Today’s blog in an angry blog, as I find myself righteously incensed. You see, I received an e-mail from my mate Frank in New Zealand alerting me to a serious case of prejudice against big breasts that occurred in his home country. The incident involved a busty British tourist by the name of Helen Simpson and Christchurch Casino, the latter of whom ejected her from the premises because of some patrons’ complaints about the cleavage-revealing low-cut dress she was wearing…
…regarding this incident, Frank wrote:
Reese,
As a Kiwi, it pains me to send you this article. However, I think that you will agree that it indicates yet again what prejudice big breasted women have to face. It is equally concerning that the woman concerned is quoted as saying that “being well-endowed in the upper region is something I did not choose in life and something I’m certainly not proud of”. Then again, if this is the type of response she has to deal with, then who blames her for this kind of response?
On a slightly more positive note, reader’s responses are 12-to-1 in support of Ms Simpson, of which the vast majority are women. However, even then one of the female respondents notes:
“I totally agree with Ms Simpson. I am 23 years old and have just had a breast reduction going from a G cup to a D cup. When I was 18 years old I was a DD cup and weighed 55kg and was 152 cm. I could fit into a size 12 dress but of course it was a bit of a squeeze for my chest, so I would receive a lot of unwanted attention and would often be discriminated against, being asked to cover up and looked at by both men and women.”
It is a sad world we live in!
Frank
Frank, I cannot agree with you more whole-heartedly on this topic. Helen is indeed a beautiful, well-endowed woman who has every right to be proud of the body God gave her. I applaud her self-confidence in wearing what she did to the casino, as it’s far to common to see voluptuous girls sadly covering up their natural beauty due to the misguided mainstream media. I have no doubt that, if it were a lesser-endowed woman in the same situation (i.e. one of the apparently acceptable “model types”), no one would’ve batted an eyelid. As Ms. Simpson said herself in the article, “You don’t see women with too small boobs being criticised, do you?”
As for the Christchurch Casino executive director’s defense that it wasn’t “so much a matter of dress code than comments [that] were received from people” is an obvious cop-out, as is attributing this incident to a “judgement call” made by staff. In my eyes, the employee that acted upon what was nothing more than an expression of blatant discrimination by a thoughtless patron should be, at the very least, reprimanded for her actions. If not, I would see the casino as guilty of promoting prejudice not only against big breasts but indeed anything that their customers might find to be the least bit “offensive”. To wit…
“See that man over there? His long hair and pierced ear are really creeping me out!” – “Help!! Someone with acne has just sat across from me! Could you ask them to leave, as it’s really putting me off my dinner?” – “How could you allow fat people into such a respectable establishment?!” – “Oh no – a midget – get them out of here!!” – “See that woman in the wheelchair…?”
…a bit extreme, perhaps, but you get the picture. Besides, how would these absurd examples be any different from the prejudice that Helen Simpson suffered solely because of the size of her breasts?!
I’m marginally willing to accept that perhaps I’ve become a bit jaded living in Britain. After all, large breasts are considered a thing of beauty here and revered even by the mainstream media. Case in point: Britain’s largest circulation national newspaper – The Sun – plasters a new busty babe all over page three in every issue that appears on our morning breakfast tables! In fact, they’ve just posted a game on their paper’s companion website encouraging readers to guess the bra-size of popular celebrities like Kelly Brook, Lisa Snowdon & Fifi Geldof, the latter of whom is herself a voluptuous woman with 34HH breasts (oops, gave that one away!)!
So it’s no wonder that Nottingham resident Helen felt totally comfortable with her choice of clothing for visiting a casino, which only serves to make me more angry over the public humiliation and embarrassment she was forced to endure abroad. Incidents like this just fly in the face of such body-image acceptance initiatives as Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, which attempts to reverse the media damage to girls’ self-esteem by portraying real women with natural figures as an ideal in advertising rather than the stick-thin models with which they’re typically bombarded. Thus, I’d consider a real woman like Helen Simpson showing a bit of cleavage to be a positive role model in this regard rather than a target for thoughtless prejudice.
Helen, if you’re reading this, you are a beautiful woman and have every right to wear what you wish. I am sorry for humiliation that you suffered at the hands of a few ignorant individuals, and can only hope that this abhorable experience does not dissuade you from continuing to show your lovely curves in the future. You’re a hero in the plight to bring acceptance of the natural feminine form to the public and, for your courage in taking this inexcusable incident to the press, I’m sure I’m not alone in applauding you.
*heavy sigh*
With that off my chest and speaking of advertising campaigns, the only possible “silver lining” I can conceive in this deplorable situation is the beneficial impact it could potentially have upon British tourism (not much of a consolation, but I’m grasping at straws here). We could position ourselves as the tit tourist capital of the world, offering an itinerary which optimises visitors’ opportunities of breast-spotting at our many quality pubs and clubs!
And so, as a first stop to kick off my “See the Boobs of Britain” tourism campaign, let’s visit Vix, singing away at a weekend pub party whilst the karaoke machine blares Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” in the background. Ah, yes, a typical evening out in the British Isles, brought to you courtesy of Tits-Out.com:
Awww man. I want to see Helene’s tits! They look great!
