Parrish 1

Lucas Parrish
5/8/2021
J320

Free the Nipple

-
A brief research on the implications of the nipple. The standards women face compared to men
and how it can be damaging to their health. Involving the social constructionism on how humans
view the female nipple in the case of dress code and breastfeeding. It is important to examine
this phenomenon in exploiting the challenges women face in publicly expressing themselves
and how society can overturn this strange ruling. To dismiss a sexist ideology and enforce more
positive agendas in acknowledgment of female health.
 Parrish 2

The Problem

It comes to my understanding that humans tend to still latch onto the past. The
implications of standards and biases have trickled down through the years to this very
moment. These customs brought forth by a previous generation and the generation
before continues its works in present-day life. Whether it be culture, religious or
traditional ideologies, they have created a basis for how humans should behave and
act. Overall, these beliefs can be morally good in discipline and respect for others.
However, they have defined a standard within community guidelines and can be just as
harmful to some people over others. Specifically, with men deciding the fate of society
for centuries it has left a stain on the caliber of all women. Men have developed a way
to set forth their ideas and choose actions on behalf of women which created a system
of patriarchy. This system has left out half of the human population in dismantling their
beliefs and support of their own gender. Problems continue to arise when these set
standards made by men are still in effect to this day and age. These problems caused
by men have impacted females’ salary, emotions, sexuality, health, and most
importantly their bodies.
The phenomenon I have chosen to study is how these set standards have
harmfully impacted the female body. Between objectification and unrealistic beauty
standards, there is a problem with how women choose to represent themselves.
Specifically, the problems with dress code in public settings and body parts that are
defined in a biased society. The case for females having to “cover-up” and dress a
certain way is at most damaging for their development and emotions of their own body. I
find it important to allow for decisions to be made by an individual's self and not by the
implications of anyone else. This should be important for anyone who values
self-respect and wishes to represent themselves the way they desire. The theory of
social constructionism brings light in defining this problem and will be explained in the
class readings of Kilbourne. This essay will define the social views that society has on
the female body and in what ways it has impacted their overall identity. It will be
designed to explore the dress standards and exposure of the chest compared to men to
show the prejudice between the two genders.
 Parrish 3

The Review
To start, the complication of the dress code dives deep into the roots of human
culture. For centuries, people have adapted to their climate by wearing appropriate
clothing in contrast to their environment. It used to be a means of evolution, now has
significantly changed in the form of fashion and self-identity. The change of human attire
has enforced a set of rules by which people began to lead by. It became loosely applied
for men but notably set as a standard for females of all ranges worldwide in different
demographics. In some places, this is heavily enforced and can be considered a crime if
not dressed accordingly. However, in less strict countries like the United States, there
are still serious implications for those who do not abide by this set of rules. There is no
law that forbids this and is even applicable in the constitution of free expression
however, it has become socially accepted to enforce these sets of standards.
Most importantly, this has become applied in school and professional settings. In
school at any grade, it is enforced on the behalf of boys who attend describing it as a
“distraction” to them. They are told to “cover-up” and be confronted by their superiors to
change into something else. This shame that females have to deal with when
confronted can be embarrassing for them when given alternatives to their clothing. The
dress code around schools disregards any female clothing with straps smaller than the
width of three fingers. They can also be shamed for a visible bust and for not wearing a
bra. As put by Meredith Neville-Shepard, “Dress expectations have long been used to
discipline female bodies and marginalize their voices”(Campbell).1 These are loose
expectations that are not written in policy but enforced with consequences. This article,
mentions a high school student who didn't wear a bra from a bad sunburn and was met
with these consequences. The school sought out precisely four Band-Aids to cover her
nipples in the shape of an “X” followed by a men's t-shirt as a cover. This can severely
damage the individual's identity and mental health when discouraged in their learning
environment. Schools should be a safe space for kids to learn and grow, not to worry
about their physical appearance. I think these standards are only enforced because it

