A bOOb by any other name…
How do you spell “boobs”? Those who used this term when commenting on the Boob Lady’s Good Morning America cleavage clip found it replaced with “####.” In a related story on abcnews.com, my favorite bosomy expression was substituted with the more clinical “[breasts]”. The Boob Lady is puzzled, since in hundreds of conversations with women, that’s the word most often used to refer to those mounds of flesh and fat sitting on our chests (and the inspiration for at least one book title). Maybe “boobs” – as a slang term – appears to trivialize their nature. But the Boob Lady thinks it realistically describes their multi-functioning qualities, be they nurturing, sexual, or just playful. “Breasts” seems more distant and sterile when compared to the real magic and strength of boobs.
Please tell me what you think and how you refer to your own. Should boobs be tabOO?
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June 6th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I share the Boob Lady’s admiration for multi-functioning mounds, and thought that the days of fig leaves went out with Attorney General Ashcroft. Who would have thought that bowdlerization lives.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
This is an interesting question..what to call our breasts. As the mother of a young son, I am adamant that he use the word “breast”…
“boob” or “boobs” is too playful, or maybe too “familiar?” for use by someone so young (and male)…maybe the word “boob” has the same power as %uck? Used in the correct context, by an age appropriate person, it can be quite great. Used in the wrong context, or by the wrong person it can be quite offensive. Maybe it just comes down to the inadequacy of the english language to capture the correct essence of something so “powerful”. I don’t find many of the words to describe my “chest” as adaquate. Tits?..too stark…Rack? too objectified. Breasts? Too sterile. Boobs? Too young maybe? I personally like “girls” because it feels the most personal and loving to me…
I guess this is the job of the booblady to study….we need a survey!
June 6th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
It is interesting that in today’s society we take a puritan approach to women’s boobs. Prime time programs have people hopping in and out of bed at lightening speed (soaps, too, but I’m not at home to watch daytime programs), nearly nude woman on celebrity red carpets, bare butts on Nip/Tuck and NYPD Blue, and the like. Perhaps programs along the lines of GMA are taking the extreme politically correct approach out of fear that saying the word bOOB would be considered derrogatory or demeaning to women. I dunno. I agree–use of the word “breast” is too sterile, too scholastic. Perhaps I don’t like the word “breast” because when my mother said that word, she would whisper it with a bit of a snarl, as if it were a dirty word.
June 6th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I have a hard time calling them “breasts” myself, as it sounds so very chickeny perhaps? I had an old boyfriend who would say “breasteses” which was a fun way that eliminated any biological vibes. Most women I know use “boobs” so I think it’s utterly (pun intended) silly that anyone would be oppossed to it!
So I agree, let’s have an official vote!
June 7th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
What’s silly is that you can say “ass” and “bitch” on TV these days, but “boobs” is too edgy for GMA? I actually find it amusing.
This talk about the best word to describe our mammary glands is reminding me of this game my husband and I sometimes play on long road trips. One person will pick a word – like shrub – and then the other person comes up with another name for the same object – like bush. Then you go back and forth between the two people – foliage, plant, etc – until someone gets stumped and can’t think of any more. Then you pick a new word.
Can you see where I’m going with this? One time on a trip I started with the word boob and the names we came up with were hilarious. First there were the obvious ones, like tits & breasts, but then came the funny ones like yabos, ta tas, tee tas, hooters, and the like. Now wouldn’t that be fun to ask your readers to come up with their favorite name for boobs and see what kind of list you get? I would love to see that!!
Now as for the vote, I think boobs is the most commonly used term to describe our girls. I don’t think it’s offensive at all, it’s more playful than anything. So for me, that’s the term I use the most and then breast would be my more official, non-playful term. But for fun I sometimes like to call them by one of those other names. Tee tas is a personal favorite.