June 26, 2009

nipples

There’s been a lot of ink spilled on the death of Farrah Fawcett—even the august New York Times has more than half a page today. Like the rest of the mainstream media, it gingerly avoids the n-word: nipple. But nipples are why Farrah Fawcett signifies; she embodied quite an important cultural shift in US society.

I kinda stopped watching teevee before Charlie’s Angels came out, but I’ve never heard anyone argue that it was one of the great masterpieces of the medium or that, with better politics, the then FFM would have rivalled Vanessa Redgrave or Jane Fonda.



Cultural achievement was not why the red swimsuit poster became ubiquitous in the late ‘70s. It was because you could see her nipples right through the damn fabric.

Observers have long noted that American males, the straight ones anyhow, tend to have deep-seated breast fixations, and psychiatrists and anthropologists and creative people in diverse artistic fields have responded in their own ways to this fact. But there have been changes within that general pattern.

In the decades before Farrah Fawcett arrived on the scene, the sexualization of breasts in film and photography was centered on the size of breasts and particularly on cleavage. Think Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield. Cleavage is fairly artificial, the product of confining clothing designed to produce it (or fake it). And it has nothing to with the actual erotic zones on the breasts. It emphasizes the preparation of the female as passive object for consumption by the male gaze.

But the claiming of sexual agency by women was a part of the ‘60s upsurge and of the modern women’s movement born during it. The red swimsuit poster marked the mainstreaming of the nipple (and underscored the then-shocking symbolic dumping of painfully restrictive women’s undergarb enacted at the Miss America pageant less than a decade earlier).

This was, I’ll argue, a historic advance for materialism and for democracy. Nipples are, among other things, full of actual nerves which can carry actual sexual sensations. Even in guys. And pretty much everybody is born with them. Even guys.

I make no giant claims that Farah Fawcett ended the sexual objectification of women, nor even that the real advances in sexual enjoyment and equality she symbolized are solid—look what happened to Janet Jackson. But she deserves credit for the role she played, not the pussyfooting around we’ve been treated to since her death.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh great. Way to celebrate the commodification of gringa nipples. Like, real empowerful, right? What a step ahead.

:: not ::

-Elaina Gibbs

Anonymous said...

I'd say the nipple revolution dates to Carly Simon's "No Secrets" album, 1972.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2pje5lZaB1I/SgBRqzPwsZI/AAAAAAAAAUY/9nu_a2O-Hdo/s320/carly_simon_album.jpg

Anonymous said...

In many ways FF was a construct of the hollywood image factory. She was 70ss Norma Jean "Marilyn Monroe." What's interesting is Farrah wanted to be a serious actor. She fought for greater creative freedom on TV and left Charlie's Angels after only 1 season to act in more dramatic roles. And the Hollywood establishment was furious at her and punished her for it. And while she was quite good in many dramatic roles her adoring public didnt want to see a serious Farrah.

Today women in hollywood have much more creative and artistic freedom to be sexy and be serious. From Angelina Jolie being an spokesperson for the UN to 21 year old porn star Sasha Grey writing about existentialism and the state of Palestine. Farrah paved the way. Lastly these past few years FF fought a tenacious and very public battle with cancer. She died fighting and that's no small thing.

Saoirse

Anonymous said...

Commodification, that's fer shure!!!

It's interesting that, compared to several serious discussion FotM has attempted to begin (Tien Anmen, everal posts, police murder of Black youth, the murder of Dr.Tillman, etc., etc.) only Farrah and the GM's consumerization of the military HUMVEE managed to gety more than a cursory response. Yeah, it ALL about buying and selling shit.

Unknown said...

I personally think that beautiful woman should expose your breasts if men can do it in ads why not women well that my opinion. and God bless beautiful woman everywhere.💯❤️