Oct 14

Oct 14 Thoughts on (Female) Nudity

The past few weeks I’ve been pondering how our society interprets the female body, and (in my own little progressive bubble) wondering how these present-day interpretations could be so ridiculous and (ridiculously) still exist. Just a few examples to give you the lay of the land:

Up until 2015, in my province of Alberta, Canada, nipples and underboob were not allowed in burlesque shows, and Alberta “has been one of the few jurisdictions north of the Rio Grande in which burlesque performers have been forced to take the stage in full bras”. But why such strict rules, you ask? What possible danger could a little nipple or underboob create? Apparently, “Alberta officials were continuing defending the strict anti-bare-breasts policy as a ‘safety measure’ to prevent lust-crazed men from assaulting performers.” Victim blaming at its best!
Now entertainers’ (female) nipples are allowed… depending on the venue. And the event. And the liquor license. Because obviously, humans can’t be expected to drink AND see (female) nipples OR THE WORLD WILL SURELY IMPLODE.
I keep writing “female” nipples because equality of nipples in public… kind of exists in Canada? Women across the country have fought and won cases across the country, but there’s no official law in the books of the Supreme Court of Canada, meaning that each new case hangs in the balance at the whim of a (statistically male) judge. Interestingly—and completely in-line with our sexist history—male nipples have been legal in America since the 1940s.
Speaking of which, Instagram has been banning naked or almost-naked bodies from its platform, and aggravatingly, specifically banning female nipples but not male nipples.
In movies, nudity and sex often receive more public censure than violence. Because the only thing worse than a violent beheading is a bare boob, am I right? Surely it’s better to let our children watch gruesome, mass murders on TV than be exposed to a sweet, consensual love scene. Because if life imitates art, we’d rather humans learned about violence than lovemaking, and went out and murdered someone rather than go out and have sex… wait, what?

Despite being surrounded by a culture that says my nipples are illegal (most likely illegal, they won’t confirm so that they can keep us on our toes and in a perpetual state of fear-mongering, obviously), and that my body and sexuality are more dangerous than a gun or a war, here are some serious “What if?” questions I’ve been pondering.