“Oh just grow up!”

That’s the reaction in some readers’ comments to the media’s portrayal of boobs after Leah’s recent post on vanity sizing:

  • “The point of this piece [on television] is to get people to look at boobs and spike the ratings. Stephen Colbert+Boobs= happy 14-35 year old men that might come back and watch more mornings.”
  • “. . . the TV network didn’t allow her to [make a serious point] because bras are comic to them. They do women a disservice because this is a serious issue and we do need information and debate.”
  • “To the network it was just a chance to say ‘Ha, ha, breasts! Ha, ha’.“

A little while later, Georgina Horne of Fullerfigurefullerbust posted an exasperated response to a recent article on her Facebook page:  “The media just needs to grow up!” I’m not sure how the media can grow up, but I knew what she meant, and the comments to Leah’s post were a revelation to me.

Then last night after a friend shared the Busty Clothing Swap on her Facebook page, she received these responses:

  • Dave: (Must find excuse to be there… Must find excuse…)
  • Another guy: Dave…we’ll pretend we’re gay…bring a measuring tape and let me do the talking…

And I found myself giggling. And I confess that sometimes Mr. Campbell and I engage in Beavis-and-Butt-head-like chortles after one of us makes a particularly clever boob joke.

Boobs are funny, fascinating and multi-faceted. Sometimes the media gets hung up on the funny and fascinating and refuses to focus on the other facets. The media can be like that guy staring at our neckline when we want him to look into our eyes and pay attention to our words. We are more than big boobs and cleavage!

Yet just like that oh so complex issue of cleavage, the media’s eagerness to sensationalize boobs is not entirely useless. Any attention can be better than no attention at all. I reflected on this when I decided on the name “Busty Clothing Swap” for the event that Hourglassy is sponsoring with ClosetDash Shop on Saturday. I usually gravitate towards more subtle wording, but this time I needed something clear and simple; if the media found the term “busty” to be titillating and gave my event some great publicity as a result, so much the better! I’m still waiting for the television stations to call me, but I’m proud to announce that we have received a mention in this week’s Time Out New York! (In case you’re wondering, it was a female reporter who contacted me.)

Imagine the challenge it would be to get coverage if we were sponsoring the “Broad Shoulders Clothing Swap”. Large breasts get a lot of unwanted attention, but that attention can work in our favor when we need to spotlight certain issues. After all, it’s hard to find a much sexier topic than “large breasts”.