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Cleavage (breasts)
Encyclopedia
Cleavage, anatomically known as the intramammary cleft, is the space between a woman
's breasts lying over the sternum. Cleavage is exposed by a garment with a low neckline, such as ball gown
s, evening gown
s, swimwear, casual tops and other garments.
Most people, both male and female, regard breasts as an important aspect of femininity
and many women use cleavage to enhance their physical
and sexual attractiveness and to enhance their sense of femininity. Some people regard use of cleavage as a form of feminine flirting
or seduction
, within the confines of community, peer group
and personal standards of modesty
, as much as for its aesthetic or erotic effect. Some people derive erotic pleasure from seeing a woman's cleavage, some derive pleasure in their female partner exposing cleavage, and some women wear low-cut clothing for the pleasure of their partner. However, yet another group, such as those subject to gymnophobia
, may feel uncomfortable with the sight of a woman's cleavage, or object to low-cut clothing for modesty or other reasons.
(IFAA) has adopted the terms intermammary sulcus or intermammary cleft when referring to the area of cleavage between the breasts not including the breasts. For legal purpose it was noted by the United States federal courts
that "anal cleft or cleavage
" and "cleavage of the female breast" are so imprecise as to provide no guidance in defining them.
Side cleavage
When the lateral aspects of the breasts are uncovered, it is known as side cleavage, sidewinders or sideboob.
Bottom cleavage
Exposure of the underside of the breast, such as below an extremely short crop top
, is known as neathage (a blend
of underneath and cleavage), Australian cleavage (because of the reference to Australia as down-under), bottom cleavage, reverse cleavage or underboob.
In European society, décolletage
was often a feature of the dress of the late Middle Ages
. This continued through the Victorian period. Ball or evening gowns especially featured décolletage designed to display and emphasize cleavage.
In many European societies between the Renaissance
and the 19th century, wearing low-cut dresses which exposed breasts was more acceptable than today; with a woman's bared legs, ankles, or shoulders being considered to be more risqué than exposed breasts.
In aristocratic
and upper-class circles the display of breasts was at times regarded as a status symbol
, as a sign of beauty, wealth or social position. The bared breast even invoked associations with nude sculptures of classical Greece
that were exerting an influence on art, sculpture, and architecture of the period.
In the French Enlightenment
, there was a debate as to whether a woman's breasts were merely a sensual enticement or rather a natural gift to be offered from mother to child. In Alexandre Guillaume Mouslier de Moissy
's 1771 play The True Mother (La Vraie Mère), the title character rebukes her husband for treating her as merely an object for his sexual gratification: "Are your senses so gross as to look on these breasts – the respectable treasures of nature – as merely an embellishment, destined to ornament the chest of women?" Nearly a century later, also in France, a man from the provinces who attended a Court ball at the Tuilleries in Paris
in 1855 was deeply shocked by the décolleté dresses and is said to have exclaimed in disgust: "I haven't seen anything like that since I was weaned!"
For ordinary wear, high collars were, however, the norm for many years.
Lingerie
has long been designed to emphasize cleavage.
s and bikini
s commonly have very low necklines which result in the tops and sides of breasts being exposed. Evening dresses often have low to extremely low necklines. Such dresses are often considered a sign of elegance and sophistication on many formal social occasions. Also, modern Western fashions favour open neck styles.
, and a factor in their sexual attractiveness. They identify their femininity
and sense of self
with their breasts. Historically women have, in appropriate situations, displayed their breasts and femininity with pride, within the limits of community and personal standards of modesty
.
Various methods have been used by women in history to accentuate breasts. For example, corset
s that enhanced cleavage were introduced in the mid-16th century. By the late 18th century cleavage enhancing corsets grew more dramatic in pushing the breasts upwards. The tight lacing of corsets worn in the 19th and early 20th centuries emphasized both cleavage and the size of the bust and hips. Ball or evening gowns especially were designed to display and emphasize the décolletage.
More recently, after corsets became unfashionable, brassiere
s and padding have served to project, display and emphasize the breasts. Several brassiere manufacturers, among them Wonderbra
and Victoria's Secret
, produce bras that enhance cleavage.
