Went to the drugstore today and came upon a strange and interesting product. Silicon nipple covers. At least I think they were covers. Maybe they were called smoothers. They looked like those gel filled bandages one puts on one’s feet for blisters.
A long time ago they used to be called pasties and strippers wore them because they could show the whole breast but not the nipple. Like a tiny dot of adhesive stuff made much difference!
I remember Elaine on Seinfeld having a hysterical fit because her nipples showed through her blouse in some photograph or something. What’s the deal with nipple phobia? Everybody, even men, has them. This paranoid over focus on particular body parts is another kind of cultural myopia.
In India and other places out in the countryside no one takes much notice of such things. In India women never used to wear the sari blouse and only draped the anchal over their shoulder. In some parts of rural India they still do that. And there is no shame in pulling out a boob to give a suck to a small child. Children often aren’t weaned until they are 3 or more. Which is a good thing as it gives them protein that the diet often lacks. It is very hard on the women though since many are malnourished and also lack protein and have anemia.
Anyways these products were pretty expensive but could be used a few times. I didn’t really look at them too carefully but they were a strange thing to see.
Note:Have turned this short piece into a longer one on Monsoon Diary blog about living in India.
