{"id":49,"date":"2020-08-02T08:29:48","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T08:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.mysecretdrawer.co\/2020\/08\/02\/nipple-play-and-the-ancient-fascination-with-breasts\/"},"modified":"2020-08-02T08:29:48","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T08:29:48","slug":"nipple-play-and-the-ancient-fascination-with-breasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysecretdrawer.co\/stories\/nipple-play-and-the-ancient-fascination-with-breasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Nipple Play and Our Ancient Fascination with Breasts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The cartoons of The New Yorker have been around for nearly a hundred years. In that time, they have become so famous that just about everyone has an opinion about them \u2013 even Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highbrow magazine \u2013 which has featured contributions from the likes of Robert Graves and Truman Capote – was \u201ctemporarily banned\u201d from Facebook over a cartoon in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The apparently errant piece depicts the Garden of Eden, with Eve saying to Adam beneath the Tree: \u201cWell, it was original.\u201d The magazine\u2019s editors had posted the cartoon on the publication\u2019s Facebook page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mick
Mick Stevens’ Garden of Eden cartoon (above) earned The New Yorker a temporary ban from Facebook. (Illustration: Mick Stevens\/Facebook) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the innocuous cartoon apparently didn\u2019t meet Facebook\u2019s \u201ccommunity standards,\u201d because – get this – Eve is topless. Facebook\u2019s famously frustrating guidelines state that \u201cnaked ‘private parts’ including female nipple bulges\u201d are forbidden \u2013 even if they do belong to Cartoon Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ban almost immediately earned Facebook widespread mockery and ridicule. Robert Mankoff, the editor for the magazine’s iconic illustrations, couldn’t help but laugh over the controversy in a blog posting entitled ‘Nipplegate.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mankoff points out that the nipples in question were represented as two very innocent dots. (If you ever find yourself in the same conundrum, just remember, \u201cMale nipples are OK,\u201d the National Coalition Against Censorship quipped of Facebook\u2019s policies.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The social media giant promptly did an about-face. In a formal apology, a Facebook spokesperson said the company “quickly worked to rectify the mistake” as soon as its team of moderators was alerted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, the incident does call attention to a principally human preoccupation with female breasts and nipples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Facebook's
Facebook’s \u201cNipplegate\u201d incident highlights an ancient preoccupation with female breasts and nipples. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An Evolutionary Erogenous Zone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fact is, no other mammal on the planet is as taken by the mammaries of their female counterparts than the male Homo sapien<\/em>. Mammary glands are a defining feature of mammals, but humans seem unique in conferring them a signficant sexual role, hence the silliness of Facebook\u2019s guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the millennia, human society has built an entire niche culture around its strange – and, at times, misogynist – breast fetish. This fixation is made apparent by designers and clothing innovators who produce highly-stylized lines of push-up bras, corsets<\/strong><\/a>, and other garments to highlight feminine voluptuousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists have never satisfactorily explained the fixation, but theories abound.  In The Naked Ape<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, zoologist and ethologist, Desmond Morris, theorizes that the female cleavage mimics the cleft between the buttocks. This is a strong sexual signal since, Morris infers, our male tree-dwelling ancestors were likely given to impregnating females from behind.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mammary
Mammary glands are a defining feature of mammals, but humans seem unique in granting them a large sexual role.
(Photo: Georgi Nemtzov\/Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Evolutionary psychologists like to point to the human female\u2019s permanently enlarged breasts, as well. Other primates’ breasts only enlarge during ovulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The permanently \u201cample\u201d breasts of human females allow them to “solicit [human] male attention and investment even when they are not really fertile,” says psychologist George Miller in How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature<\/strong>.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theories aside, however, breasts \u2013 particularly the nipples – are most definitely a focus of attention when boy-meets-girl and head for the barn for an old-fashioned roll-in-the-hay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n