At times, some women seek to enhance their sexual attractiveness by remedying what they consider a deficiency in their breasts. This may be by the use of an artificial device or by surgery. Surgery may be for breast augmentation or reduction.
s or areolae is almost always considered toplessness
or partial nudity
. In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much cleavage exposure is acceptable in public. In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose her breasts depends on social and cultural context. Though displaying cleavage can be permissible in many settings, it may be prohibited by dress codes in settings such as workplaces, churches and schools, where exposure of any part of female breasts may be considered inappropriate.
Some people became shocked when it became fashionable, around 1913, for dresses to be worn with a modest round or V-shaped neckline. In the German Empire
, for example, all Roman Catholic bishops joined in issuing a pastoral letter attacking the new fashions. Fashions became more restrained in terms of décolletage, while exposure of the leg became more accepted in Western societies, during World War I
and remained so for nearly half a century. From the 1960s onward, however, greater sexual permissiveness lead to increasing displays of cleavage in films, on television, and in everyday life, and low-cut dress styles became very common, even for casual wear.
In 1953, Hollywood film The French Line
was found objectionable under the Hays Code because of Jane Russell
's "breast shots in bathtub, cleavage and breast exposure" while some of her decollete gowns were regarded to be "intentionally designed to give a bosom peep-show effect beyond even extreme decolletage".
In the United States, in two separate incidents in 2007, Southwest Airlines
crews asked travelers to modify their clothing, to wear sweaters, or to leave the plane because they did not consider the amount of cleavage displayed to be acceptable.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
created controversy when she wore a low-cut dress to the opening of the Oslo Opera House
on 12 April 2008.
zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris
theorizes that cleavage is a sexual signal that imitates the image of the cleft between the buttocks
, which according to Morris in The Naked Ape
is also unique to humans, other primates as a rule having much flatter buttocks.
Evolutionary psychologists
theorize that humans' permanently enlarged breasts, in contrast to other primates' breasts, which only enlarge during ovulation
, allowed females to "solicit male attention and investment even when they are not really fertile", though Morris notes that in recent years there has been a trend toward reversing breast augmentations. According to social historian David Kunzle, waist confinement and the décolletage are the primary sexualization
devices of Western costume. Also, in South Africa
, Wonderbra
sponsors a National Cleavage Day
during which women are encouraged to display their cleavage. Art historian James Laver
argued that the changing standards of revealing the cleavage is more prominent in the evening dress than the day dress of women in the Western world.
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
's breasts lying over the sternum. Cleavage is exposed by a garment with a low neckline, such as ball gown
Ball gown
A ball gown is worn for ballroom dancing and only the most formal social occasions according to rules of etiquette. It is traditionally a full-skirted gown reaching at least to the ankles, made of luxurious fabric, delicately and exotically trimmed. Most versions are cut off the shoulder with...
s, evening gown
Evening gown
An evening gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are often made of a luxury fabric such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or silk...
s, swimwear, casual tops and other garments.
Most people, both male and female, regard breasts as an important aspect of femininity
Femininity
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors...
and many women use cleavage to enhance their physical
Physical attractiveness
Physical attractiveness refers to a person's physical traits which are perceived to be aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from the two; for example, humans may regard the young as attractive for various...
and sexual attractiveness and to enhance their sense of femininity. Some people regard use of cleavage as a form of feminine flirting
Flirting
Flirting is a playful, romantic, or sexual overture by one person to another subtly indicating an interest in a deeper relationship with the other person, and can involve verbal communication as well as body language...
or seduction
Seduction
In social science, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person to engage. The word seduction stems from Latin and means literally "to lead astray". As a result, the term may have a positive or negative connotation...
, within the confines of community, peer group
Peer group
A peer group is a social group consisting of humans. Peer groups are an informal primary group of people who share a similar or equal status and who are usually of roughly the same age, tended to travel around and interact within the social aggregate Members of a particular peer group often have...
and personal standards of modesty
Modesty
Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
, as much as for its aesthetic or erotic effect. Some people derive erotic pleasure from seeing a woman's cleavage, some derive pleasure in their female partner exposing cleavage, and some women wear low-cut clothing for the pleasure of their partner. However, yet another group, such as those subject to gymnophobia
Gymnophobia
Gymnophobia is a fear of nudity. Gymnophobics experience anxiety from nudity, even if they realize their fear is irrational. They may worry about seeing others naked or being seen naked, or both...
