts in public.

Through colonization, war, and more,

societies where breast exposure was once

widely accepted has greatly decreased

or ceased altogether in its allowance of

toplessness.

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So today we’ll be exploring:

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: What is Toplessness?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: What happened to it?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: What caused the change?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Where was Toplessness accepted?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: What are the Societal Effects?

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Sources of information have been credited,

to the best of my abilities. Some information

is directly quoted from its sources.

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:boom: | How it Happened | :boom:

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Toplessness was a common practice

throughout much of history, and even

still is in some cultures, today — so what

happened?

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Well, attitudes towards toplessness have

varied in great amounts across cultures and

over time. As communities have changed, so,

too, have their standards — including that

on how to dress.

This can be primarily associated to

the spread of religion and culture from

mostly European nations as they

took over and colonized indigenous

peoples. As for what caused the shift in

Europeans: Christianity. The same can be

said for the Middle East, as Islam spread

there through conquering peoples, also.

In doing so, they brought their religion

and culture with them, and religious

standards for modesty heavily frowned

upon acts such as toplessness. ⠀

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:star: | Symbolism & Significance | :star:

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In modern societies, breasts, as visible

signs of femaleness, are most strongly

associated with two competing discourses

of womanhood: the breast as an object

of sexual desire, versus the breast as a

signifier of motherhood.

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With this, there also exists the constant

monitoring as to whether too much or not

enough breast is visible in various social

situations, including dress codes at

workplaces and schools.

Such practices serve to curtail women’s

autonomy and infantilize women.

Such cultural messaging can lead to

enormous pressure for women to

scrutinize aspects of their own identity

and body and may also condition women

to disconnect from their breasts,

understanding the breasts as “other,”

and as residing on the body rather than

being of the body.

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The other signification of the breast is

often decidedly non-sexual and not for

display, the breast of motherhood.

The debate over breastfeeding is an

example of this. There is tremendous

pressure aimed at women in the rhetoric

for and against the breastfeeding of

children.

Contemporary Western culture codes

breasts as erotic objects. Much of the

discomfort and shaming surrounding

public breastfeeding stems from the

overwhelming understanding of breasts

as sexually arousing to the viewer.

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But what is often overlooked in

discussions about the sexual appeal of

breasts is the fact that they have not

always been regarded as irresistibly

attractive in all points in history and

across all cultures.

Other parts of women’s bodies have

been viewed as more enticing than

breasts, including buttocks, legs, ankles,

hair, and feet. Bound feet (or the “golden

lotus”) in ancient China had strong erotic

connections and acts that could be

performed with them were detailed in

illustrated sex manuals.

The body parts that different cultures

fetishise are often those that must be

covered by clothing.

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In the words of author Elizabeth Wilson,

in her 1985 book Adorned in Dreams:

Fashion and Modernity:

”Even in societies whose

ordinarily wear few clothes, it is said to

be customary to dress up for dancing

ceremonies and other occasions on

which sexual interest is likely to be

aroused. It is often said that dress

enhances sexual attraction because it

both reveals and conceals the body.”

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In addition, it has also been speculated

that the attraction to the human breast is

due to some some signaling value in

communicating fertility and plays a role

in physical attractiveness.

Moreover, the breasts play a key role in

female sexual arousal and we are

beginning to understand why in of

hormones and neuroscience. ⠀

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🇮🇳 | India History | 🇮🇳

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Toplessness was the norm for women

among several indigenous peoples of

South India until the 19th or early 20th

century, including...

• the Tamils along the Coromandel Coast

• Tiyan and other peoples on the Malabar Coast

• Kadar of Cochin Island

• Toda

• Cheruman (Pulayar)

• Kuruba

• Koraga

• Nicobarese

• the Uriya

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In some parts of northern India at

various times before the Muslim conquest

of India, some women did not wear an

upper garment. Women and men

typically wore an antriya on the lower

body and were nude from the waist up,

aside from pieces of jewelry.

In fact, in India, toplessness was often a

sign of class, depending on the region:

Before Muslims entered north India in the

12th-16th centuries, only upper-class

women covered their breasts; in the

southwest region of Kerala, the majority

ethnic group (Malayali) only allowed

women of the Brahmin (priests and

teachers) and Kshatriya (the ruling and

military elite) castes to wear tops until 1858,

when the Kingdom of Travancore granted

all women the right to cover their breasts

in public.

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🇮🇩 | Indonesia History | 🇮🇩

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In the Indonesian region, toplessness

was the norm among the Dayak, Javanese,

and the Balinese people of Indonesia

before the introduction of Islam and

with Western cultures.

