Boobs get their nipples in a twist over cleavage

The human body. It comes in all shapes and sizes, although some shapes tend to get people more hot and bothered than others.

I don’t mean the hot and bothered you’re thinking of. I’m talking about the prudes that wig out if someone shows skin in just the wrong place. The wigs then catch fire if someone dares to capture it in a photograph.

Someone like me.

Last week, I covered a fundraiser for the local domestic abuse shelter called “Dance Back the Night.” Locals shelled out a few bucks to enjoy a nice meal and watch some dancing. Among the acts were belly dancers, and I captured a beautiful still of this one lady with her hair spinning, her eyes closed in the moment and just a little bit of cleavage showing.

I snapped a variety of other photos, but that photo was one of two I selected for the newspaper to print. Anyone who has taken photos knows that getting action shots can be difficult, and I was particularly proud of this one, as it seemed to provide a visual approximation of the ethereal music being played. I didn’t have a second thought about putting it in.

Fast forward to this morning when I went in to work. The editor informed me that a couple of readers called and were none too pleased that we had dared to take a picture of a woman dancing in an outfit that some women probably wouldn’t be caught dead in. One of them even said she was no longer going to give money to the domestic abuse shelter.

I got a text message from the editor just a little while ago saying that another reader was “near pornographic.” Let’s put aside for a moment that this country cannot nail down exactly what pornography is. I can tell you right now that while the outfit shows a fair amount of skin, it is hardly outrageous and definitely pornographic.

The woman did not strip. She did not do a turn or two around a metal pole. She was not removing seven veils from her body and tossing them at married men. She not only belly dances herself but runs a troupe dedicated to that particular dance style. In fact, her husband was in the background, playing his accordion. It was hardly Happy Hour at the Playboy mansion.

It is sad that women are still judged on what they wear and have people make disparaging remarks because they’re not hiding under robes and hoods like in the Middle East. I think women should be allowed to showcase their bodies in colorful outfits without being subject to ridicule, and the rest of us should adopt a live and let live attitude. Just because we don’t think it’s tasteful doesn’t mean it’s bad.

I still can’t believe the one person who threatened to stop sending money to the shelter. Is there some reason beautiful, attractive women cannot dance to raise funds for their sisters, many of whom have been beaten, raped and abused in countless ways? To adopt that attitude is akin to saying just because a woman was dressed “provocatively,” then she deserved to have some brute sexually assault her.

It also exacerbates the double standard that puts women in a second-class category. A month and a half ago, I snapped a photo for the newspaper with a shirtless guy wearing gym shorts that were low enough to see some of his underwear. We didn’t get one phone call or e-mail from anyone saying that was pornographic. You got to love the society we live in.

I can only wonder what kind of response I’ll get the next time I take a picture of a woman whose shoulders are visible and whose cleavage is not completely hidden. Just call me Lee Pulaski, the Naughty Picture Maker.