Editing Nipple (section)

===Exposure===
{{Main|Toplessness}}

The cultural tendency to hide the female nipple under clothing has existed in Western culture since the 1800s.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=Dewar/><ref name = bbc1>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30052071|title=Toplessness - the one Victorian taboo that won't go away|date=15 November 2014|access-date=13 August 2017|newspaper=BBC News}}</ref> As female nipples are often perceived an [[intimate part]], covering them might have originated under [[Victorian morality]] as with riding side saddle. Exposing the entire breast and nipple is a form of protest for some and a crime for others.<ref name = bbc1/><ref name="citypaper">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/columns/straight-dope/article/13045218/why-are-women-expected-to-keep-their-nipples-covered-breasts|title=Why Are Women Expected to Keep Their Nipples Covered?|date=14 February 2014|access-date=13 August 2017}}</ref> The exposure of nipples is usually considered [[Modesty|immodest]] and in some instances is viewed as [[lewd]] or [[indecent exposure|indecent]] behavior.<ref>D. Leder, ''The Body in Medical Thought and Practice'', page 223, Springer Science & Business Media, 1992, {{ISBN|978-0-7923-1657-2}}</ref>

A case in Erie, Pennsylvania, concerning the exposure of breasts and nipple proceeded to the [[United States Supreme Court]].<ref name="SC_Erie">{{cite web|title=Erie v. Pap's A. M., 529 U.S. 277 (2000)|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/529/277/case.html|website=Justia Law|publisher=Justia|access-date=15 February 2018|language=en|date=March 2000|quote=Nudity cannot be considered an inherent form of expression.}}</ref> The Erie ordinance was regulating the nipple in public as an act that is committed when a person "knowingly or intentionally, ... appears in a state of nudity commits Public Indecency." Later in the statute, nudity is further described as an uncovered female nipple. But nipple exposure of a man was not regulated. An opinion column credited to [[Cecil Adams]] noted: "Ponder the significance of that. A man walks around bare-chested and the worst that happens is he won't get served in restaurants. But a woman who goes topless is legally in the same boat as if she'd had sex in public. That may seem crazy, but in the US it's a permissible law."<ref name="citypaper"/>

The legality around the exposure of nipples is inconsistently regulated throughout the US. Some states do not allow the visualization of any part of the breast. Other jurisdictions prohibit any female chest anatomy by banning anatomical structures that lie below the top of the areola or nipple. Such is the case in West Virginia and Massachusetts. West Virginia's regulation is very specific and is not likely to be misinterpreted, stating: "[The] display of 'any portion of the cleavage of the human female breast exhibited by a dress, blouse, skirt, leotard, bathing suit, or other wearing apparel [is permitted] provided the areola is not exposed, in whole or in part.{{'"}}<ref name="citypaper"/>

[[File:Namibie Himba 0716a.jpg|thumb|left |A [[Namibian]] woman going [[topless]]]]

The [[Instagram]] social media site has a "no nipples" policy with exceptions: material that is not allowed includes "some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-[[mastectomy]] scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too".<ref name="Instagram_Help">{{cite web|title=Community Guidelines|url=https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119|website=help.instagram.com|publisher=Instagram|access-date=15 February 2018|language=en}}</ref> Previously, Instagram had removed images of nursing mothers. Instagram removed images of [[Rihanna]] and had her account cancelled in 2014 when she posted selfies with nipples. This was incentive for the Twitter campaign [[Free the nipple|#FreeTheNipple]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewrap.com/instagram-clarifies-its-no-nipple-policy/|title=Instagram Clarifies Its No-Nipple Policy|date=17 April 2015|access-date=13 August 2017}}</ref>{{better source|date=September 2021}} In 2016, an Instagram page invited users to post images of nipples from both sexes; @genderless_nipples, which displays close ups of both the nipples of men and women for the purpose of spotlighting what may be inconsistency.<ref name = genderless>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/6/13852900/genderless-nipples-instagram-censorship-policy|title=Genderless Nipples exposes Instagram's double standard on nudity|first=Amar|last=Toor|date=6 December 2016|website=The Verge|access-date=13 August 2017}}</ref> Some contributors have circumvented the policy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40170981/art-student-challenges-sexist-ban-on-nipples-on-instagram-with-new-project|title=Art student challenges 'sexist' ban on nipples on Instagram with new project - BBC Newsbeat|work=BBC News|date=6 June 2017|access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/09/women-it-s-time-to-reclaim-our-breasts|title=Women, It's Time to Reclaim Our Breasts|first=Emily|last=Shire|date=9 September 2014|via=www.thedailybeast.com|newspaper=The Daily Beast}}</ref> Facebook has also been struggling to define its nipple policy.<ref name = genderless/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.facebook.com/communitystandards/encouraging-respectful-behavior/|title=Community Standards|website=m.facebook.com|access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/tech/is-facebook-going-to-start-freeing-the-nipple/|title=Is Facebook going to start freeing the nipple?|website=[[Fox News]]|date=24 October 2016|access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref>

Filmmaker [[Lina Esco]] made a film entitled ''[[Free the Nipple (film)|Free the Nipple]]'', which is about "laws against female toplessness or restrictions on images of female, but not male, nipples", which Esco states is an example of [[sexism]] in society.<ref name=beast>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/09/women-it-s-time-to-reclaim-our-breasts.html|title=Women, It's Time to Reclaim Our Breasts|first=Emily|last=Shire|date=9 September 2014|newspaper=The Daily Beast}}</ref>