I've been thinking about women's liberation, today. For a woman to be truly liberated, her humanity must also be liberated. There comes a point where a woman's issues become the same as issues faced by both genders. It follows that a truly liberated woman must be liberated from not only sexist men's affronts, but women's sexist affronts. This thing about the Governor of Michigan brings this back to my mind.
Here, we are discussing nudity and sexualization of the entire species. There are double standards to consider. Men's breasts are free, innocuous. Women's are sexualized, deemed obscene, judged to a standard of beauty, even criticized for not upholding those standards of beauty. The owner is discounted and even dismissed for breast, they can be the wrong look, they can be "exposed" instead of just seen, and that act alone can eliminate the owner, define the owner, have the owner rejected in several ways. Showing too much, or too little can make or break a career in a moment, it still can be used by, or against a Governor.
In the early 1970's there was a period when liberation from the shackles of a bra put an end to much of this. Bras were publicly burned in protest and rebellion from status quo structures. It was empowering. It was a symbolic statement of defiance. It was a liberation. Women's breast were okayed in any size and shape. Women were proud and accepted their natural beauty, whether they jiggled as she walked, or were evident when the lady bent over and they separated from her blouse. It was body acceptance. The nipple was pushing out it was a fact of life. Where I lived, they were so prevalent, that they became a norm. Nipples were a curiosity, not so much a sexual titillation. Women and men were both celebrating female breasts. Who before had seen so many, who could know that such fascinating variety could exist? Women lost their fears and shame for not having huge bullets like the movies. Nobody stuffed their bras anymore. Nobody had to hide, or to lie. I remember young women, proudly, defiantly coming out without Kleenex in their bras for the first time and defiantly stating, "No more." That was a cool thing to do.
Still there was a persistence of ideal bodies. Men and women had to compete for the attentions of desirable mates. Still, there was the lack of liberation of the bottom and genitals that both sexes had to deal with. Still, there was law and social confinement and shame.
It was a step, a powerful step, toward full body liberation and social equality of genders. With such news making bravado and context changing, revolutionary change, it worked. I would like to see nudity hitch a ride on another humanity liberating bandwagon. A woman, or a man who has to hide her, or his body, for all of the wrong reasons, is not free, will not be equal and is in fact dehumanized in more than just a physical context.
The thing was...somewhere, somebody crapped out. Women, who should have been leading us further, chickened out. Bras, shame and subjugation are still here. Women felt as sex objects again with their breast freed. They seemed to forget what it symbolized to dump bras. A woman in business, or career, wanted to be sexless. She didn't feel taken seriously by being any kind of sexy. She stopped celebrating her humanity, because she denigrated her body and the nature of sexuality.
They are breasts, it's just a body, take a look and get over your curiosity, so we can move on.
What I'm thinking today, is women can't be liberated, they can't be equals, unless we all are liberated, from social and legal coersions and attitudes and habits. By self awareness. It will be confusing and messy. It will take extremes before balance to shake down our silliness.
Jbee
