[QUOTE=CookingWithGas]
I once read in a book about Star Trek (TOS) that their costumes were a bit daring for the time, and they wanted exotic-looking outfits, though they had to be conscious of a network rule that forbid showing any part of a breast below the nipple. Top of the breast is OK, bottom of the breast is a no-no.
[/QUOTE]
That would be The Making of Star Trek, by Stephen E. Whitfield. This was my Bible as a child !! 
The memo quote is hilarious. " What do they think grows under there- moss ? " ( referring to the underside half of the breast below the nipple. )
Cartooniverse
As they say on the SDMB, cite? Roman statues copied Greek in this regard, too. Typical Roman Nude statues I’ve seen have small or absent penes. But There ar abundant Mercuries and priapi and Roman-style Herms with large phalli, in addition to swarves and comic figures. Not to mention the many aprotropaic detached phalli placed on buildings.
Mine became obscene somewhere between the birth of my son and middle age. (rim shot!)
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys]
Java used to be called “The Bare-breast Island” (untill missionaries got there. Darn it :rolleyes: )
[/QUOTE]
Which reminds me of a story in a Leonard Wibberly novel, Feast of Freedom, about two tiny, fictional islands in the South Pacific. Before the missionaries arrived, the women wore a native costume consisting of just a short skirt and nothing else. Naturally, the missionaries were appalled, and told the girls they had to cover their breasts. Being good Christians, they complied, and hiked up their skirts for the next church service.
Unfortunately, this left them scandalously exposed at the other end.
[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
Busts of big-deal Romans typically include a large phallus carved into the base of the phallus to show that the guy was a biggie in every respect.
[/QUOTE]
That’s like “My dick is so big it has its own dick, and my dick’s dick is bigger than your dick”? 
[QUOTE=Colibri]
… All three religions venerate the Torah; Christians venerate that and the New Testament; and Muslims venerate both of these plus the Koran. Of course, interpretations of the significance of the three books vary among the religions.
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It’s only January 5, and I think we already have a winner for the SDMB Understatement of the Year Award!
FWIW, I’ve seen illustrations from the 1853 visit by Commodore Perry’s squadron to Japan, and they show Japanese women in unisex public bath houses with breasts unapologetically exposed, despite the men bathing nearby. Most of those women would probably never have dreamed of displaying their breasts outside the bath house, though. Context is all.
[QUOTE=Malacandra]
That’s like “My dick is so big it has its own dick, and my dick’s dick is bigger than your dick”?
[/QUOTE]
I think we went to the same school.
I do indeed live in Cameroon. The whole “shirtless lady” thing isn’t all that common, but the woman who lives in my very busy very public compound will occassionally spend the day shirt off and veil on (she keeps trying to buy mine) and you usually spot a few walking down the road when you travel between towns. It’s especially common for old women, though not restricted to them.
Veils are worn pretty universally in my area- not a full-face deal, but a large piece of fabric draped over the head and reaching to just below the waist. They are pretty useful against the sun and the dust. I’m known to wear them myself if I’m heading out in the mid day sun. I think they are more of a cultural thing than a religious thing here, but the cultural taboo on women walking around bareheaded is pretty strong. In school where veils and scarfs are forbidden during classes (rules are made in the Christian south of the country), the girls will quickly put them on the moment they walk outside. In general I am not comfortable bare headed.
I don’t really know the details of who is Muslim and who is animist, but the line here is pretty blurry anyway. People here tend to be very sensitive about pictures, especially people in more rural areas.
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys]
Tits obscene ? C’mon!
Blue tits, coal tits, marsh tits, crested tits, even bearded tits, all of’em can be seen in natura, even by children, and they are even shown on TV. 
[/QUOTE]
Is a titmouse a small rodent with a breast fetish?