, may feel uncomfortable with the sight of a woman's cleavage, or object to low-cut clothing for modesty or other reasons.
Cleavage terms
The International Federation of Associations of AnatomistsInternational Federation of Associations of Anatomists
The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists is an umbrella scientific organization of national and multinational Anatomy Associations, dedicated to anatomy and biomorphological sciences.-Origins and objectives:In 1903, Prof...
(IFAA) has adopted the terms intermammary sulcus or intermammary cleft when referring to the area of cleavage between the breasts not including the breasts. For legal purpose it was noted by the United States federal courts
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
that "anal cleft or cleavage
Buttock cleavage
Buttock cleavage is minor exposure of the buttocks and the gluteal cleft between them, often because of low-slung or loose trousers. The crena is another formal term for the cleft between the buttocks.- History :...
" and "cleavage of the female breast" are so imprecise as to provide no guidance in defining them.
Side cleavage
When the lateral aspects of the breasts are uncovered, it is known as side cleavage, sidewinders or sideboob.
Bottom cleavage
Exposure of the underside of the breast, such as below an extremely short crop top
Crop top
A crop top is a T-shirt or blouse with the lower part cut off, showing of some of the abdomen. The half shirt is a kind of shirt that is cut off from the bottom of the chest....
, is known as neathage (a blend
Blend
In linguistics, a blend is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. These parts are sometimes, but not always, morphemes.-Linguistics:...
of underneath and cleavage), Australian cleavage (because of the reference to Australia as down-under), bottom cleavage, reverse cleavage or underboob.
History
Décolletage
Décolletage is the upper part of a woman's torso, between her waist and neck, comprising her neck, shoulders, back and chest, that is exposed by the style of her clothing. However, the term is most commonly applied to a neckline which reveals or emphasizes cleavage...
was often a feature of the dress of the late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. This continued through the Victorian period. Ball or evening gowns especially featured décolletage designed to display and emphasize cleavage.
In many European societies between the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and the 19th century, wearing low-cut dresses which exposed breasts was more acceptable than today; with a woman's bared legs, ankles, or shoulders being considered to be more risqué than exposed breasts.
In aristocratic
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
and upper-class circles the display of breasts was at times regarded as a status symbol
Status symbol
A status symbol is a perceived visible, external denotation of one's social position and perceived indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols...
, as a sign of beauty, wealth or social position. The bared breast even invoked associations with nude sculptures of classical Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
that were exerting an influence on art, sculpture, and architecture of the period.
In the French Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, there was a debate as to whether a woman's breasts were merely a sensual enticement or rather a natural gift to be offered from mother to child. In Alexandre Guillaume Mouslier de Moissy
Alexandre Guillaume Mouslier de Moissy
Alexandre Guillaume Mouslier de Moissy, was a French writer and dramaturge. He was born in 1712 in Paris where he died on 8 November 1777.- Biography :He was a royal guard when, at the age of 38, he was advised to assume a literary career...
's 1771 play The True Mother (La Vraie Mère), the title character rebukes her husband for treating her as merely an object for his sexual gratification: "Are your senses so gross as to look on these breasts – the respectable treasures of nature – as merely an embellishment, destined to ornament the chest of women?" Nearly a century later, also in France, a man from the provinces who attended a Court ball at the Tuilleries in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1855 was deeply shocked by the décolleté dresses and is said to have exclaimed in disgust: "I haven't seen anything like that since I was weaned!"
For ordinary wear, high collars were, however, the norm for many years.
Lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
has long been designed to emphasize cleavage.
Cultural aspects
Décolletage, which is the form of the neckline, is an aspect of woman's fashion. As such, popular necklines change over time and for different occasions. Women's swimsuitSwimsuit
A swimsuit, bathing suit, or swimming costume is an item of clothing designed to be worn by men, women or children while they are engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, water polo, diving, surfing, water skiing, or during activities in the sun, such as sun bathing.A...
s and bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
s commonly have very low necklines which result in the tops and sides of breasts being exposed. Evening dresses often have low to extremely low necklines. Such dresses are often considered a sign of elegance and sophistication on many formal social occasions. Also, modern Western fashions favour open neck styles.
