Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy some good old British daytime TV. If you’re unfamiliar, most of it is total trash, a poor representative of what British telly has to offer, with the likes of Loose Women, the Jeremy Kyle Show and Antiques Roadshow being the peak of daytime viewing. My recent go-to however, has been This Morning, a late morning talk show, in which the presenters discuss current and controversial topics, often bringing in guest speakers to further their discussions. I’ll hand it to ITV, sometimes they do get it right, bringing current and relevant topics into today’s mainstream media, including issues on race, religion, gender and sexuality, in between the segments on celebrity news and high street fashion. However, don’t be misguided, this in no way places them in the running for the latest Nobel Peace Prize.
I could talk about their treatment of such topics all day- the speakers and presenters (particularly the misogynistic Eamon Holmes- why the fuck is he still employed in television?!) often seemed to have just been pulled off the street. A recent segment, however, really got my blood boiling; their discussion over whether women should have the right to go topless on holiday.
The segment questioned if this was appropriate behaviour, particularly when impressionable young children are at risk of seeing the terrifying and damaging site of women’s breasts. Eamon stated that he wouldn’t know what on earth he would do with himself when posed in such a difficult scenario, Ruth said she wouldn’t trust him and the guest speaker, a definite football mum, said nothing horrified and terrified her more than the thought of her children being exposed to such a sight. Thankfully there was a feminist speaker on there too, fighting our corner, it’s just a pity she kept getting interrupted by her closed minded opponents.
This discussion really got me thinking, and made me realise that women’s rights still have a long way to go in our society. Granted, we have it pretty lucky compared to other countries in this world, such as Afghan women, 87% percent of whom experience domestic abuse, or Saudi women, who are treated as lifelong dependents on men, or Mali, where female genital mutilation is seen as the norm. And yet, despite assumed our ethical superiority in the UK compared to the likes of these countries, women are still not viewed as equal to men, regardless of how many people will tell you we are. Public opinion towards women’s breasts is a perfect example of this.
Out in public on a hot summer’s day, particularly in parks or at the beach, you are almost guaranteed to see a topless man, roaming around with absolutely no shame in his exposed chest. If a woman tried the same thing, there is seen to be a risk of causing public upset, which in turn makes her behaviour illegal. It seems that just because I was born with a vagina and identify as a woman, I don’t get to share in these freedoms, damaging the public spirit if I attempt to do so. Failing that, I am likely to become an object of harassment from men who act like they haven’t seen a pair of tits before in their lives. All because of how I was born, with a little extra fat on my chest than my penis owning counterparts. Similarly, if a male nipple hits Instagram, it’s totally cool, but if a woman decides to show hers, it gets taken down immediately, for breaking Instagram regulation. And yet women are meant to be equal to men in today’s society, how is that supposed to work? I haven’t even gone into the high levels of sexual harassment women experience, or their treatment in the working world. Bringing it down to mere anatomy, we are still not accepted.
This causes us to question why? Why can’t men, women and children alike handle women’s exposed breasts? They are perfectly natural, practical, in fact, used for giving nutrients to our offspring. Western society is perfectly accepting of exposed skin- bikinis and speedos simply aren’t an issue to us. Yet a female nipple seems like the most insulting thing that you can expose.
It seems to come down to the sexualisation of women in today’s society. When we are exposed to breasts, it is almost always in pornography. Women’s breasts become the visual representation of sexual desire and objectification placed on women in the media, be it in magazines, video or in strip clubs. Breasts become a commodity. Because of this, people associate breasts with this highly sexualised image of womanhood, and when women expose their breasts in public, they become associated with such. I guess that this is why Eamon Holmes doesn’t feel like he can’t keep his dick in his pants whilst looking at a topless woman. And yet it’s the women that get shamed, branded as the sluts or feminazis, for fighting against a norm that has been created for us by an industry that revolves around male pleasure. Women have every right to expose their bodies and be empowered in doing so.
This topic can transcend into many other current feminist issues. For example, school girls are told to wear long skirts, due to the risk of overly exposed flesh in the face of male teachers. Women dressed in boob bearing outfits are often branded ‘sluts’, revealing too much flesh with the assumed hope to sleep with every guy in the club, which can often lead to their blame over issues of sexual harassment and rape. Our bodies act as symbolism for our over-sexualised society, and are used as a scapegoat for men, who simply are not taught to respect women. We need to stop trying to control women, and instead encourage them to be empowered in their own bodies, to wear what they want, how they want. Men need to be taught not to rape, harass and sexualise women’s bodies. Unfortunately, this may prove hard, in a society where the male-centered porn industry is absolutely thriving.
Luckily, some progress is being made, be it slowly. Movements like Free the Nipple have started to emerge, and more recognition is being given to this topic in the western world thanks to women’s rights activists. Okay the This Morning segment was giving a pretty weak side of the discussion to the argument, but at least the discussion is entering the mainstream. We still have a long way to go, but at least the discussion has begun. Hopefully with the rise of the feminist millennial generation, and the increased support for feminist groups will mean that the backwards views of women’s rights will diminish with each coming generation. Maybe one day I’ll be able to get my boobs out on a sunny day in the UK and not be slut shamed. One day.
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