In Javanese and Balinese societies,

women had gone topless to work or rest

comfortably.

Among the Dayak, only big breasted

women or married women with sagging

breasts covered their breasts because

their breasts interfered with their work.

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:earth_africa: | Africa History | :earth_africa:

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Among Himba women of northern

Namibia and Hamar of southern Ethiopia,

besides other traditional groups in Africa,

the social norm is for women to be

bare-breasted.

Female toplessness can also constitute

an important aspect of indigenous

cultural celebrations.

For example, in the annual Reed Dance

festival mature girls between the ages of

16 and 20 dance topless before the Zulu king.

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:izakaya_lantern: | Middle-East History | :izakaya_lantern:

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Toplessness was the norm in some

pre-Islamic cultures in Arabia, Egypt, Assyria

and Mesopotamia.

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:maple_leaf: | Europe History | :maple_leaf:

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The Enlightenment was when toplessness

started becoming taboo; until around the

year 1700, toplessness was quite a bit

more common than it is today, ankles and

legs being more risqué at the time.

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Although royal nipples were rarely

depicted in paintings, court ladies were

sometimes painted with one breast

exposed—showing both breasts in a

painting probably meant you were a

"mistress"—and many women (including

Queen Mary II of William and Mary University)

walked around with one or both breasts

out of their bodices. Dressing tables, too,

stayed stocked with nipple makeup, in an

orange-red carnelian shade.

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The Victorian era saw a dip into what we

imagine as the Victorian era: stupid

costumes of many layers. Profoundly

affected by her mother's strong dedication

to sexual decorum, Queen Victoria

eliminated customs that suggested sex

stuff during her reign from 1837 to 1901.

Toplessness was but one casualty.

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🇵🇭 | Philippines History | 🇵🇭

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Before the arrival of the first group of

Spaniards in the Philippine islands on the

shores of Cebu, under the leadership of

Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, the ancient

native Filipinos already had their own

sexual and relationship practices.

In 10th-century Philippines, Filipino historian

Ambeth R. Ocampo described that during

19th-century Philippines the sexually

attractive female body parts of the time

were the "bare arms, a good neck or nape"

and "tiny rosy feet".

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As a part of the process of converting

ancient native Filipinos into Catholicism, the

Spaniard missionaries promoted Christian

ideas of the wife's fidelity to her husband,

premarital virginity, the notion of a woman's

role as a "nurturing mother", and the

reverence of the Virgin Mary.

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🇹🇭 | Thailand History | 🇹🇭

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Between the years of 1939 and 1942,

Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram—the

Prime Minister and essential dictator of

Thailand at the time—issued a series of 12

”Cultural Mandates" to get the country

"civilized." (Westernized.) (It was World

War II, and he ired Hitler.)

Before the introduction of Western dress

codes, Thai women were depicted both

fully clothed and topless in public.

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Until the early 20th century, women from

northern Thailand wore a long tube-skirt

(Pha-Sin), tied high above their waist

and below their breasts, which were

uncovered.

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In the late 19th century the influence of

missionaries and modernization under

King Chulalongkorn encouraged local

women to cover their breasts with blouses.

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:earth_americas: | Americas History | :earth_americas:

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During the summer, it was common in

many Native American tribes for both men

and women to only wear a loincloth.

Bathing in rivers and lakes was likely

entirely in the nude.

In addition, women breastfed freely in

the presence of others.

Among the Chumash people of southern

California, men were usually naked, and

women were often topless.

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During the cold and winter months, many

tribes of course wore clothes, but in

many cases it was different from what

we see today as “traditional” Native dress.

One has to also keep in mind that the

Natives were intelligent people. Many

quickly adopted the styles of European

clothing, both because it would make them

seem less like “savages” to the Europeans,

and also because, in many cases, they

saw some of the practicality.

It is also important to note that current

or modern day Native American dress

has been influenced by the Europeans

since they arrived to the Americas.

Even what the Europeans chose to depict

as the original clothing of the Natives

may not be accurate. It is very likely that

many depictions were made different

from what they were actually seeing, in

order for them to be palatable to what

the Europeans considered “moral”.

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It is also worth noting that this by no means

applied to all of the Native Americans — far

from it, in fact.

While there were Native Americans such as

those of the Amazon Basin, who usually

went nude or nearly nude; there were other

similar cultures that had different standards.

For example, other native North Americans

avoided total nudity, and the Native Americans

of the mountains and west of South America,

such as the Quechuas, kept quite covered.

These taboos normally only applied to

adults; Native American children often went

naked until puberty if the weather permitted

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In 1498, at Trinity Island, Trinidad,

Christopher Columbus found the women

entirely naked, whereas the men wore a light

girdle called guayaco.

