# Showing Cleavage Then Covering It- Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2013, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892 "2013-01-21T07:42:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/301 "2013-01-25T23:25:54Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Ima show him my stapler. Are you going to let him stare at it, though? ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/302 "2013-01-25T23:42:46Z")
> [@l1I235](#): > > \*I will be your father figure, Put your tiny hand in mine. > > I will be your preacher, teacher…\* > > For most women, breasts are not a choice. They just kind of happen. The vast majority of women have them. A hat, a tie, etc, are all choices. The vast majority of women understand that analogies are imperfect. > [@epbrown01](#): > > That’s not the dichotomy. There are men and there are guys. Men are adults, the mature version of a human male, capable of exercising self control in all areas of their lives. Guys are immature males that sometimes never progress pass those early years of puberty despite their biological age. They have little control in most areas and blame everyone else for that lack of control. Like children, you have to hide what you don’t want them to have, because they don’t have the maturity to manage their impulses. > > As an adult, you should be able to walk through an office full of buck-naked supermodels without batting an eye or dropping your gaze. That’s a man. Think of any male icon, real or fictional - James Bond, Norman Schwarzkopf, Cary Grant - anyone we’ve ever looked to and said “That’s the kind of guy I want to be.” Not one of them turns into a slack-jawed idiot at the sight of some cleavage. > > Shame on you and the watery manhood you’ve brought to our times. It’s a false dichotomy and your guys-men dichotomy is childish. Who said anything about slack jawed idiot?? The dichotomy at work again. > [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > It means just what most English speaking adults think it means. Agreed. > [@Troppus](#): > > And you never told a woman you weren’t romantically involved with to cover her breasts. I’m certain of that. Whatever gets you through the night. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/303 "2013-01-26T00:05:02Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > It’s a false dichotomy and your guys-men dichotomy is childish. > Who said anything about slack jawed idiot?? > The dichotomy at work again. I’d like to take a vote on that. Here’s my vote on \*\* epbrown01’s\*\* post: Nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![l1I235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@l1I235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l1I235)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/304 "2013-01-26T00:17:16Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > I’d like to take a vote on that. Here’s my vote on \*\* epbrown01’s\*\* post: > Nailed it. 2 votes now… ---
**Author:** ![l1I235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@l1I235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l1I235)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/305 "2013-01-26T00:20:20Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > The vast majority of women understand that analogies are imperfect. One chooses to have someone likely notice them, if they wear a hat with blinking lights. Women choose to have this unwanted attention by…what? Existing? And it does happen, sometimes regardless of what one wears. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/306 "2013-01-26T00:31:34Z")
[QUOTE=Troppus] I’d like to take a vote on that. Here’s my vote on epbrown01’s post: Nailed it. [/QUOTE] > [@l1I235](#): > > 2 votes now… This is why we need a Like button… (That was a +1, for the record.) ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/307 "2013-01-26T02:48:20Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > That falls into the same category as wearing a mini skirt, then constantly tugging it down. > As a mere male there is no way I could understand the reasoning, so I asked a female friend, and she explained that they do it to draw attention to the fact they are wearing a mini skirt, have breasts etc. Holy Shit! You mean women have legs and tits and stuff? Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/308 "2013-01-26T04:17:53Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > The vast majority of women understand that analogies are imperfect. The vast majority of people recognize that there are degrees of shittiness in analogies, and the vast majority of people in this thread recognize that your particular analogy is toward one end of that spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/309 "2013-01-26T04:32:36Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > Holy Shit! You mean women have legs and tits and stuff? Who knew? Are you oogling my stuff now, too?! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/310 "2013-01-26T04:42:01Z")
Heh - I just wanted to point out that the thread title and last poster was showing on the page as: Showing Cleavage Then Covering It- Why? … WhyNot 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/311 "2013-01-26T04:48:13Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Heh - I just wanted to point out that the thread title and last poster was showing on the page as: > > Showing Cleavage Then Covering It- Why? … WhyNot > 😃 Until you wrecked it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/312 "2013-01-26T12:26:46Z")
> [@l1I235](#): > > One chooses to have someone likely notice them, if they wear a hat with blinking lights. > > Women choose to have this unwanted attention by…what? Existing? > > And it does happen, sometimes regardless of what one wears. By not having that cosmetic mastectomy so we aren’t so gosh darn distracting. But don’t worry, Aji is polite and has never made a woman feel bad because she has breasts (how he knows this? - he must have superpowers) despite patronizingly telling them to cover themselves up. I have to say, it takes a incredibly high charisma score to be able to tell a woman to cover herself up without making her feel bad, but, you know, Aji is just the guy to pull it off. Why this is necessary, I’m not sure, since all the women Aji has talked to knows what a temptation this is and dress discretely without his intervention. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/313 "2013-01-26T16:25:58Z")
