context re M&D as "bodice-ripper"

[pynchonoid]

Historian Reveals Janet Jackson's 'Accidental'
Exposing of Her Breast was the Height of Fashion in
the 1600s

New research from the University of Warwick reveals
that Queens and prostitutes bared their breasts in the
media of the 1600s to titillate the public, and that
the exposure of a single breast in portraits and
prints was common in portrayals of court ladies. While
Janet Jackson's action of baring her right breast at
the Super Bowl earlier this year was considered
outrageous, such exposure in 17th century media
wouldn't have raised so much as an eyebrow.

In expensive portraits and cheaper engraved prints the
exposure of both breasts tended to be restricted to
court ladies who were known as mistresses. But, the
exposure of one breast was a different matter-
depictions of court ladies as St Catherine, for
example, could involve the exposure of a single
breast.

Further, court ladies and 'town misses' actually wore
extremely low cut décolleté fashions that revealed
breasts and, sometimes, nipples. While royal breasts
were not usually depicted in high art, they may well
have been shown. A dress designed by Inigo Jones to be
worn by Charles I's wife Henrietta Maria would have
fully revealed the Queen's breasts, if worn.

The study by Angela McShane Jones reveals fashions of
women displaying their breasts were commonplace and
breast baring was a style followed by many, from
Queens to common prostitutes. High fashion was led by
the court, and copied by all classes.

The paper “Revealing Mary” analyses 17th woodcuts used
to illustrate over 10,000 ballads. These were the
cheapest, most popular and politically charged media
of the day.

McShane Jones reveals that breasts - including the
breasts of the Queen herself - were commonly depicted
on ballad sheets to illustrate the text. Depictions of
Queen Mary II of England, wife of William of Orange,
frequently show her baring her breasts. In several
woodcuts (1689-1694) the ‘modest and virtuous’ Mary is
represented as openly baring her breasts.

Woodcuts were deliberately chosen to target buyers and
to complement the context of the ballad. Just as
today's magazines often depict scantily clad women on
their covers, pictures of buxom women displaying their
boobs on ballads were a selling point for a male
audience, and a female one, if the pictures described
the latest fashions.

Diarist Samuel Pepys' collection of nearly 2000 song
sheets contains more busty ballads than any other
contemporary collection, and it's not hard to imagine
that there was a certain preference in his ballad
buying.

Images of big-breasted women similar to celebrity
tabloid pin-ups have appeared in popular media for
centuries. However, the woodcuts could be used to
depict innocence as well as immorality. For example
the same picture of a fashionably big-breasted woman
in the 1650s was used in a number of different ballads
to illustrate an innocent, a tempted and a fallen
maiden.

Historian Angela McShane Jones from the University of
Warwick said: “In the 1600s it was fairly commonplace
for women to bare their breasts in public. The
fashions were initiated by court members and Queens,
then replicated by ordinary women, and common
prostitutes. 17th century fashion, rather than
demeaning women, could be empowering. The extremely
low cut dresses were designed to encourage men to look
but not to touch. They empowered some women to use
their sexuality.”



Notes for editor

For more information contact: Angela McShane-Jones,
Department of History, University of Warwick, Tel:
02476 574691, Mobile: 07748653734 Email:
a.j.mcshane-jones at warwick.ac.uk or Jenny Murray,
Communications Office, University of Warwick, Tel:
02476 574 255, Mobile: 07876217740


<http://www.newsandevents.warwick.ac.uk/index.cfm?page=pressrelease&id=1858>


	
		
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