The photos of the strikingly beautiful actress are redacted at that link. Why does Cohen — who claims to have small breasts too — declare Knightley's pictures unsexy... or, to be perfectly accurate, not to be called "sexy"?
Cohen contends that her small breasts "just don’t factor much in my day-to-day thoughts and never when it comes to my feelings of attractiveness." And she's got a quote of Knightley saying "I don’t mind exposing my tits because they’re so small – people aren’t really that interested." Cohen says "really small boobs aren’t traditionally seen as desirable." And: "They’re often overlooked."
I would think the point would be that Keira Knightley proves that they are in fact extremely attractive. But Cohen "salute[s]" Knightley for "throwing out ideas of what the naked female form should, or shouldn’t, look like" and "taking control of her own image." In that light, Cohen says, it's "horribly, horribly misguided" to call the pictures "sexy."
To me, it’s clear that Keira hasn’t got her tits out for the purpose of male titillation. Powerful, yes. Strong, yes. Feminist, absolutely. X-rated? Not even close. And that’s why this is a victory for small breasted women.Too bad Knightley "got her tits out" right when all these other stars were having their "tits" gotten out for them. Knightley's message — whatever it is — got stepped on badly.
But let's pretend we can hear the message Knightley intended to send by posing with her shirt off. I don't believe for one second that she meant small breasts, being small, can be seen naked without being sexy. She's saying: No one is more beautiful than I am — me, the ideal, including the tiny breasts. Tiny breasts should be the new thing, because I am so perfectly beautiful.
Now, who read the signaling headlamps properly, me or Cohen?
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64 comments:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Cohen doesn't seem to allow for different preferences.
Articles like this are a reminder of how shallow we have become as a nation and a culture. I'm sorry I bothered to visit here this morning.
I think the reason women care about breast size so much has to do with projecting their own thinking onto men.
Knightly's hot. Anyone who says her "tits" aren't sexy is lying.
Save the "bucket Clair." She'll get her head unstuck some day.
"taking control of her own image."
That. Partially because it's about control, the opposite of what Jennifer Lawrence feels when some sleaze invades her privacy and partially, attractive or not, it's about not yielding to what someone else might say about something that doesn't really define who you are.
Interesting how a woman can be so assured about what a man finds sexy or unsexy.
It seems her own issues with breast size have constrained her thinking. Perhaps men not finding her sexy has nothing to do with breasts but with a pinched personality.
Women always,always, preen for other women.
Men are just have if you acknowledge them.
Personally I have seen many breast to large, never to Small.
But then that's the point isn't? Personally?
You did.
Natural female form presented well takes control of men's eyes for fun and profit. That is a woman's entry level purpose in life. Everything springs from that attraction.
So regulation of that attraction is fun for all. How can men lose when the woman wins? It is natural nurture that wins.
There more than a few plastic surges in Beverly Hills who would disagree. Natural versus enhanced may be what is on point here in addition to their legitimate invasion of privacy. Shame on APL for failing to address the problem before it took on a life of it's own. I purchased an APL notebook recently and was intrigued when the associate went to the 'cloud' and downloaded all the information my desk top APL had sent there because I failed to check a couple of boxes on preferences. GOOGLE and APPLE etc. are getting way to involved in our personal lives for my taste. It is worrisome.
I guess it comes down to that, indeed, I would lick vanilla ice cream off of Kiera's breasts.
Men know what they think is sexy in women and vice versa, case closed.
Remember the bad old days, when women in journalism were shunted into writing chick-trivia and never let out of the "women's pages" ghetto?
Thank God that now with the freedom of the internet, the web is overflowing with women like Cohen doing the serious writing that their grandmother's only dreamt about while being forced to churn out more copy about My Appearance and What Are Other People Thinking About Me?
What about the physiology? I have a theory that excess fatty tissue pads nerve cells, and that smaller breasts are more sensitive. If "sexy" includes responsive, smaller is better.
Small breasts look better in black-and-white; big breasts look better in color. Discuss.
You know, all this is taking the fun out of boobs..
Maybe tomorrow we can have a post on women's comparative ass size: Knightley vs. Kardashian, e.g.
Helpful hint, Keira Knightly sexy, Lena Dunham not sexy and I'm presuming to speak for men.
Big breasts are a cartoon convention for hot babe.
There's no connection with real life.
My dear deceased wife Sally used to say, at just the right moment with just the right inflection, "I grew them just for you."
A joke and not a joke.
Now that was sexy.
think the reason women care about breast size so much has to do with projecting their own thinking onto men.
It's a very complicated issue for some women, because so much is made of breast size/shape and it's one thing you can absolutely not control without surgery. And even then, people weigh in on "bolt-ons" vs "perky". Everybody has an opinion, and it can be really hard to grow up with "imperfect" breasts when every breast you see is perfect.
