National Geographic was once the kind of magazine that teenage boys would hide under their mattress in the fond hope that their mother would not know. All those pictures of bare breasted tribal women
Later, we had the phenomenon of white women exercising their right to sit topless on the beach in Goa or Bali, surrounded by ogling young local men. Why does that seem like a kind of imperialism?
On the wall of my living room I have some framed photos I took of the cave paintings at Sigi Riya. I particularly love the delicate outlines & the mustard/turquoise colours. I was dumbfounded when I heard how someone was spreading gossip about my brazen taste for bare breasted women
In my time I must have walked past, sat near, tens or hundreds of women breast feeding in public. Some I noticed: although discreet, something about their posture made me realise, as I turned my head or got up to leave
A couple of weeks ago I was in a Caffé Nero where a young woman sat in the window gossiping with a friend. Her top was pushed right up, exposing both breasts as she fed her (very new) baby. It made me feel uncomfortable, choose a seat at a distance, leave them space
There was a time when the sight of a well-turned ankle could make grown men faint. In the 1960s it was my mother who persuaded me that I should shorten the hem of the summer dress I had just made, so that I exposed my knees, to fit the latest fashion
At the same time I had of course incorporated the ingenious ribbon & pop stud arrangement into the shoulder seam so that my bra & petticoat straps could be firmly anchored, would not slip & show at the top of my bare arms
A friend tells, often & indignantly, of how she was refused entry to the cathedral in Florence because she was wearing a sleeveless dress
In the 1970s I used to feel offended by crowds of anoraked & bejeaned European school parties lounging on the tombs in Westminster Abbey
There are days when I would really like to go out wearing the full Saudi black garb, complete with birdlike mask & sunglasses. Apart from the welcome feeling of being hidden from view, the trapped layers of air would be a very good defence against the Raynauds
Anyone who has had long hair knows the naked feeling of chopping it off. Many Muslim women feel completely unable to face the world without a headscarf. The Queen would not be properly dressed for a public engagement without hat, tiara or crown
I feel offended now by men shopping in the supermarket dressed only in shorts & flip flops
Just before last nights Good Read the continuity announcer warned that there would be discussion of a book about the male reproductive organ which some listeners may find … challenging
No I cannot explain the rules, or why they change
Perhaps there is a modesty meme whose expression adjusts rapidly to the environment