At the same epoch, on the Para Coast of

Brazil, the girls were distinguished from the

married women by their absolute nudity.

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:palm_tree: | Hawaii History | :palm_tree:

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In traditional Hawaii, nudity was not seen

primarily as being sexual. Warm climate

often dictates less clothing.

The basic dress was a malo (loin cloth)

for adult males and a leaf or tapa (bark)

skirt for adult females. The female breasts

were not covered.

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However, nudity did have many important

non-sexual reasons for significance.

For example, Nudity was sometimes used

as being a symbol for death or punishment,

lamentation and anguish; as a ceremonial

condition that could be a sign of submission

or of resignation, or as an appeal for

forgiveness; or even as a sign of respect,

or as a sign of respect extended not

merely to the Highest Chief or Chiefess,

but even to their bearers or possessions.

In fact, an individual seen nude out of a

ritualized context was considered to be

pupule (crazed) with grief, not lustful

(Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, pp. 107, 183).

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So despite not being sexual, Nudity, such

as toplessness, was still ritualized in

many manners of their society.

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:ocean: | South Pacific History | :ocean:

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In the South Pacific, toplessness was

common, prior to with Western

missionaries, but is less common today.

(Noteably, on the French territory of

Moorea, toplessness is common.)

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In the Marshall Islands, women were

traditionally topless before with

Western missionaries and still do not

sexually objectify female breasts as is

common in much of Western society.

Marshall Island women typically swim in

their muumuus which today are made of

a fine polyester that dries quickly.

Wearing of bikinis and one-piece,

breast-covering swimsuits in the Marshall

Islands is mainly seen at Western.

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🇰🇵 | Korea History | :kr:

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In the 16th century, women's jeogori

(an upper garment) was long, wide, and

covered the waist.

A heoritti (허리띠) or jorinmal (졸잇말) was

worn to cover the breasts.

The trend of wearing a short jeogori with

a heoritti was started by the gisaeng and

soon spread to women of the upper class.

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Among women of the common and

lowborn classes, a practice emerged in

which they revealed their breasts after

childbirth to proudly indicate that they

had given birth to a son, i.e., a male heir.

American Traveler Harry A. Franck remarked

that they "displayed to the public gaze exactly

that portion of the torso which the women of

most nations take pains to conceal."

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✝ | Religion’s Role | ☪

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The spread of Religion and culture with

a great focus on morality and modesty

played a MASSIVE role in why many

cultures and peoples stopped socially

accepting the practice of toplessness.

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Catholics, Christians, Muslims, and so on

brought with them their beliefs the

morally-based belief that remaining pure

from sexuality until marriage was a good,

moral and desired choice.

It is evident that throughout history

religion has been used by societies in

pursuit of trying to repress female

sacredness or subordinate it to male control.

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Consequently the natural and free

expression of female sexuality has been

repeatedly silenced and suppressed in

all major world religions including both

monotheistic traditions in the West and

those of the East.

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The old European Goddess traditions

abound with female divinity symbols,

and the more commonly found pregnant

goddesses, as symbols of mother earth,

all of which indicate the importance of the

female in fertility practices and sexuality.

Sexuality at this that, seemed to (at least

from the modern religious perspective)

be revered by these cultures as sacred.

”It seems that the goddess cultures felt

very strongly that sex and intercourse

were holy — heirophanies: revelations of

the sacred, ways to union with the sacred…

the sexual activities of the temple women,

the goddess’s closest devotees, were

acts of worship, not debauchery.”

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In fact, in ancient Mesopotamia, all

prostitution was, by definition, sacral —

because the sexual act was a natural

force working for the well being of the

human race and was a power personified

in the goddess Inanna / Ishtar.

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However, sexual freedom for women was

largely eradicated with the arrival of

literate societies and the establishment

of formal religious settings.

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Judaism and Christianity from their

conceptions have been highly concerned

with the concept of sin and its relationship

to women. The need to diminish and

control women’s sexuality is central to this

process. “From a woman sin had its

beginning, and because of her we all die.”

Virginity was highly prized by Christians,

as there was a firm belief that “the

intellect or soul longs to be separated

from the body, which drags it down from

its true spiritual home.”

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The association of women to the body

however, made their position somewhat

inferior to men, who were aligned with

the mind and spirit.

By the 4thcentury CE, an influential

theologian named Augustine expanded

on the view of women as ‘body,’ and

linked them to temptation and sin, making

their position “sexually dangerous to men,”

and therefore women were urged to

renounce sexuality completely in order to

overcome their innate carnality which

was somehow seen as more pronounced

than in men.

