It's all about the sideboob....or is it?

Sideboob: noun, informal; The side part of a woman's breast, as exposed by a revealing item of clothing. (Oxforddictionaries.com)

Pull up your friendly neighborhood Google search, select "images" and type in "side boob" for the search. You will find a lovely and often amusing selection of images, mostly celebrities and all women. I'm not here to post pictures of these examples but feel free to check them out.

I recently heard that sideboob will rule the world one day. At first glance I can see how it could be true but then I dig deeper and realize that sideboob's predecessors (cleavage, knees, ankles, etc) have all fallen by the wayside when replaced with something more risqué and none of them have brought about gender equality let alone the advancement of the "fairer sex."

I'm going to argue that sideboob is nothing special or exciting and if a little fatty flesh is enough to cause such a ruckus then women have a tougher road to gender equality than I thought. I get that the female form tends to be more attractive than the male body and things like sideboob can garner attention across the media - especially social media - but is it the type of attention we want as a gender?

Backing up just a bit, I'm not saying well all need to be covered head to toe at all times - I live in the Midwest and that would make summers awfully uncomfortable - but I am saying that letting it all hang out to get attention is not perhaps the best way to accomplish our goals. Some women have worked very hard to gain respect and recognition in male dominated fields and they did so without sideboob. Marie Curie, Mother Theresa, Madeline Albright, JK Rowling and Oprah come to mind.

On topic, I wonder what Madame Curie would say in response to Nobel Prize winner, Tim Hunt's recent comments about female scientists? Makes me wonder what Mr. Hunt's thought on sideboob would be? My favorite article on this debacle can be read here. 



Marie Curie....look out Mr. Hunt she's a distraction with her mold and all. Good thing there's no sideboob involved.

 

How much could Marie Curie have accomplished if she'd only taken advantage of her sideboob abilities!? Or...not.

 

Still, my friend insists it's all about the sideboob. The claim is that some female authors, artists and other performers are getting extra attention (and profits) by showing some sideboob. I examined this by doing some research online and found, as noted above, that there is A LOT of attention given to sideboob. So I wonder again if my friend is right. Maybe he is, maybe a little sideboob would help me realize my dream....but then I think, if it works, will I feel good about it? No, I won't. I know I won't.

 

I'm going to argue that it's not all about the sideboob, at least not for me or, I'm guessing, Marie Curie either.