Miley Cyrus once noted the irony of the controversy surrounding female nipples, explaining that most of society is comfortable with the rest of the breast area (side boob, underboob, cleavage), which is the part exclusive to women, but the nipple, which both men and women have, is largely prohibited from being displayed.

In the virtual world, posting female nipples violates most platforms community guidelines.
In real life, most states legislation on female toplessness is somewhat vague, banning “intimate parts” from being shown. Of course, these “intimate parts” have only been deemed so because of society’s sexualization of the female body.
Of course, it is natural for there to be an element of attraction to both the male and female bodies - otherwise there would be significantly less procreation. But when comparing the two, there is nothing inherently more sexual about a females chest than that of a mans (in fact, it serves more of a nonsexual purpose than a mans through breastfeeding, which is also banned in many states). Therefore, the problem lies in the fact that they are not treated as such under the law.

Beyond a common sense argument, #Freethenipple advocates argue that it violates the 14th amendment by creating a law that applies only to women. The New Hampshire Supreme Court dismissed this argument by ruling that it bars public nudity of both men and women, and “the traditional understanding of what constitutes nudity” includes female breasts. This is poor reasoning in the absence of any other legitimate distinction between male and female nipples, because “traditional understanding” has been overruled plenty of times. This is how traditional understanding is changed, at least in part. At one point, the traditional understanding was that everyone except for white men were inferior and the law supported this. When it was realized that there was nothing else to support this discrimination, the law was changed. At the time that the law was changed, there were still many who opposed it, but over time people got used it - and this is how society evolves.

Female nipples are similar - the only reason to ban them is because that is the status quo and people have grown accustomed to it, but this is not sufficient enough to justify discrimination that is otherwise baseless.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-topless/u-s-supreme-court-refuses-to-free-the-nipple-in-topless-women-case-idUSKBN1ZC1HQ

While I believe in freedom of speech and that everyone has a right to express themselves, I have to say that I don’t agree with this opinion. I feel that nipples should be banned from ever being shown anywhere – whether it be on social media or in the general public.

My main reason for feeling this way is because it’s become clear to me that we are living in a (highly) sexualized society. Or as Payton Saso (2019) puts it “women’s bodies have not just been sexualized but in fact have actually been hypersexualized…” What’s more, this can be seen in the deliberate way female breasts and more specifically the female nipple(s) are objectified today. It’s become a sex symbol, something to be associated with sex, indecent, crude and risqué behavior.

And while I agree with Saso that this is an uncalled for over-sexualization and should definitely not be the case, this is unfortunately the reality we are currently living in – at least with regards to this situation. It is the way society in general, the media, and even men and women have been socialized as time has gone by. Or as Saso puts it “… hardwired into society that has led to women's nipples being viewed as borderline pornographic and men's nipples being viewed as an everyday norm.”

As a result, it’s become abundantly clear that the main reason a woman’s nipples are considered private and a man’s isn’t is because a social construct has been created. I mean, there were and still are a few tribes in Africa (and South Africa) where women walk around topless and their breasts and nipples are openly displayed.

The arcane lost team (2020) confirms this by informing us that breasts weren’t always such a matter of concern like they are today. Exposed breasts were quite the norm for many indigenous societies. Also, toplessness was common in parts of India, Thailand, Indonesia, most regions of Africa and in pre-Islamic cultures in the Middle East.

Expanding on this they reveal that in countries like Laos, for example, virgin women used to be fully clothed, whereas married women with kids exposed their breasts in public because baring the breasts for breastfeeding was considered to be nonsexual. Covering of the breasts was considered a privilege, and only women of higher social and economic statuses covered their breasts.

Interestingly, they also reveal to us that western culture considered being topless in public indecent and this influenced the covering up of both breasts and nipples, promoting this as a sign of modesty.

So, my opinion stands. At this point in time (or until society and the world as a whole can achieve a level of respect where this is concerned) I do not believe that nipples are to be shown on social media or in public – it should be banned. Especially since as long as this new ‘culture’ of hyper or over sexualization of the female nipple is being cultivated, women will not be able to go topless with any sense of safety or security.

Sources:

1. Opinion: Freeing the nipple is more about freedom than nipples
   https://www.statepress.com/article/2019/02/spopinion-stop-sexualizing-the-female-nipple [accessed January 26, 2021].

2. Sexualization of Breasts - Arcane Lost
   https://arcanelost.com/sexualization-of-breasts/ [accessed January 26, 2021].

Sure go ahead. But don’t complain if Big John from the pub sexually assaults you.