A friend was recently talking about those fake nipples that one can wear if she (or he?) desires to display visible nipples while still enjoying the support services of a brassiere. I’ve seen them before and they look like baby bottle nipples to me. They look rather large and rubbery–and I wonder how they adhere. My friend was coming from the perspective of–aren’t women embarrassed of or at least uncomfortable with visible nipples anyway.
Of course, I can only speak for myself here, but my answer is NO. Visible nipples do not embarrass me nor make me uncomfortable. I have certain appearance-oriented hang-ups, but I have never really been overly self-conscious about my breasts, even though they are small and the general consensus seems to be that men prefer big, juicy melons. First of all, what do I care about the typical male’s aesthetic preferences? Secondly, I think that general consensus might just be a misconception or a myth. I’m sure some men love big breasts–and I’m sure others favor small, perky ones–and I’m sure plenty of people enjoy a variety of shapes, sizes, and body types. I certainly enjoy beholding a variety of female forms–and I can appreciate both skinny and voluptuous.
But back to the realm of nipples. When I was younger, I wore bras because that was just what one was supposed to do, right? However, at some point, I thought to myself, ‘You know, I don’t really need the support, so why am I wearing bras anyway?’ I never thought that bras were hideously uncomfortable, but I did think that they were at least mildly annoying, what with the straps slipping hither & thither and the clasps occasionally coming unfettered and the fabric wrinkling or bunching, etc… Maybe part of my problem was that I never took the time for a proper brassiere sizing, but the most annoying detail to me was the often inconsistent fit of my bras. I really don’t want an undergarment that looks wrinkly or lumpy beneath my shirt–and I certainly don’t desire the unnatural fiber fill aesthetic of a padded brassiere. My solution was to just stop wearing bras altogether.
Yes, this results in my nipples sometimes sticking out through my shirts, but I don’t really think or care about that too much. Well, every once in a while, at work, I might experience a feeling of fleeting impropriety and feel temporarily compelled to cross my arms in front of my chest while walking. But really, what is so inappropriate about nipples? I mean we all have them; we’ve all seen them. I realize they’re viewed as a somewhat sexualized feature on women. I realize there are situations that might seem to call for a little more discretion or professionalism. In such scenarios, I can always wear a tank top beneath my shirt to tone down the nipple action to an extent–but overall, I don’t much care if my nipples are showing. Is this overly immodest or uncouth or provocative of me?
Furthermore, I have my nipples pierced and the little metal ball parts of the hoops actually show through many of my shirts, too–so to those who are clueless, it probably looks like I have two sets of nipples or mutant bisected nipples. Double the fun or double the impropriety?
Are visible nipples no big deal or blatantly inappropriate? And if indeed they are blatantly inappropriate, then what is the point of fake nipple products? Does overemphasizing an already overly sexualized body part make matters even sexier by breaching some kind of societal taboo? Or is it another strange illustration of a sexual double standard in our society–an idea along the lines that if you’re going to try to be sexy at all, you’d better be sexy in an overexaggerated way; otherwise, you’d better keep it all under wraps.