Enhancing cleavage
Many women regard breasts as an important female secondary sex characteristicSecondary sex characteristic
Secondary sex characteristics are features that distinguish the two sexes of a species, but that are not directly part of the reproductive system. They are believed to be the product of sexual selection for traits which give an individual an advantage over its rivals in courtship and aggressive...
, and a factor in their sexual attractiveness. They identify their femininity
Femininity
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors...
and sense of self
Self-concept
Self-concept is a multi-dimensional construct that refers to an individual's perception of "self" in relation to any number of characteristics, such as academics , gender roles and sexuality, racial identity, and many others. Each of these characteristics is a research domain Self-concept (also...
with their breasts. Historically women have, in appropriate situations, displayed their breasts and femininity with pride, within the limits of community and personal standards of modesty
Modesty
Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
.
Various methods have been used by women in history to accentuate breasts. For example, corset
Corset
A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
s that enhanced cleavage were introduced in the mid-16th century. By the late 18th century cleavage enhancing corsets grew more dramatic in pushing the breasts upwards. The tight lacing of corsets worn in the 19th and early 20th centuries emphasized both cleavage and the size of the bust and hips. Ball or evening gowns especially were designed to display and emphasize the décolletage.
More recently, after corsets became unfashionable, brassiere
Brassiere
A brassiere is an undergarment that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts....
s and padding have served to project, display and emphasize the breasts. Several brassiere manufacturers, among them Wonderbra
Wonderbra
The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1935, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses Nadler, founder and majority owner of the Canadian Lady Corset Company, licensed the...
and Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...
, produce bras that enhance cleavage.
At times, some women seek to enhance their sexual attractiveness by remedying what they consider a deficiency in their breasts. This may be by the use of an artificial device or by surgery. Surgery may be for breast augmentation or reduction.
Controversy
Low necklines usually result in the exposure of breasts or cleavage. Showing the nippleNipple
In its most general form, a nipple is a structure from which a fluid emanates. More specifically, it is the projection on the breasts or udder of a mammal by which breast milk is delivered to a mother's young. In this sense, it is often called a teat, especially when referring to non-humans, and...
s or areolae is almost always considered toplessness
Toplessness
Toplessness is the state in which a female's breasts are uncovered, with the areolae and nipples visible, usually in a public space. It can also refer to a female not wearing any clothing above the waist, which is the female equivalent to a male barechestedness.The history and even the present-day...
or partial nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
. In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much cleavage exposure is acceptable in public. In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose her breasts depends on social and cultural context. Though displaying cleavage can be permissible in many settings, it may be prohibited by dress codes in settings such as workplaces, churches and schools, where exposure of any part of female breasts may be considered inappropriate.
Some people became shocked when it became fashionable, around 1913, for dresses to be worn with a modest round or V-shaped neckline. In the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, for example, all Roman Catholic bishops joined in issuing a pastoral letter attacking the new fashions. Fashions became more restrained in terms of décolletage, while exposure of the leg became more accepted in Western societies, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and remained so for nearly half a century. From the 1960s onward, however, greater sexual permissiveness lead to increasing displays of cleavage in films, on television, and in everyday life, and low-cut dress styles became very common, even for casual wear.
In 1953, Hollywood film The French Line
The French Line
The French Line is a 1954 musical film starring Jane Russell made by RKO Pictures, directed by Lloyd Bacon and produced by Edmund Grainger, with Howard Hughes as executive producer. The screenplay was by Mary Loos and Richard Sale, based on a story by Matty Kemp and Isabel Dawn...
was found objectionable under the Hays Code because of Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
's "breast shots in bathtub, cleavage and breast exposure" while some of her decollete gowns were regarded to be "intentionally designed to give a bosom peep-show effect beyond even extreme decolletage".
In the United States, in two separate incidents in 2007, Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
crews asked travelers to modify their clothing, to wear sweaters, or to leave the plane because they did not consider the amount of cleavage displayed to be acceptable.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
created controversy when she wore a low-cut dress to the opening of the Oslo Opera House
Oslo Opera House
The Oslo Opera House is the home of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighborhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by Statsbygg, the government agency which manages property for...
on 12 April 2008.
