# Why is a woman's exposed nipple considered nudity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295 "2009-05-22T14:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/1 "2009-05-22T14:42:22Z")
Why is a woman’s exposed nipple considered nudity, whilst a mans exposed nipple is not considered nudity? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/2 "2009-05-22T14:55:43Z")
Societal mores which tend to be less about logic and rationality and more about tradition and ritual. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/3 "2009-05-22T14:57:14Z")
Mens nipples don’t suckle babies. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/4 "2009-05-22T14:59:22Z")
It’s purely a cultural standard, basically arbitrary, not universal. In western cultural we’ve eroticized female breasts. They are covered because they are perceived to cause sexual excitment in others (and show it in the owner of the breasts as well). The laws follow the cultural perceptions. Not all cultures see exposed female breasts as “nudity,” though. To some it’s no different than seeing a woman’s elbows. On the other hand, there are also some cultures that see exposed female legs or even faces as nudity. People are weird. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/5 "2009-05-22T14:59:40Z")
Societal norms. No more, no less. Some societies the women run around topless and no biggie. In our society we find a woman’s breasts sexually titillating. So there is a stigma associated with showing them too overtly (although women can show plenty cleavage as is…the distinction is thin). One might argue that attaching this prohibition to exposing one’s breasts makes them more sexually appealing. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/6 "2009-05-22T14:59:42Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Mens nipples don’t suckle babies. Wouldn’t that fact - that women’s nipples have that particular, natural and utilitarian function - imply (not the right word I think?) that it shouldn’t be such a big deal for them to be revealed? ---
**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/7 "2009-05-22T15:01:07Z")
[Quote=Kinthalis] Societal mores which tend to be less about logic and rationality and more about tradition and ritual. [/quote] That’s a bit like blaming the universe on god, really. Why are tradition and ritual such that a woman’s nipple is considered nudity? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/8 "2009-05-22T15:05:33Z")
On the face of it, it’s because exposed female nipples provoke sexual arousal among heterosexual males. Whether this is due entirely to animal instincts or whether it’s reinforced by cultural norms is the deeper question. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/9 "2009-05-22T15:10:43Z")
> [@yelimS](#): > > That’s a bit like blaming the universe on god, really. Why are tradition and ritual such that a woman’s nipple is considered nudity? Well that’s the point. I suppose we can begin tracing a historical line back to some “origin” but that origin is likely to be some guy who decided it was naughty just “because”. I doubt it can be traced to some primal instinct, since there are many cultures where the breast is simply not taboo at all. Why don’t we try to do that? What is the farthest back that we can date the exposure of woman’s breast as something riske, or even forbidden? I recall reading something about (and I know this isn’t quite as concrete as I’d like or as it should be in GQ) either renaissance Venetians or maybe classical Romans? that associated the bearing of the breasts with prostitution? Anyone know what I’m talking about? ---
**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/10 "2009-05-22T15:11:33Z")
I should add that Desmond Morris, in _The Naked Ape_ (1967), went on about how the female breasts were imitations of the buttocks to encourage face-to-face sex (which should be relevant to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=518330) as well.) I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was something to do with establishing relationships. And of course, this was 42 years ago, and could well be gibberish by now. Anybody updated? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/11 "2009-05-22T16:06:47Z")
wagimhoianaa - because once upon a time, people perceived that men had only one erogenous zone (and it is covered), while women’s were everywhere (covers ranging from the bikini to the burkha). since sex is somehow shameful and more terrifying than violence and decapitation they cover the areas associated with it, pretending it’s enough to stop the beast from awakening and casting an evil spell over the poor men bravely resisting its command. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/12 "2009-05-22T16:10:01Z")
> [@yelimS](#): > > I should add that Desmond Morris, in _The Naked Ape_ (1967), went on about how the female breasts were imitations of the buttocks to encourage face-to-face sex (which should be relevant to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=518330) as well.) I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was something to do with establishing relationships. And of course, this was 42 years ago, and could well be gibberish by now. Anybody updated? It was gibberish 42 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/13 "2009-05-22T16:16:42Z")
Threads like this confuse me. On the one hand, the general consensus on this board is that whether we’re attracted to men or women is hard-wired into us, and not a choice; but then the consensus of the board is that breasts are only sexual because of society. Now I agree that the reasoning behind why it’s OK to **show** men’s nipples, but not women’s nipples is societal. ---
**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/14 "2009-05-22T16:20:39Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It was gibberish 42 years ago. It… it was fun to read, though?😃 Does it go for the entire book? I haven’t been able to find much about it on the internet (Rarely a good sign, of course) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/15 "2009-05-22T16:27:35Z")
Because. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/16 "2009-05-22T16:54:46Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It was gibberish 42 years ago. That’s because his theories on breasts were inadequately supported. I like female bosoms. I’m currently looking for an apartment with the number 36D. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/17 "2009-05-22T17:16:01Z")
I see men with bigger boobs than mine going around topless. It’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/18 "2009-05-22T17:17:13Z")
It is hard-wired into us to see breasts as a sign of femininity: That’s why human females have prominent breasts (thought there’s a bit of chicken-and-egg there)-- You don’t need all that just for milk production. Now, not all secondary sex characteristics are hidden (men can show their beards, most places), but it’s at least a reasonable place to start. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/19 "2009-05-22T17:18:35Z")
Stop watching me over the fence!!! :mad: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295/20 "2009-05-22T17:23:43Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Threads like this confuse me. On the one hand, the general consensus on this board is that whether we’re attracted to men or women is hard-wired into us, and not a choice; but then the consensus of the board is that breasts are only sexual because of society. What does one thing have to do with the other? Gender preference is fixed, yes. Cosmetic details can still be cultural, though. There are also cultures which have eroticized things like small feet and long necks. Just because one aspect of sexual attraction is hardwired doesn’t mean they _all_ are. Human beings are an incredibly complex combination of genetic hardwiring and cultural programming. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-womans-exposed-nipple-considered-nudity/497295.md?page=2)