# Women and cleavage **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 28, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892 "2014-06-28T22:16:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/61 "2014-06-29T16:14:41Z")
One particular experience of this has for some reason burned itself into my brain, probably because that’s when I got how this works. It was completely mundane, really: A young lady at my workplace, who happened to be in possession of considerable frontal assets, had posted a picture of herself on a popular social media website. She was wearing a garment clearly design to show off said assets. The picture was taken from above, at an angle. I could observe the following: a) Yes, she was showing off her cleavage. b) The men posting comments under the picture, remarking on and critiquing her feminine assets, were \*not \*doing themselves any favors. They did not come off as classy. It’s a kind of paradoxical sexual display, where the potential suitors who respond the strongest and most blatantly are actually revealing themselves as the least appropriate mates. Those who remain unimpressed, or ignore the display completely, score points. Hmm… _Goes off to write PhD thesis._ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/62 "2014-06-29T16:53:37Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > He’d probably be delighted. I’d be mortified, but then, why am I walking around in public with no pants anyway? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/63 "2014-06-29T17:04:41Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > show all kinds of leg and cleavage in public Showing _leg_? WTF is wrong with you? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/64 "2014-06-29T17:06:04Z")
^Reported. Thought cleavage was being pitted. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/65 "2014-06-29T17:10:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Showing _leg_? WTF is wrong with you? I know, right? Then it’s perfectly acceptable for guys, as a consequence, to be totally lecherous due to that finely turned out, harlotty ankle, man. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/66 "2014-06-29T17:48:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Because you’re supposed to be discreet about these things.[If you’re doing it like this](http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lppxsx3FdE1qfeilqo1_400.jpg), you’re doing it wrong.😉 I wouldn’t exactly say Little Red-Hot Riding Hood is being very discreet herself! I once read an off-color joke about a woman sashaying down the street with an exaggerated swaying motion of her hips. A man, somewhat irritated by her immodesty, approached, and, pointing at her rear end, asked, “Is that for sale?” “Of course not!” she snapped. He came back with, “Then quit advertising it!” ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/67 "2014-06-29T17:48:46Z")
I freely admit to sometimes showing some cleavage and then getting squicked when guys leer. Why on earth would I do that, you ask. Do you really, really want to know? Okay, I’ll tell you. Sometimes I just get fucking sick of crew necks that come up to my collarbone and want to wear something pretty. And since I’m well past the F-cup range, pretty much anything that has a v-neck or a scoop neck and isn’t stretched inappropriately tightly over my boobs is going to show some boob or cleavage when I bend or move or stretch or lean against a counter or whatever. Sure, I could make sure to always wear a cami under whatever it is, but some shirts look funny layered. Besides, it’s summertime in Kentucky–wearing two shirts all the time is just too damn hot. I’m not trying to be provocative or issue an invitation, or anything else. I’m just trying to go about my day like everybody else on this rock, and my day would be a lot better if you stopped blatantly staring at my tits. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/68 "2014-06-29T17:53:21Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > I freely admit to sometimes showing some cleavage and then getting squicked when guys leer. Why on earth would I do that, you ask. Do you really, really want to know? Okay, I’ll tell you. Sometimes I just get fucking sick of crew necks that come up to my collarbone and want to wear something pretty. And since I’m well past the F-cup range, pretty much anything that has a v-neck or a scoop neck and isn’t stretched inappropriately tightly over my boobs is going to show some boob or cleavage when I bend or move or stretch or lean against a counter or whatever. Sure, I could make sure to always wear a cami under whatever it is, but some shirts look funny layered. Besides, it’s summertime in Kentucky–wearing two shirts all the time is just too damn hot. > > I’m not trying to be provocative or issue an invitation, or anything else. I’m just trying to go about my day like everybody else on this rock, and my day would be a lot better if you stopped blatantly staring at my tits. Does the garment that hides cleavage also impair the movement of your arms? I’ve wondered whether women wear garments, that show some cleavage, simply to give their arms more freedom of movement. Who could object to that? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/69 "2014-06-29T17:54:25Z")
