The Breast: A Cultural and Political History

While sometimes described as a secondary sex characteristic, the female breast is of primary interest. It nourishes but also seduces, it is considered sacred or depraved – depending on the era, culture, context and perspective. The way breasts are seen, shown or concealed has been the subject of debate and scandal for centuries. Breasts, in other words, are by no means 'private parts': on the contrary, they're a subject of great public interest. The breast is the organ through which some of the central cultural and political conflicts of Western societies have been conducted, now and in the past. But the power of the breast does not lie in any 'natural' force. It lies in the cultural characteristics that we attribute to it and that make it a symbol of femininity, naturalness, motherliness or sexuality.

Zimmermann takes the reader on an extended tour of how the breast and its symbolism are politically constructed. She examines this ambiguous and versatile body part from various perspectives but always with a political question in mind. This is a book about art and pornography, fashion and gender norms, the ideal of motherhood and heteronormativity, body positivity and self-determination, sexism and protest. She shows that the dialectic between revealing and concealing, visibility and invisibility, played out discursively in different fields, is a key to understanding the social, cultural and political significance of the breast. Her book delves into the past, seeking to explain the origins of a conflict that has surfaced again and again in different times and places and is still with us today.