Interesting that telling a friend that she might be showing too much, especially when women in this thread have said that it happens wihtout their knowing, is either controlling their bodies or being stupid. Interesting that it takes super power to know you’re not a creep. Interesting that James Bond is offered as a positive male icon on this thread, when he straddles the line between flirting and molesting. Interesring that Cary Grant is offered as a positive model, when he was married 5 or 6 times, not what you call knowing how to treat women. Interesting that people on this thread are shocked about living in the real world. I imagine they’d be shocked if they left 1000 dollars on the street and then came back and didn’t find them they’d be shocked that people are not either robots or Stalin. The most interesting thing, however, is that the strong, empowered women on the thread are such fragile flowers, terrified at every man who isn’t a robot. I’m so glad that the women i know how to deal with creeps. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/314 "2013-01-26T16:43:41Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Interesting that telling a friend that she might be showing too much, especially when women in this thread have said that it happens wihtout their knowing, is either controlling their bodies or being stupid. > > Interesting that it takes super power to know you’re not a creep. > > Interesting that James Bond is offered as a positive male icon on this thread, when he straddles the line between flirting and molesting. > > Interesring that Cary Grant is offered as a positive model, when he was married 5 or 6 times, not what you call knowing how to treat women. > > Interesting that people on this thread are shocked about living in the real world. I imagine they’d be shocked if they left 1000 dollars on the street and then came back and didn’t find them they’d be shocked that people are not either robots or Stalin. > > The most interesting thing, however, is that the strong, empowered women on the thread are such fragile flowers, terrified at every man who isn’t a robot. I’m so glad that the women i know how to deal with creeps. Maybe it is not this guy’s fault he is such a backwards Billy. Let’s face it, Latin America sucks rocks when it comes to gender issues. PS. I actually am a Robot Stalin and I steal people’s shit off the ground all the time, so I have no idea what he’s getting at here. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/315 "2013-01-26T17:04:35Z")
What _I_ find most interesting about this thread is how a few (definitely not all) of the men posting here are all hurt, offended, and angry that women are expressing their opinions in a thread about women on the specific topic of why women behave in a certain way. How foolish of us to think that our perspective was of any value! I guess we should have known to keep our mouths shut and let the men explain things. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/316 "2013-01-26T17:22:59Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Interesting that telling a friend that she might be showing too much, especially when women in this thread have said that it happens wihtout their knowing, is either controlling their bodies or being stupid. > > Interesting that it takes super power to know you’re not a creep. > > Interesting that James Bond is offered as a positive male icon on this thread, when he straddles the line between flirting and molesting. > > Interesring that Cary Grant is offered as a positive model, when he was married 5 or 6 times, not what you call knowing how to treat women. > > Interesting that people on this thread are shocked about living in the real world. I imagine they’d be shocked if they left 1000 dollars on the street and then came back and didn’t find them they’d be shocked that people are not either robots or Stalin. > > The most interesting thing, however, is that the strong, empowered women on the thread are such fragile flowers, terrified at every man who isn’t a robot. I’m so glad that the women i know how to deal with creeps. Warning a close friend that she may be overexposed is a nice favor. Asking a coworker or acquaintance to cover up because you are too distracted by her body to conduct yourself appropriately is gauche and a ticket to HR. Creep is easy to define. It’s the guys who ascribe personality traits and motives to workaday fashions. Creeps are guys who express anger at women who fiddle with their clothing or feel uncomfortable in their presence. Creeps are guys who invade the personal space of women who have expressed no interest in them. Creeps are guys who expect women to tolerate situations which make them uncomfortable because they asked for it by being attractive. There are miles between the archetypical Hollywood hunk who can conduct himself appropriately in the presence of the opposite sex and the stereotypical American frat boy who turns into an aggressive, forward horndog with unrealistic and unfounded expectations of women. Scared? Not us. Irritated and embarrassed at your lack of self-control, yes. Also, we find your predicament hilarious, and we’ll probably continue to poke fun at you easily flustered, ill-mannered, easily distractable types. Interesting that the _majority_ of women \*and men \*posting to this thread feel that women’s bodies can be noticed and admired without causing any ruffled feathers or an HR incident. Except two or three guys who feel entitled to stare, entitled to demand that women alter their appearance to suit them, who complain loudly that women only allow certain men to crowd their space, and who are unable to carry on a conversation in the presence of breasts. Those guys, the ones in the minority, can just continue to flounder, lost and ill-at-ease in a sea of boobs. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/317 "2013-01-26T18:38:30Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > If you want to say that men should not ogle women, you certainly can. But it can’t be based on the notion that men don’t have a strong attraction to women’s breasts, because that is completely detached from reality. Careful, you’re getting to the “but its their fault for wearing that!” zone ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/318 "2013-01-26T18:51:21Z")
> [@colander](#): > > Maybe it is not this guy’s fault he is such a backwards Billy. Let’s face it, Latin America sucks rocks when it comes to gender issues. > > PS. I actually am a Robot Stalin and I steal people’s shit off the ground all the time, so I have no idea what he’s getting at here. Robot Stalin, meet [Robot Hitler](http://cdn.smosh.com/sites/default/files/ftpuploads/bloguploads/vg-boss-bosses-hitler.jpg)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/319 "2013-01-26T18:59:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Troppus > And you never told a woman you weren’t romantically involved with to cover her breasts. I’m certain of that. I assume you’ll make Exceptions for daughters. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892/320 "2013-01-26T19:57:08Z")
Wow, the rancor in this thread really make me glad I’m an ass fancier\* (well, it’s already its own reward) instead of a boob man. \*or as I prefer to call it, “the caliph of callipygian.” 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-cleavage-then-covering-it-why/647892.md?page=17)