There's no diet/yoga/running/weight lifting that can substantially change how your breasts look.
Men can tell women "Oh, we don't care, we just love breasts!", but Playboy isn't full of imperfect/tiny breasts. Game of Thrones doesn't have a lot of actresses with tiny tits.
I disagree with Cohen about Knightley's photos not being sexy and that it is misguided to see them as such.
I do think it's worth acknowledging how much breast size can affect a girl/woman's feelings about herself, her appearance, and her sexiness.
I like big breasts and I cannot lie, you other fella can't deny....
But small breasts work too if the girl is as pretty as Kiera.
And actually I've noticed that if the girl has smaller breasts she usually has more symmetrical beauty facially. The big breasted ones often have bad teeth, or some other flaw that is made up for by the huge breasts.
There are exceptions to every rule of course.
The patriarchy once again forcing women to write about women's parts.
Contemporary feminism is just frankly nuts, stark raving nuts.
They remind me of the crazy Christians who saw all sort of satanic messages on cereal boxes or in Disney cartoons.
If all you have is a vagina then all of the world looks like a penis.
"Let's take a closer look at those breasts."
And once again the Althouse blog completes another cultural orbit.
Maybee, I am not sure you have much idea of what actresses look like in the p.o.r.n that men really look at. Not the stuff intended for women in the glossy magazines.
Men are really focused on age. We can't help it, it is millions of years of evolution that focus us on women's fertility. Larger breasts don't come into it with such actresses until they start getting a little older. Most features we call pretty in women are just features that look like they could be on younger women.
To me "breast augmentation" is more a marker of age than anything else, a search for the lost sexiness of youth they took for granted.
"...a powerful statement for all women with less-than-voluptuous chests."
It needs to be pointed out, yet again, that "voluptuous" has inherently nothing to do with size of anything, let alone breasts. It means:
1. full of, characterized by, or ministering to indulgence in luxury, pleasure, and sensuous enjoyment: a voluptuous life.
2. derived from gratification of the senses: voluptuous pleasure.
3. directed toward or concerned with sensuous enjoyment or sensual pleasure: voluptuous desires.
4. sensuously pleasing or delightful: voluptuous beauty.
Indeed, breasts of all sizes can be voluptuous. Those of you who do prefer big boobs please find another word and stop contributing to the corruption of the English language.
There is one theory that the reason seeking out large breasted women is evolutionarily adaptive and so irrationally survives is that they only look good on younger women and they are a dead giveaway to actual age and fertility.
"Now, who read the signaling headlamps properly, me or Cohen?"
Cohen is nuts.
Maybee, I am not sure you have much idea of what actresses look like in the p.o.r.n that men really look at. Not the stuff intended for women in the glossy magazines.
no I'm not tremendously familiar with the po__ men apparently actually look at, but there is much about breasts in popular culture beyond the glossy magazines intended for women.
I'm not here to critize what men find attractive or what is put out there for titllation or fashion. Just that beautiful or bountiful breasts are what is on display for public consumption, and a girl growing up can get a lot of signals that her small or imperfect breasts are not going to be celebrated as sexy.
I can understand how Cohen might have grown to believe what she does, even though I don't think she's right in this specific case.
Kate Hudson, Meg Ryan, or Betty Boop could explain to her that she is wrong.
But I guess this is all a case of the personal being political.
Can't wait for the microphallic men to start telling the world that they are sexy and demanding acknowledgement.
Not that such men can't find women who love them, just that it is a personal thing, and if you think women receive messages from the culture.
Can't wait for the microphallic men to start telling the world that they are sexy and demanding acknowledgement.
I agree. It's why I really hate that a common putdown (often from women!) about men is they have a small dick. What are they supposed to do about it? It isn't some kind of personal failing.
There was a story a while ago about a college girl who had kept a list of the guys she slept with and assessed their penis size. All the information was put out on the internet.
I thought it was appalling, but it was the kind of thing that really amused feminists.
Angleyne once again demonstrates with her tres cynical commentary why I grovel at her feet--both figuratively and literally..
tim in vermont said...
I think the reason women care about breast size so much has to do with projecting their own thinking onto men.
It seems to be to be a deep-seated insecurity dating back to puberty and the trama of junior high school. Some guys are ass men. Others are leg men. Many guys are boobs men, but personal preference runs the wide range of sizes from AAA to DDD.
There's been a lot of movies where Kiera went topless. I always thought that was because she took herself seriously as an artist and felt she needed to go topless in order to deliver the scene. On the other hand, Scarlet Johannson has only appeared nude in one movie that I can remember. Lots of lingerie shots and cleavage, but no nudity. Nothing is more essential to character development and pacing than a well timed boob shot. I won't take Scarlet seriously as an actress until she starts appearing topless.
betamax3000 said...
I guess it comes down to that, indeed, I would lick vanilla ice cream off of Kiera's breasts
What are you inclinations regarding spumoni?