1
“Disciplining the Female Student Body: Consequential Transference in Arguments for School Dress
Codes.”
 Parrish 4

threatens the understanding and traditional constructions of femininity. Backed by the

structure of this system in place stated earlier, the dress code isn’t appropriated towards
men because it was developed by men. The suppression of deciding what to wear has
serious social implications on limiting female credibility. Sometimes people don’t have
access to the necessary means to meet this ridiculous requirement over a problem that
is only applied to men. In a Scholastic article asking kids their takes; Sophia Wang said,
“In addition to suppressing our personalities, a dress code could also be unintentionally
sexist by making girls worry more about modesty than boys have to” (Wang).2 This
applies to the theory of social constructionism when these shared assumptions about
reality become a basis for a given group. Sophia sees that compared to men, she has to
worry more over her features because it is constructed in the understanding of being a
distraction to men. Because men don’t share these physical features, they can choose a
range of personal attire for free expression. This determines its sexist ideology for the
benefit of one gender over the other.
There are also similar issues women face in the demeanor of their physical
attributes in public spaces. Most notably, if women become mothers they may be
criticized for their parenting decision on how they choose to feed their child. Western
societies often police women who breastfeed in public which has created a sense of
shame and self-consciousness for the mother. This form of nurturing has been labeled
as a violation of social norms and seen as sexual gratification for heterosexual men.
Although research reveals, “men’s support for breastfeeding in private places, but also
their opposition to breastfeeding in public” (Huang).3 This demonstrates that traditional
gender role attributes correlate with negative attitudes towards women’s decision to
feed. The beliefs about women’s reproductive rights and behaviors are a form of
ambivalent sexism when opposing or supporting where they breastfeed. This form of
embarrassment that society implements on mothers will sadly influence their
reproductive decisions. Endorsing these traditional gender roles challenges women in
hiding them to save themselves from embarrassment.

2
“Are School Dress Codes Fair?”
3
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, John Wiley & Sons
 Parrish 5

Because breasts have been sexually objectified, it has become a controversy

and considered exposure for them to be seen publicly. In a recent protest, the Free the
Nipple campaign advocated for the decriminalization of female breast exposure.
Highlighting the inequalities of the female nipple compared to the male nipple in what
society generally accepts. As an effort to expose the gendered nature of body shaming,
protesters would take to social media with their tops off using an image of male nipples
pasted over their own. This protest, “inspired numerous demonstrations by celebrities
and everyday women wishing to destigmatize a body part shared by all genders”
(Bock).4 The stigma surrounding the term “nipple” has become taboo to talk about, this
protest aims to inform the natural use of breastfeeding and women’s bodies in general.
The theory of social constructionism can be applied here in the instance that there are
rules for women and their breasts. Breastfeeding is clearly supported in the means of a
private environment but considered a sexual activity when it happens in public.
Everyone has a body, but those of marginalized people are subjected to shame when
exposed publicly; even for the nourishment of an infant. This is because a patriarchal
system ties a woman’s value to her body and invokes standards of their representation.
Emma Mohamad, a student at University of Kebangsaan in Malaysia has found
that the media can play a role to help normalize breastfeeding in society. She noticed
that observing where and how breastfeeding is being portrayed online it can carry
certain agendas to be noticed. The media is a great platform for influencing public
opinion and stimulating people to think about their decisions. It's a tool that can help
promote and empower attitudes on women’s health. However, critics of the media can
also disrupt this agenda and poetry it in a negative light. To demonstrate the power of
media, a study found that the UK revealed an abundance of pessimistic stories on
breastfeeding in the year 2000 and it significantly altered the views of the country.
Henderson Kitzinger found, “this contrasted with representation of formula feeding
which are common in the media and are seen as part of everyday lives“ (Mohamad).5
Media can become an outlet for highlighting both positive and negative aspects of topics
if used correctly can significantly help promote information about female health. In the

