When I was in college in my 20s in the brutally hot sticky South, sitting in freezing rooms on campus was miserable enough. But because of robust air conditioning, and the fact that the only bras I had in s America were paper-thin thanks, Calvin Klein , my nipples could make no such distinction between what you might call their inside vs. They were permanently hard at all times inside — through T-shirts, sweaters, wool blankets, a Hazmat suit. Because you see, when an actual turkey is finished cooking in an oven, the built-in thermometer pops out like a stiff eraser.
The boob may be the squishy canvas that props up our fantasies, but the nipple is the brushstroke that paints the story. But more like a light show. Yes, she is catching you staring.
When I put the question to friends online about what they thought when they encountered a Public Nipple Situation, I got a range of responses:. Excited, she purchased a new outfit appropriate to the work, including a white sweater from the Gap. A few weeks later, her advisor a woman called her to speak about her performance. Expecting to get feedback on how she handled daily breast and pelvic exams, instead, the woman let her know that the entire office of women had contacted her let her know they had been made deeply uncomfortable by her protruding nipples.
The question of her nipples standing at attention had never occurred to her, nor had anyone pointed it out thus far in her young life. That was the day she learned that women are held responsible for the feelings their bodies provoke in others, even when their bodies have no intention of provoking anything. She cried in a nearby coffee shop. This is a recurring issue for women that shows up in advice columns. The answer? Probably not.
But that was Deal with it. But what about dude nips? They have nipples, and those nipples are often hiding in plain sight — in large part because men can walk around shirtless in a number of everyday settings, no questions asked. Surely, I thought, the responses will be different. He need not worry what they inspire in others.
Though often thought to be vestigial, they never really functioned in the first place though men can lactate. We all start out as female, including with milk lines, and then when the sex hormones kick in, testosterone shrinks them down in men, leaving the nipple, but not much else. On the thread, the same slew of NICE responses filed in. There were jokes, but they were a little more casual and bro-y. After all, it was on the Ask Men subreddit. Then someone added in an ode the man nip , as it were:. We met in the hall; it is but the briefest of chance encounters.
And yet, within that moment, something catches my eye. His proud, erect nipples poking through his shirt mimic my own, which themselves rise righteously from the field of cotton which struggle to contain them. We do not need words, only the understanding that in this moment, we are brothers. What does his future hold for him? Will he be a world-renowned ice sculpter? Perhaps a diamond thief, cutting through glass security doors with nothing more than the gift god gave him. As we make eye contact, and a brief nod, does he also see what can be possible between us?
And then the moment is gone. We continue to our separate destinations, our proud chest pokers leading the way. The world remains exactly as it was. Tracy Moore is a staff writer at MEL. Formerly at Jezebel. It gets double points for managing to pull off that project with style and charm, not self-seriousness. Is she catching me staring? Then someone added in an ode the man nip , as it were: We met in the hall; it is but the briefest of chance encounters.