Fuck yeah I think you covered everything in your post and all I can do is agree! I was at a German festival in Adelaide Australia and there was a young (maybe 19 definatly over 18 as she was drinking) girl with absolutly huge boobs, I sighted her throught the day several times and was in aww, then I could hear people snickering about her boobs, I think it comes back to the peer pressure story you had in your Faith post aswell as the media.
Thanx for running your blog for so long, great effort;)
Well, this is all pretty right on; I’m living in New Zealand, and I and my friends were equally incensed over the story. But while the discrimination may be the main story here, it’s not the only one. Whatever the stats, comment boards on local news websites were filled with posts like “she just dresses that way to distract from her face”, and equally venomous remarks from both genders. So, plenty of hatred alongside the support, and that is appalling. But I was also disturbed by a comment the woman herself made. In one interview, she talked about how she hadn’t asked for big boobs, and implied she didn’t really want them. The letter you quote refers to a similar scenario. Ultimately, for me, the most disgusting thing is not the prejudice, it’s the self-hatred that comes out of it.
And this goes way beyond New Zealand. I’m not convinced the UK would be an exception, but I know the US isn’t. The existence of one or two busty celebs doesn’t translate to respect for different body types, or even respect for boobs. We Americans are second to none in boob obsessiveness, and we have a Pam or two, but they aren’t taken seriously. There’s a stereotype of the busty Hollywood starlet, but if you think about it, it’s a myth. Fact: large breasts are discouraged in Hollywood. Sure, flat-chested actresses are frequently encouraged to get b or c-cups put in, but anyone over that is encouraged either to become anorexic and tape themselves down, or get a reduction, or both.
Somebody get this girl a website, quick!
Why didn’t my last post show up?
Andrew~
I didn’t see any other posts from you in the moderation queue. Thus, it never got to me. Did it contain any HTML code? If so, it might’ve been chucked as spam. Please try again and, if it still doesn’t work, you can e-mail me your comment and I’ll be sure to get it posted.
Cheers,
~Reese! :~)
What unbelievable prejudice! And rudeness! She’s truly beautiful and deserves admiration, affirmation and congratulation.
As for the self-image thing. I find it tragic that some girls feel the need to reduce their breasts. What is it about large busts that evokes the sniggering response? I really fail to understand it. Is it just jealousy and envy?
Helene’s a stunner. Good luck to her.
Down with boobism!!!
Well done, Reese. Thanks for blogging this topic. We all need to promote acceptance of real women with real curves as representing the ideal, natural form. Well-endowed women should be proud of what they have been blessed with, and we must ensure that they are made to feel that way.
thats a damn shame really. The part that bothered me was this….
“She wrote: “Being well-endowed in the upper region is something I did not choose in life and something I’m certainly not proud of.”
its sad she isnt proud, why shouldnt she be?
On a night out in Britain that top wouldn’t be considered revealing enough!
The highlight of my week is going out on the town on a Saturday night and seeing all the barely-covered voluptuous boobs on show.
Fecking hell Reese! You’ve GOT to get her on your website! What a set!
These haters need to go get a beer.
I’m a busty woman in New Zealand, and I can confirm: cleavage is usually not part of evening dress here. Four months ago, I went to a musical in Wellington, and I wore a low-cut top – I was going out for the evening, after all! My D-cups got a lot of glares from other women that night. It’s nice for me to read this blog and see other curvy, cushy women being praised as the epitome of desirability.
Well I don’t know eactly what happened so I can neither defend nor attack the casino, but she really should know that showing that amount of (or any) cleavage is not acceptable in many places; it’s not really a matter of discrimination. Besides, the fact that guys were distracted by it indicates that they did find her attractive.
Though, if her story was accurate, they certainly should have handled it better.
Down with the boobie haters!!
Another Kiwi story: I teach at a university here in NZ. One of the other departments has an administrator who is extremely busty, and dresses to show herself off. It’s not the norm, but I figure people have the right to dress to work how they want within the bounds of decency- and of course I enjoy the view. But this has caused some controversy within the department. It’s not men who are distracted from their work, it’s from female colleagues, also administrators, who feel it is inappropriate. If we were talking 1st-wave feminists who had to fight to be taken seriously at work, I’d at least understand, if not agree. But the woman who is chiefly complaining herself is a thin woman with no chest but who wears mini-skirts and slit-skirts to show off her legs. And in fact, often wears tops as low-cut as the busty woman she complains about.
So, when it comes to displaying body parts, the message getting sent it: legs are OK, but boobs are bad; moreover, little boobs are OK, but big boobs are bad.
OH, and I’m glad Jack dug out the actual quote I referred to. Seriously, how sad is it she can’t be proud of that great chest.
Thank you for the article. You are my favorite blog on the Net and I have my own. LOL. Anyway, this is a good article. You have no idea how I have to deal with comments of my own regards to my “daughters” and then not to mention that I am a BBW too so I get a LOT of snickers for that. It is shame what happened to her. It is funny though because a lot of women who are not buxom can wear whatever and not get the same kind of problems that we do. I hope she don’t get a complex about them and continue to be proud of what she has. Not because she has them but because they are part of the beauty that she has being a woman, period.
I love big boobs. The bigger the better. There is nothing more exciting when your messing around. It gets my motor rev’ed every time.
Oh shut up Roy boobs rock
also from adelaide and agree here we have some big tit chicks, i know 17-20! yr olds with EE and slim and tonned