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As religion is so fundamental to humanity’s

need to assess and contextualize its

moral and spiritual actions and reactions,

including feelings about sexuality, the

absence of s of pleasure and

freedom in women’s sexuality from the

religious discourses in all major world

religions has done a great deal of harm in

shaping the sexual identity of young girls

and women throughout the world.

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Additionally, such religious beliefs have

been used as a crutch to justify acts such

as slut-shaming.

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:cherry_blossom: | Slut Shaming | :cherry_blossom:

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According to a study conducted by the

American Association of University Women,

slut-shaming is one of the most common

forms of sexual harassment that students in

middle and high school deal with.

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Slut Shaming is best defined as, “the

practice of criticizing people, especially

women and girls, who are perceived to

violate expectations of behavior and

appearance regarding issues related to

sexuality.”

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Examples of slut-shaming include being

criticized or punished for:

• dressing in perceived provocative ways

• requesting access to birth control

• having premarital, casual, etc., sex

• engaging in prostitution

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The term may also be applied in cases

when a victim is being blamed for their own

rape and/or sexual assault.

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Author Jessalynn Keller stated, "The phrase

[slut-shaming] became popularized

alongside the SlutWalk marches and

functions similarly to the 'War on Women,'

producing affective connections while

additionally working to reclaim the word

'slut' as a source of power and agency

for girls and women."

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The act of Slut-shaming can be done

by people of either sex; and, likewise,

victims are not still strictly women.

The action of slut-shaming can be

considered to be a form of social

punishment and is an aspect of sexism,

as well as female intrasexual competition.

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The topic of slut-shaming sheds light on

the social issues that are associated with

the double standard. This is because

slut-shaming is usually toward girls and

women, and boys and men usually do

not get slut-shamed.

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:tulip: | Slut Shaming’s Effects | :tulip:

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For many people, the double standard is

frustrating. While boys may usually

receive praise and adoration for proof of

their sexual conquests, girls are branded

as loose, easy, a slut, a skank, or a whore.

Girls are often left with a sense of deep

humiliation, shame, embarrassment, and

pain. They also may feel worthless and

hopeless and resort to self-bullying and

eating disorders to cope.

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Also, according to the American Association

of University Women, many girls who

have been slut-shamed often have

body-image issues and depression, anxiety,

and thoughts of suicide linked to slut-shaming.

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There are numerous reports of young

girls who were sexually shamed that later

took their own lives, such as Amanda Todd,

Jesse Logan, Hope Witsell, Sarah Lynn Butler,

Phoebe Prince, Felicia Garcia, and more.

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If you are having suicidal thoughts,

the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

at 1-800-273-8255 for and

assistance from a trained counselor.

If you or a loved one are in immediate

danger, call 911.

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Slut-shaming is particularly powerful as

a psychological weapon because of the

atmosphere of shame and silence that

surrounds sex in general in most parts of

the modern world; sex itself is seen as

shameful, to be a woman who has

somehow transgressed sexual mores is

more so, and to be publicly seen to do so

is essentially a triple shot.

Because shame is basically a reputational

threat, it separates people from those

around them, marking them out with a

version of the "scarlet letter." It's likely to

add to a sense of isolation and pervasive

distrust; it's also thought that isolation is

likely one of the big contributors to the rates

of self-harm following slut-shaming behavior.

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Slut shaming can also impact us in how

it promotes double standards in school

and social media, which then causes us

to feel unsure and terrible about ourselves.

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One group did a documentary titled,

“Shame: A Documentary on School Dress

Code” — in it, many of the school girls

interviewed expressed their feelings

about the dress codes and said how they

felt embarrassed and ashamed about

being “called out” for “revealing” outfits

that show their collarbones. They felt it

was “difficult to find acceptable clothes for

schools, that the rules are not uniformly

enforced, and that it’s absurd to be forced to

missed class because of these unfair standards”.

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🪨 | Sources | 🪨

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:large_blue_diamond: | Academic Journals | :large_blue_diamond:

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Briand, Greta; Peters, Ruth (2010)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: University of Warwick. 5 May 2004.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: “Psychosocial aspects of female

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ topless behavior on Australian

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ beaches". Journal of Sex Research

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:large_orange_diamond: | Articles & More | :large_orange_diamond:

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Dead Ideas

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: BBC

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Vice

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Living Heritage

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: ChiangMai1

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Web Archive

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: “Wang ocheonchukguk jeon”

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: The Royal Gazette

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Habiba

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: BBC - 2

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Independent UK

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: HeinOnline

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Indecent Exposure - Web Archive

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Feministezine

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ :black_small_square: Wikipedia

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