I remember once at a bowling alley a couple of us guys were admiring a young pretty woman when a woman friend felt it necessary to point out that she had small breasts prompting a contemptuous response from us.
A lot of pretty women have small breasts and a lot of not very pretty women have big breasts, I'll take the pretty ones.
I'm just as glad I lived in an era when Audrey Hepburn never had to go topless, but, on the other hand, Some of Marilyn's films would have been infinitely better with a few boob scenes.
Knightly has a gorgeous face, but is overall too skinny to have what I would consider a physically attractive body. But to each their own.
The unsexy thing about the pictures is that for some reason they didn't give her a chance to dry off after she got caught in the rain on the way to the shoot.
tit <-> titillation. Not related etymologically, but interesting.
Also, as the great prophet Heinlein pointed out, the more formal "teat" is actually pronounced "tit".
Claire Cohen chicksplains why you shouldn't call/find Kiera K's semi-nude pictures "sexy." Good luck, Claire
She's saying: No one is more beautiful than I am — me, the ideal, including the tiny breasts. Tiny breasts should be the new thing, because I am so perfectly beautiful.
But she could be even more perfect with bigger boobs. As Aristotle said, art completes what nature cannot bring to a finish. That is why God gave us silicone.
"But she could be even more perfect with bigger boobs."
Not in my opinion.
Apparently some of us men weren't breastfed as babies.
The patriarchy once again forcing women to write about women's parts.
And show them!
Really, we men have so spectacularly, successfully subversive on this one it's almost embarrassing.
"No, no, whatever you do, don't show us your tits. We'll shame you. Yeah, a lot. Oh, and wear underwear, too, or else we'll really slut-shame you."
(FWIW, not being a boob-man, I prefer a smaller set of jubblies anyway. I think Kate Beckinsale should go all-out Feminist and let us see hers, too.)
Many a plastic surgeon disagrees!
Come on Keira, it's time to make an appointment with silicone!
Arnold Schwarzenegger said he's do any woman. He wasn't picky.
Ms. Knightley's protests aren't so much insincere as gently mocking. Those whose adoration for the female breast is rigorously size-and-volume scaled are expected to miss the mockery and therefore to agree with her; as an experienced actor she can suppress her inclination to roll her eyes when they nod agreement.
Others are expected to get the joke and give her a different sort of nod, a more appreciative one.
dreams said...
A lot of pretty women have small breasts and a lot of not very pretty women have big breasts, I'll take the pretty ones.
A lot of pretty women are stupid, shallow, and ill-tempered, and a lot of not very pretty women are smart, sensitive, and patient. I'll take the pretty ones. ( Yeah, I'm that shallow. )
"A lot of pretty women are stupid, shallow, and ill-tempered, and a lot of not very pretty women are smart, sensitive, and patient. I'll take the pretty ones. ( Yeah, I'm that shallow. )"
I have a theory that pretty women are also smarter than not so pretty women because it's the smart guys that can get the pretty women and therefore produce even more pretty and smart women but maybe porn videos undermine my theory.
First of all, Knightley is gorgeous.
Secondly, she's been topless in movies before, so this is nothing new.
Finally, guys are more than willing to see small-breasted beautiful women take their tops off. If you want to do it as a "statement", ladies, don't let us stop you.
Game of Thrones doesn't have a lot of actresses with tiny tits.
I don't know what "a lot" is supposed to mean, but the female leads mostly have average-to-small breasts.
For that matter, the stereotype of porn actresses having huge breasts isn't true either. There's a lot of variety out there.
Spumoni is proof that diversity isn't always a good thing.
Any healthy woman's breasts are good.
Big, small, lumpy, droopy, green or purple, women need to learn to own 'em Along with a myriad of other aspects, physical and non-physical, owning it where women become physically, intellectually and emotionally attractive
She has an underbite too.
Underbite, too skinny, small tits. Perfection?
I might pause six or seven milliseconds before hauling her off to my cave.
rhh, dreams, and David are tied for threadwinners (8:30am through 8:52am).
And (considering his 10:38am comment) dreams is really on a roll today, I'll take that as the tie-breaker!
With the whole cloud McGuffin, would the movie "The Sex Tape" do better or worse if had come out now rather than some weeks ago ... ?
OK, clicked on the link, I am with Althouse on this one.
I remember seeing her in the King Arthur movie. They strapped her boobs (boobettes?) together as tightly as they could to give the impression of cleavage. Didn't work. And wasn't worth it.
BTW can anyone tell me from personal experience: When a woman has had breast enhancement (implants) surgery, do the breasts feel different to the touch?
It's called cattiness. As illustrated by this very blog, it doesn't take much for two women to start bitching about each other.
She looks good, but this is hardly revolutionary. There have long been women of virtually all breast sizes who have been idolized as beautiful, as sex symbols.
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