could sell it as advertising space and make money. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/70 "2014-06-29T18:22:31Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > - There is a difference between _appreciating \* and staring. I am not bothered by a guy who glances (even slightly lingering) or even does a quick double-take walking by. I AM bothered by staring, movements specifically to keep my chest in your line of sight longer, blatant evaluation (elevator eyes, ugh) or saying anything._ > . This sums up how I feel. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/71 "2014-06-29T18:25:35Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Great! We’ll just all wear burqas then. yep! then if we trip on all that fabric and break a leg, or have a heat stroke, that will be our fault, too. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/72 "2014-06-29T18:43:42Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > He came back with, “Then quit advertising it!” Since other posters have replied in similar ways. Does this mean that: - The teenage boys with their pants low showing their underwear, - The men with the plumber’s crack, however they got it, - The men who are wearing shorts and finely chiseled ankles and legs, - The men wearing tailored suits that show off a beautifully shaped butt, - The men who for some reason are wearing tight pants that demonstrate some bulge, - The athletic men who are shirtless either because it is too hot or their shirt got dirty, Are they all advertising their assets? Be it to women or, let’s also be equal, to the gay men? Should then they be perfectly OK with gay men ogling at them, looking at them with elevator eyes, whistling at them, and telling them unsavory comments? They should, since, after all, they’re showing the equivalent of women showing cleavage. Or would you be disgusted if that happened? Or are only women who should be policed when it comes to what they wear, since their body apparently is not of them but public property or private property that is always on sale to the highest bidder, while men are excempt of that? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/73 "2014-06-29T18:47:27Z")
These threads make my heart hurt. \< shakes head at the concept that women must be “other” beings from men \> Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/74 "2014-06-29T19:08:33Z")
It’s really funny how, on this subject, men can behave like a strange blur of lecherous pig, misogynist, free-spirited liberal and old-school moralist, all in, I swear, the space of a single thought. “Women should stop being upset about it when I ogle their tits. What? I should stop looking? What do you mean? I can’t control my impulses. Women must dress more modestly to accommodate me! WTF? Where did the scantily clad women go? Take those turtleneck sweaters back off, dammit, we’re supposed to be a progressive society here!” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/75 "2014-06-29T20:21:12Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Great! We’ll just all wear burqas then. Even a burqa wouldn’t be enough to protect a woman who behaves in a reckless manner. Let **dougie\_monty** ’s post serve as a warning to you about the perils of immodest actions: > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I once read an off-color joke about a woman sashaying down the street with an exaggerated swaying motion of her hips. A man, somewhat irritated by her immodesty, approached, and, pointing at her rear end, asked, “Is that for sale?” > > “Of course not!” she snapped. > > He came back with, “Then quit advertising it!” This woman was _walking_ in _public_, without even a chaperone! No wonder the man thought she was a whore. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/76 "2014-06-29T20:50:49Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Even a burqa wouldn’t be enough to protect a woman who behaves in a reckless manner. Let **dougie\_monty** ’s post serve as a warning to you about the perils of immodest actions: > This woman was _walking_ in _public_, without even a chaperone! No wonder the man thought she was a whore. Walking in public and\* sashaying her hips\*. That harlot is clearly asking for it. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/77 "2014-06-29T20:58:31Z")
Let me know when you guys work your way down to the feet, 'cause my toes are naked right now. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/78 "2014-06-29T21:03:42Z")
You know, I was considering actually replying to **dougie\_monty** ’s post, but then I thought, nah. When someone brings that much rope, and seems to be having that much fun hanging themselves, I might as well just sit back and eat my popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/79 "2014-06-29T21:03:59Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > Let me know when you guys work your way down to the feet, 'cause my toes are naked right now. That immodest toe cleavage will be your ruination, you brazen hussy, you. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892/80 "2014-06-29T21:10:08Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Since other posters have replied in similar ways. Does this mean that: > > - The teenage boys with their pants low showing their underwear, > > - The men with the plumber’s crack, however they got it, > > - The men who are wearing shorts and finely chiseled ankles and legs, > > - The men wearing tailored suits that show off a beautifully shaped butt, > > - The men who for some reason are wearing tight pants that demonstrate some bulge, > > - The athletic men who are shirtless either because it is too hot or their shirt got dirty, > > Are they all advertising their assets? Be it to women or, let’s also be equal, to the gay men? Should then they be perfectly OK with gay men ogling at them, looking at them with elevator eyes, whistling at them, and telling them unsavory comments? They should, since, after all, they’re showing the equivalent of women showing cleavage. > > Or would you be disgusted if that happened? Or are only women who should be policed when it comes to what they wear, since their body apparently is not of them but public property or private property that is always on sale to the highest bidder, while men are excempt of that? If a guy did dress any of those ways, and then complained about being looked at, what would you say to him; “you have the right to dress however you want and shame on anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable”, or “get over yourself, you’re not that special, and possibly homophobic”? I’ve never heard anyone defend those who walk around with plumber’s crack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-cleavage/691892.md?page=5)