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Brassiere on the tumble dryer: Relaxation for the woman's body?
Photo: Jens Kalaene / picture alliance / dpa
An Adidas advertising poster was banned in Great Britain yesterday.
If you look at this, some people might immediately think »Right!«, because it only shows naked female torsos, i.e. bare breasts of different shapes, sizes and skin colors.
Along with the lines: “The reasons why we didn't just make a new sports bra.” And on social media such as Twitter, the campaign was accompanied by the following words: “We believe that women's breasts of all shapes and sizes deserve support and comfort .
That's why our new sports bra range includes 43 models so that every woman can find the right fit for her.«
This bare-breasted message promptly caused complaints to the
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
, the British advertising regulator, accusing this arrangement of pairs of breasts would sexualize the headless women.
Although the supervisory authority itself came to the conclusion that the images should not be classified as pornographic or that they objectified, i.e. demeaned, women, it was nevertheless “explicit nudity”.
It must be avoided "that a nuisance is caused to the people who see them", and likewise children should not see bare breasts.
I don't want to exaggerate these feminist aspirations of a for-profit, publicly traded company and I certainly don't want to give them too much naïve enthusiasm here;
After all, it can be assumed that Adidas simply wants to bring the product to women with such a large-scale gesture of inclusion and a strategic pink wash.
But to be honest, I still find this advertising somehow… great;
and in its staging actually also less objectifying than other underwear advertisements with more clothed models - but of course one can heartily argue about that.
The camera's view of the variety of breast shapes is obviously neither lustful nor is a standard beauty frivolously staged as an object of desire.
Rather, we are dealing with a rather pragmatic documentation of the heterogeneity of body shapes.
To be able to see them in public space next to the hyper-beautiful Palmers or Intimissimi models, also at a bus stop, I think is visually empowering.
That one can find this too provocative and daring and fear that a bare, unsexualized breast could "cause a nuisance" perhaps also says something about the everyday, standard objectification of women.
It is also daring not to advertise with ready-made standards, because the textile and cosmetics industry profits very well from showing us our own alleged deviations through the beauty standards they have set as ideal.
This is a great way to manipulate people into frustration consumption that is lucrative for them.
In her book The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women, writer Naomi Wolf explored how, after women became emancipated and financially independent, beauty standards were used to impose a new form of social control on them .
Those who are too busy with their own self-optimization in order to always meet new, hard-to-reach standards are not starting a revolution;
With this advertisement, Adidas at least illustrates that there are no real breasts, just breasts.
And they need support during sports.
And that's why they offer different types of bras.
Allow me to get personal here for a moment, also to convey why exactly this simple message resonated with me.
I haven't found a bra that fits me yet.
I have whole drawers full, but not a single one sits.
With optimistic resignation, I regularly go to underwear shops, randomly say random numbers and letters and take the bra professionally handed to me with me, in the faint hope of accidentally snagging a size that really fits.
I've been using this promising strategy for 25 years - without success.
Without exception, all my bras are too small, too wide, too padded, my breasts swell out underneath (balconette) or fall out at the top as soon as I breathe in (push-up), the metal or plastic underwire presses lovingly into my ribs,
Nipples are saved over the edge of the bowl, my shoulder blades are striped red - and the biggest problem is that I think it's all completely normal.
I've come to terms with it, smiling to a degree of autodestructive self-denial and telling myself that, for some reason, women's underwear must be uncomfortable.
In my desperation - internalized patriarchy ahoy!
– I always find it a kind of proud resilience to endure the lack of comfort.
One earns one's sensuality only through courageously pain-suppressing grace, which is why it seems natural to me that my breasts have to humbly adapt to the bra and not the other way around.
Because where else would we end up?
Relaxation for the female body?
There the inner corset lashing from the 17th century can be seen.
But because of this little tale of woe, I think we need a lot more bra-less zones in our society - not just in Goettingen swimming pools - and breasts in public spaces shouldn't be immediately classified as vulgar or dangerous.
And I don't want the antediluvian prudish pressure that is exerted on breastfeeding mothers if they don't bashfully flee to the nearest toilet, changing room or straight to an opaque lighthouse on an isolated island to breastfeed their child, I don't want at all only start.
Adidas said in a statement that the models' faces had been removed to protect the women's identities, to counter allegations of women's objectification.
One would continue to stand by the message of the campaign.
I also think: boobs out!