History Main / NippleAndDimed

* Like the [[KirikouAndTheSorceress Kirikou]] movie, ''{{Roots}}'' and ''Shaka Zulu'' featured African women walking around top-free in a completely desexualized atmosphere. They were also made in 1977 and 1986, respectively.
** ''{{Roots}}'' followed the NationalGeographicNudity rule that women in Africa could be shown topless, but the same women brought to America as slaves had to be shown clothed.

Though media can safely display much of the female breast, and ''every'' part of the male breast, female nipples[[note]]that is, the areola and the actual mammary opening[[/note]] almost guarantee an [[MediaClassifications R rating]] from the [=MPAA=]. They might cost you $550,000 if you show them at half-time during the SuperBowl. The sight of it is so HarmfulToMinors that you must click a release to see it on the Internet. The United States Supreme Court upheld an ordinance requiring strippers to [[http://supreme.justia.com/us/529/277/case.html cover it]] under a pastie.

* In the ''Film/{{X-Men}}'' films, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique has either no nipples or they are covered by her natural "scales".

* R.E.M.'s 'Pop Song 89' music video features three pairs of nipples: those of singer Michael Stipe and those of two female dancers (a third dancer appears to be wearing pasties). This is probably an attempt at subverting the DoubleStandard. Significantly, Stipe becomes a backing dancer himself at the end of the video, while the women take turns in the foreground.

Though media can safely display much of the female breast, and ''every'' part of the male breast, female nipples[[hottip:*:that is, the areola and the actual mammary opening]] almost guarantee an [[MediaClassifications R rating]] from the [=MPAA=]. They might cost you $550,000 if you show them at half-time during the SuperBowl. The sight of it is so HarmfulToMinors that you must click a release to see it on the Internet. The United States Supreme Court upheld an ordinance requiring strippers to [[http://supreme.justia.com/us/529/277/case.html cover it]] under a pastie.

->''[[MundaneMadeAwesome The center of the Boob is the source of its power]]. It is so powerful in fact that society does not permit its public display for fear of wide spread anarchy, and [[YourHeadAsplode mass headsplosions]].''

* RumikoTakahashi has no qualms against displaying nipples on most female characters in her series, prominently ''RanmaOneHalf ''.
** But her male characters don't have nipples.

* In American reality TV game show ''Series/Survivor'', some fairly strenuous physical competition takes place among women dressed in bikini tops or skimpy shirts. On occasion breasts and nipples have been exposed. As this is American TV, such wardrobe malfunctions are visually bleeped out by blurring or pixillating the screen. This is even done on versions sold to Europe, much to the perplexity of local viewers. Especially when the womens' ''arses'' are also visually bleeped out, despite the fact they are clearly wearing bikini bottoms. This appears to be prudery taken to a ridiculous extreme.
** It is also noticeble about ''Series/Survivor'' that during a game involving women contestants bobbing for items in a tub full of gloopy brown mud, several bikini tops were dislodged exposing breasts and nipples. But since the women involved were by then slathered from head to waist in a coating of mud, the bared breasts were not visually bleeped out and left in full uncensored camera view.

* When showing the results of plastic surgery on a transexual woman on a medical show, the before shots were "male" nipples uncensored, but following breast augmentation the "female" nipples were censored. They showed much of the swell of breast and the only part censored was the nipples which hadn't actually changed. That we had already seen.

* Jack in ''MassEffect2'' wears nothing on her upper body except for a rope... bra... thing. One that only covers the nipples, really. It is possible to imagine that she'd need to wear something to prevent uncomfortable bouncing, but a rope bra? One would imagine that very uncomfortable and not quite functional for that purpose.

* [[http://skepchick.org/2011/05/your-body-is-obscene-if-youre-a-woman-or-look-like-one/ Very strange example.]] Andrej Pejic is a male model with a very androgynous, feminine appearance. He is often photographed in female clothes, styled as a women. Recently, he appeared on the cover of a magazine, styled as a woman, in which he is shown opening his shirt as though he is baring his breasts ... which, of course, [[http://skepchick.org/wp-content/uploads/dossier.jpg are totally absent]]. Nevertheless, Barnes & Noble actually refused to display the magazine publicly, and ordered it to either change its cover or agree to be sold in a paper bag, on the grounds that the picture was too reminiscent of a topless woman. Needless to say, B&N has no trouble displaying topless men that are obviously masculine ...

[[caption-width-right:250:[[VisualPun This is as close to an exposed nipple on this site you're ever going to get.]]]]

** And how. At one point they actually had topless women holding speed limit signs. Their speeding problems were soon replaced with traffic jams...
** This Troper never understood parents worrying about children's programs showing boobs. There was a parent outcry at a video of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHROHJlU_Ng Katy Perry singing a Bowdlerized version of "Hot n Cold" with Elmo]], because you could see her cleavage. But [[FridgeLogic when you think about it]], kids watching Sesame Street were ''sucking'' on boobs two to four years ago so what's the big deal?

* 17-year-old OliviaHussey was forbidden to attend the premiere of RomeoAndJuliet (1968) wherein she played the female lead, because of the nude scene. That's right, she was judged too young to see ''her own'' nipples on screen. To be fair, the same scene shows Romeo's bare butt too... which of course she saw anyways while they were filming.

** There was a tiny controversy that sparked with waterparks. Women were not allowed to go and swim in the pools at the waterpark if they weren't wearing something to cover they breasts. They protested by going to waterparks without tops.

** [[BarbieDollAnatomy Nobody in that series has nipples]]; not even male characters.

Though media can safely display much of the female breast, and ''every'' part of the male breast, female nipples almost guarantee an [[MediaClassifications R rating]] from the [=MPAA=]. They might cost you $550,000 if you show them at half-time during the SuperBowl. The sight of it is so HarmfulToMinors that you must click a release to see it on the Internet. The United States Supreme Court upheld an ordinance requiring strippers to [[http://supreme.justia.com/us/529/277/case.html cover it]] under a pastie.

* Also in "Tarot," the vampire Licorice Dust is often shown wearing live spiders as pasties.