4
“Covering nipples: news discourse and the framing of breastfeeding”
5
“Normalising breastfeeding: what can media do to help?”
 Parrish 6

example, these reports contributed to an uprising in formula feeding because they did
not advocate mothers’ right to breastfeed.
Conclusion
Overall, there is a bias within the community over the rights of the female nipple.
It goes against social norms to even acknowledge it as a problem, which is a problem
for women dealing with a dress code or breastfeeding. The construction of our western
ideology does not support the idea for women to freely express themselves and
considers only the female nipple to be a sexual concept. Whereas men are not seen
this way, having fewer restrictions with their expression and almost to no dress code.
These rules in place are only applied to women, enforcing shame for going against the
norm to gain control of their bodies. Even leading into the workplace, there is a lack of
support for lactating mothers’ which can be hard to balance feeding in a public setting.
Reporting that “around 57% of mothers with young children in the U.S. are working
mothers”(Rojjanasrirat).6 There is an abundance of contradicting examples of
discrimination women face compared to men.
The type of change I would like to see is more acknowledgment of these
challenges women face and support more for their health-based issues. I think it is
necessary to seek alternatives in the way we treat women and the dynamics of
deep-rooted sexism. There is an emerging project called the Love Your Body movement
which capitalizes on the phenomenon of objectification and seeks to boost self-esteem
in females. By creating an online discussion, “LYB discourses are important and
powerful because of the way they appear to interrupt the almost entirely normalized
hostile judgement and surveillance of women’s bodies in contempoaray media
culture”(Elias).7 This creates an effective environment for women to share their thoughts
and become more accustomed to sharing how they feel. I hope people in this position
consider expressing themselves to manage a better understanding of the issue in
society. I believe the media can be used to enforce a positive agenda and provide
assistance to the cause of these problems. This is the best tool to move forward with,
now that most people have an online presence and can learn of these unrealistic

6
“The impact of coworker support and stigma on breastfeeding after returning from work”
7
“‘Awaken your incredible’: Love your body discourses and postfeminist contradictions”
 Parrish 7

standards. I recommend to anyone researching this topic to hear from real people to
gain insight from and learn from a first-hand experience. It has been a challenge for me
to talk about a problem that doesn't personally involve me but it’s important to hear out
someone who is affected by it. Lastly, I encourage more males alike to take it upon
themselves to hear out the issues women face daily and maintain support.

Works Cited
-
- Neville-Shepard, Meredith. “Disciplining the Female Student Body: Consequential
Transference in Arguments for School Dress Codes.” Women’s Studies in Communication,
vol. 42, no. 1, Feb. 2019, pp. 1–20. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/07491409.2019.1573771.

- “Are School Dress Codes Fair?” Scholastic Choices,

choices.scholastic.com/issues/2018-19/020119/are-school-dress-codes-fair.html.

- Huang, Yanshu, et al. “SPSSI Journals.” Society for the Psychological Study of Social
Issues, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 15 June 2020,
spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/josi.12379#:~:text=Results%20revealed%20th
at%2C%20although%20benevolent,among%20both%20women%20and%20men.

- Bock, Mary Angela, et al. “Covering Nipples: News Discourse and the Framing of
Breastfeeding.” Feminist Media Studies, vol. 19, no. 1, Feb. 2019, pp. 53–69. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1080/14680777.2017.1313754.

- Mohamad, Emma. “Normalising Breastfeeding: What Can Media Do to Help?” Journal of Asian
Pacific Communication (John Benjamins Publishing Co.), vol. 23, no. 2, Apr. 2013, pp. 196–210.
EBSCOhost, doi:10.1075/japc.23.2.02moh.

- Zhuang, Jie, et al. “The Impact of Coworker Support and Stigma on Breastfeeding after
Returning to Work.” Journal of Applied Communication Research, vol. 46, no. 4, Oct. 2018, pp.
491–508. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00909882.2018.1498981.

- Gill, Rosalind, and Ana Sofia Elias. “‘Awaken Your Incredible’: Love Your Body Discourses
and Postfeminist Contradictions.” International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, vol.
10, no. 2, June 2014, pp. 179–188. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/macp.10.2.179_1.