In defense of the cleavage and why women flaunt it

CLEAVAGE YA CHAN: Mallika Sherawat's cleavage was noticed more than the movie she did with Jackie Chan. What was it again?

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Keywords: Mallika Sherawat, Cleavage

Cleav-age: (noun) The area between a woman's breasts, especially when revealed by a low-cut neckline.

Which of the following comes to your mind when you see a woman walking down the road wearing a clinging shirt and showing her cleavage:

1. Wonder where did she buy that shirt?

2. I wished I/ my partner looked like her

3. Wow, what a perfect set

4. Such women are a shame to female species/ Indian women

5. God, she is so desperate for attention

6. Now that’s an icon of woman power

While you think about the questions and (try and) give an honest answer, I bet No. 6 will get the least votes. Despite the fact that every woman – irrespective of her breast size – has a cleavage and apparently now even men want one, showing off a cleavage usually has negative connotations. Quite sad, given that cleavage has a number of uses.

For one, it provides employment opportunities to many women. If it were not for their cleavage, Mallika Sherawat, Rakhi Sawant and Malaika Arora would be out of jobs. Furthermore, cleavage specialists Wonderbra – and other lingerie brands – would go out of business and all lad-mags (think Maxim) would go bust as well.

Looking beyond commercial cleavage, even cricket, our unofficial national sport has benefited from cleavage. Despite the Indian women’s cricket team debuting in 1976 (first test against West Indies), it was the on-air innings by Mandira Bedi’s cleavage that truly married women and cricket. The curious can check the channel TRPs to satisfy themselves.

Cleavage also changed the reading habits of the Indian women – and some say even men – forever. From the days when the leading magazine used to be the beaten-housewife-special or something with 20 recipes for tiffin-boxes, the 21st century is all about the fun, fearless female. If Cosmopolitan – unimaginable without a cleavage cover – taught the women to flaunt it and get the men by the (eye)balls, Sex and the City caused another revolution. It made cleavage, Carrie and confidence, synonyms of each other.

Yet when a woman shows cleavage in office, it’s her women colleagues – while the men meekly peek over their computers – who will dish out the most rabid, caustic comments. If a woman showing her cleavage is a sign of empowerment and her being “comfortable with her body”, why does it get such reactions?

Before you read further, what do you think of:

1. why a woman shows off cleavage?

2. women showing cleavage are asking to be leched at?

3. women showing cleavage are characterless?

NEXT PAGE >>> Is there something called an innocent cleavage?