Let’s talk about boobs.
Better said, let’s talk about Photoshopping boobs. It may seem like a minor editing decision, but we have to discuss what it means to Photoshop out a woman’s nipples: It can be indicative of society's bad habit of declaring which parts of the female body are acceptable for public viewing.
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Before I delve into "The Case of The Missing Nipples," let me point you a couple of instances of the issue, both of which were photographs featured as the cover of "Rolling Stone." I was taken aback when I received my "Rolling Stone" copy in the mail and caught a glimpse at the smiling Kim Kardashian West sporting a red bra and a nautical over-the-shoulder top:
In Nicki Minaj’s January 2015 "Rolling Stone" cover, her body is dripping wet, and she pulls a white tank top taut over her chest:
In both of these photos, so much of their breasts are visible that it is highly unlikely their nipples would not be showing. There are only two possible reasons for this: either the nipples are Photoshopped out, or the picture is so meticulously executed that all but the nipples are shown in the photograph. Either way, there was some serious effort put forth to show as much as possible without hinting at the existence of nipples.
So what’s the problem? In these magazine covers, 90 percent of the boobs are acceptable, but the nipple must not be seen at all. The effect is dehumanizing: it makes the women look like plastic mannequins or life-size Barbies. Why do we have to pick and choose which parts of Kim Kardashian West’s or Nicki Minaj’s or any woman’s body are acceptable? Nipples have a function and they are part of every body regardless of gender. So why pretend they don’t exist?
It's not that everyone in public has to be naked all the time. But there is an unrealistic societal interpretation of how a woman’s body should look. According to these pictures, as well as the fact that “nip slips” are fuel to shame women, and beachgoers are still shocked by topless women letting it all hang out in the sand, women’s nipples are obscene by this impossible standard.
Luckily, people are promoting this conversation through formats like the Free the Nipple movement and this hilarious trend of Photoshopping men’s nipples over women’s in order to make them “appropriate” for the public eye. Ultimately, a woman is made up of her entire body and all its functions and pieces, and to edit out any part of her deemed undesirable sends the message that the way her body is put together is wrong.
The point? Women have nipples. Get over it.
