Followers on my Twitter may have noticed that I stuck up a topless picture. I’d love to say it was a picture of my boobs, but in fact it was only one of them, as my baps had an argument shortly after they sprouted, and haven’t spoken since.
You don’t tend to see norks like mine in the media, widely-spaced, outward-pointing and subject to the laws of gravity. In fact, you don’t see many boobs at all in the media, and when you do, it’s a very narrow range: they’re almost invariably attached to white cis women, and a certain size and shape. And when they’re presented, they’re almost always sexualised. Tits, according to the media, are sex objects. We don’t see the way they swing when you bend down to find a clean pair of socks, or the way they hang as we take our bras off after a long day. We don’t see the fun of boobs, or the fact that they can also be used to feed babies. When we’re shown boobs, we’re expected to approve of their sexiness, leer a bit and enjoy patriarchy.
The media has control over presentation of breasts, so nothing is going to change. They like having the monopoly. And it’s for this reason that our views of boobs are restricted to how the men who own these publications–the lad mags, page 3, and so on–want to see boobs. It’s a male fantasy, a sense of entitlement.
Social media, of course, presents a major challenge to the traditional media model, and this is where we can really make things happen. I posted a picture of my baps in a fairly innocuous photo, and I’d love for others to do so too. Let’s flood the world images of the genuine diversity of our bodies, and show that nudity isn’t a shameful thing at all. There’s a hashtag–#normalisenudity–and a tumblr. A few people have already participated, and I’m inviting you to, if you feel safe doing so (the tumblr will accept anonymous submissions).
Given the current state of things, given the way capitalist patriarchy has controlled nudity, I can completely understand how terrifying this is for some. I posted a picture of my jubblies because I can as well as wanting to flick a v-sign at capitalist patriarchy. But if you want to join me, please, please do. Let’s try to reclaim and normalise nudity.
ETA 03/04: Welp, men have gone and trolled the hashtag, so maybe avoid that. The tumblr’s still going strong if you want to use that though. Also, the fact that men pissed their pants over this shows that it’s threatening them 🙂
Another angry woman 
idk though that tweet was a bit smugsexual of you
NMP3 RTed it, so apparently I’m not alienating liberal feminism hard enough.
First of all you actually look far better in that photograph than you do in your twitter one in spite of the fag and brown eyes. I did not know you were only twenty eight as you write with the life experience of an older woman. Second I must disagree with you about portrayal of breasts in general. Because you left out the elephant in the room which is of course the internet. You probably think all online porn is nothing but a tool of the patriarchy but you would be wrong. O sure it is still predominantly straight but not all of it and nowadays anyone with a video camcorder can upload material onto sites and not all of them are straight men either. And remember that women watch it too. And there is much demand for amateur porn which is not obviously or even subtly stereotypical but just ordinary couples having sex as they do. Now that part of the internet is not the public media you were referring to but given its size it is relevant to reference it. So I just thought I would mention that
Reblogged this on THE RABBIT HATCH. and commented:
*salutes*
I too posted a non-sexual pic, albeit one not showing my face. My reasoning was that if the women of @thescarproject are brave enough to show their mastectomy scars then I should be brave enough to show the result of my testicular cancer – not a scar, but my empty sack, which is about as non-sexual as one can get. Solidarity.
It seems you really care about your befiefs as oppose to people who are more prepared to dye their hair than to die for any real causes be it social or political.
I commend you.
“First of all you actually look far better in that photograph than you do in your twitter one in spite of the fag and brown eyes.”
Aaaand there goes the point, flying straight over surreptitious57’s head!
I get the point but the photograph just took me by surprise and
so I had no choice but to accept it. But I try not to let anything
catch me out and most of the time it does not but occasionally
it does. I am way too old to be getting surprised anyway. But
there is not much that I can do about it once it does happen
So complicated to start a movement like this on the internet, where it can be so easily trolled – but still very much important and relevant. You’d like the vaginasofthe-world and boobsoftheworld tumblrs I think, both centered around embracing diversity of bodies and general body positivity.