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The Nipple is Taboo

The BBC has launched an innovative new platform called BBC Ideas. sentiospace, in collaboration with documentary company WhatLarks!, was approached to tell one of the first stories on the platform, all about how the nipple has been perceived throughout history.

in ancient times the nipple was cherished as a symbol of fertility

Ancient Goddesses were sacred and worshipped

#MinoanSnakeGoddess #ArtemisofEphesus #VenusofWillendorf #Meenakshi

so how did this happen?

#modernadvertising #ohdear

the female body is used to sell everything under the sun, yet the nipple is considered taboo: why?

as is often the case, it all started back with those Ancient Greeks

men were depicted as symbols of power and virility

#AncientGreekArt

#AncientGreekArt

women meanwhile were covered by a seductive drape

horror stories of Amazon warriors removing a breast to fire a bow and arrow

#AncientGreekStories #AmazonWarriorsNoHusbands

since the 1960s, women have fought back against the objectification of a body part

BBC archive footage of women’s rights march in 1960s

#YourBodyBelongsToYou

Yoko Ono’s had members of the audience remove her clothes with a pair of scissors

#PowerDynamics #GenderIssues #1964

Carolee Scheemann reinterpreted Manet’s Olympia

#investigationintothetaboo #1963

#Édouard Manet, 1863

Femen & Free The Nipple campaigns call for women to take to the streets

#Femen2008 #FreeTheNipple2012

well, that depends on..

what is in store for the future of the nipple?

watch film to cement and extend your understanding

French Impressionists in London

Tate Britain

The Nipple is Taboo

BBC

Why Colleagues are a Nightmare

The School of Life

The Spirit of Play

University of Cambridge

Story so far

sentiospace

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