Cleavage theory
BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris
Desmond Morris
Desmond John Morris, born 24 January 1928 in Purton, north Wiltshire, is a British zoologist and ethologist, as well as a popular anthropologist. He is also known as a painter, television presenter and popular author.-Life:...
theorizes that cleavage is a sexual signal that imitates the image of the cleft between the buttocks
Buttock cleavage
Buttock cleavage is minor exposure of the buttocks and the gluteal cleft between them, often because of low-slung or loose trousers. The crena is another formal term for the cleft between the buttocks.- History :...
, which according to Morris in The Naked Ape
The Naked Ape
The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal is a 1967 book by zoologist and anthropologist Desmond Morris which looks at humans as a species and compares them to other animals...
is also unique to humans, other primates as a rule having much flatter buttocks.
Evolutionary psychologists
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
theorize that humans' permanently enlarged breasts, in contrast to other primates' breasts, which only enlarge during ovulation
Ovulation
Ovulation is the process in a female's menstrual cycle by which a mature ovarian follicle ruptures and discharges an ovum . Ovulation also occurs in the estrous cycle of other female mammals, which differs in many fundamental ways from the menstrual cycle...
, allowed females to "solicit male attention and investment even when they are not really fertile", though Morris notes that in recent years there has been a trend toward reversing breast augmentations. According to social historian David Kunzle, waist confinement and the décolletage are the primary sexualization
Sexualization
The definition of the term, Sexualization has been the subject of debate and dispute. It has been described as the act or process of sexualizing. It refers to the making of a person, group or thing to be seen as sexual in nature or a person to become aware of sexuality...
devices of Western costume. Also, in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Wonderbra
Wonderbra
The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1935, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses Nadler, founder and majority owner of the Canadian Lady Corset Company, licensed the...
sponsors a National Cleavage Day
National Cleavage Day
National Cleavage Day is an annual celebration in South Africa held in either March or April and sponsored by the brassiere marketer Wonderbra. National Cleavage Day was started in 2002 and held at the beginning of April every year...
during which women are encouraged to display their cleavage. Art historian James Laver
James Laver
James Laver CBE FRSA was an author, art historian, and museum curator who acted as Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings for the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1938 and 1959...
argued that the changing standards of revealing the cleavage is more prominent in the evening dress than the day dress of women in the Western world.
See also
- Breast fetishismBreast fetishismBreast fetishism is a type of sexual fetish which involves a sexual interest in female breasts....
- Cleavage enhancementCleavage enhancementCleavage enhancement encompasses a range of techniques used temporarily to improve the appearance of a person's breast cleavage or to create the illusion of breast cleavage on a person who has no such cleavage...
- Cupless braCupless braA cupless bra, sometimes known as a shelf, open tip, open nipple or open cup bra, is a brassiere design composed of a rigid, under-wired frame along the inframammary line, that supports or lifts a woman's breasts, without enclosing the breast in a bra cup....
- DécolletageDécolletageDécolletage is the upper part of a woman's torso, between her waist and neck, comprising her neck, shoulders, back and chest, that is exposed by the style of her clothing. However, the term is most commonly applied to a neckline which reveals or emphasizes cleavage...
- Erotic capitalErotic CapitalSexual capital or erotic capital is a form of social worthiness granted to an individual, as a result of his or her sexual attractiveness to the majority of his or her social group...
- Mammary intercourseMammary intercourseMammary intercourse describes a sex act, performed as foreplay or as non-penetrative sex, that involves the stimulation of the male penis by the female breasts. Commonly, this sex act involves the man placing his penis in the woman's cleavage and thrusting between her breasts, while the breasts are...
- Topfree
External links
- "Sargent's Portraits", an article including a mention of the scandal caused by the portrayal of cleavage in John Singer SargentJohn Singer SargentJohn Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
's "Portrait of Madame XPortrait of Madame XMadame X or Portrait of Madame X is the informal title of a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of a young socialite named Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wife of Pierre Gautreau. The model was an American expatriate who married a French banker, and became notorious in Parisian high society...
".