
The Breast
A Cultural and Political History
Anja Zimmermann(Author)
Polity Press
1st Edition
Published on 29. May 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-5095-6782-9 (ISBN)
Description
While sometimes described as a secondary sex characteristic, the female breast is of primary interest. It nourishes but also seduces, it is considered sacred or depraved - depending on the era, culture, context and perspective. The way breasts are seen, shown or concealed has been the subject of debate and scandal for centuries. Breasts, in other words, are by no means 'private parts': on the contrary, they're a subject of great public interest. The breast is the organ through which some of the central cultural and political conflicts of Western societies have been conducted, now and in the past. But the power of the breast does not lie in any 'natural' force. It lies in the cultural characteristics that we attribute to it and that make it a symbol of femininity, naturalness, motherliness or sexuality.
Zimmermann takes the reader on an extended tour of how the breast and its symbolism are politically constructed. She examines this ambiguous and versatile body part from various perspectives but always with a political question in mind. This is a book about art and pornography, fashion and gender norms, the ideal of motherhood and heteronormativity, body positivity and self-determination, sexism and protest. She shows that the dialectic between revealing and concealing, visibility and invisibility, played out discursively in different fields, is a key to understanding the social, cultural and political significance of the breast. Her book delves into the past, seeking to explain the origins of a conflict that has surfaced again and again in different times and places and is still with us today.
Zimmermann takes the reader on an extended tour of how the breast and its symbolism are politically constructed. She examines this ambiguous and versatile body part from various perspectives but always with a political question in mind. This is a book about art and pornography, fashion and gender norms, the ideal of motherhood and heteronormativity, body positivity and self-determination, sexism and protest. She shows that the dialectic between revealing and concealing, visibility and invisibility, played out discursively in different fields, is a key to understanding the social, cultural and political significance of the breast. Her book delves into the past, seeking to explain the origins of a conflict that has surfaced again and again in different times and places and is still with us today.
Reviews / Votes
"A rich history of the range of messages women's breasts carry about gender, age, race and the line between natural and artificial. Bodies matter, and breasts tell women who they are and what they can do. This intriguing book reveals how feminist visual artists reimagine and disrupt traditional ways of showing these, the least private of all our body parts."Helen King, Professor Emerita, Classical Studies, The Open University
"Relying on close visual analysis and an assured grasp of key voices in visual culture criticism, Zimmermann undertakes a compelling case study of how cultural and political stakes have shaped our understanding of 'the breast'. What is most impressive about her analysis is her focus on how wildly divergent have been the objectives and philosophies that drive the contest over the meaning of 'the breast'. Together with the ease with which she leaps from ancient to contemporary examples, this makes for an illuminating and entertaining ride."
Jacqueline Millner, La Trobe University
"Finally, a book about the unsettling and even revolutionary potential of the female breast."
Mithu M. Sanyal, author of Rape: From Lucretia to #MeToo
"No other part of the body is the subject of so much controversy. Art historian Anja Zimmermann explains the changing symbolism of the breast and what a 'progressive politics of the breast' would be."
Die Zeit
"Not too big, not too small, covered up, but not invisible either - female breasts have always been subject to paradoxical demands. Art historian Anja Zimmermann explains why breasts are still not liberated today."
Der Spiegel
"Anja Zimmermann uses numerous examples from art, history and ethnology, as well as current advertising campaigns such as the launch of a sports bra that showed different breast shapes, to demonstrate how the perception and evaluation of this part of the body has changed over the centuries and that the 'judgements' are almost always made by men: it would be unthinkable to advertise briefs for men with different penises. The female breast is an 'overdetermined body part,' writes Zimmermann, refreshingly advocating for freeing the breast from its many tasks and simply letting it hang."
Missy Magazine
"An object of lust, a target of medical scrutiny and intervention, the breast has had political symbolism: the naked breast seen as an allegory of freedom and breast baring as a form of feminist protest. No other body part, Zimmerman argues persuasively, has been so divisive... A perceptive social history."
Kirkus Reviews
"Anja Zimmerman [...] takes us on a deep and detailed dive into her history of the female breast - 'sinful, attractive, sacred, liberating, repulsive, heroic.'"
Irish Independent
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
520 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5095-6782-9 (9781509567829)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Polity Press
€21.99
Available for download
Persons
Anja Zimmermann is Professor of Art History at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Content
The Politics of the Breast: An Introduction
Chapter One: Tops On! Tops Off!
The ambiguity of the in/visible breast
The breast as a political organ: the role of in/visibility
Lust, vice, pain: visual narratives of sinful and virtuous visibility
'Then' and 'now', as seen in clothing
The corset as a visibility machine
'Artificial' and 'natural' visibilities: the enlightened breast
The 'liberated' breast makes itself useful: breastfeeding
New views: the breast as a medical problem
Modern breasts and new visibilities
The breasts of the 'other' woman: the new visibility of the breast as racism
'White' breasts - 'Black' breasts
Chapter Two: From Venus to Pin-Up and Back
The breast between art and pornography
Venus
Ideals of modesty
Modest or immodest? How female bodies became Venuses
Paleo porn
The gender politics of the gaze
Another 'other' woman: the 'Hottentot Venus'
Nudes, power, pornography
Baring the bosom: feminist provocations
Beauty
... and back to Venus again
Chapter Three: Breasts and Other Illusions of the Natural
Fantasies and fictions of lactation
Politics makes nature makes science: breastfeeding propaganda and the class of mammals
The asexual breast
Poison from the breast
Animal breasts - human breasts
Half breasts
Breasts and foreignness
Male nipples and male dignity
The ethics of the artificial breast
Breastfeeding/chest-feeding and a law
Breasts, balls and other equipment
Scars
Chapter Four: I Am God
The breast as an organ of protest
Are breasts like swords?
Amazons as role models
'Anarchic Amazons': the women of 1968 and their breasts
Burning bras: feminism as breast liberation?
'Beautiful women': the limits of protest
Hysteria, ecstasy and the dance of the maenads: the naked breast as a sign of the 'other'
The two bodies of Angela Merkel: breasts and power
Conclusion: Weighty Breasts
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Bibliography
Notes
Chapter One: Tops On! Tops Off!
The ambiguity of the in/visible breast
The breast as a political organ: the role of in/visibility
Lust, vice, pain: visual narratives of sinful and virtuous visibility
'Then' and 'now', as seen in clothing
The corset as a visibility machine
'Artificial' and 'natural' visibilities: the enlightened breast
The 'liberated' breast makes itself useful: breastfeeding
New views: the breast as a medical problem
Modern breasts and new visibilities
The breasts of the 'other' woman: the new visibility of the breast as racism
'White' breasts - 'Black' breasts
Chapter Two: From Venus to Pin-Up and Back
The breast between art and pornography
Venus
Ideals of modesty
Modest or immodest? How female bodies became Venuses
Paleo porn
The gender politics of the gaze
Another 'other' woman: the 'Hottentot Venus'
Nudes, power, pornography
Baring the bosom: feminist provocations
Beauty
... and back to Venus again
Chapter Three: Breasts and Other Illusions of the Natural
Fantasies and fictions of lactation
Politics makes nature makes science: breastfeeding propaganda and the class of mammals
The asexual breast
Poison from the breast
Animal breasts - human breasts
Half breasts
Breasts and foreignness
Male nipples and male dignity
The ethics of the artificial breast
Breastfeeding/chest-feeding and a law
Breasts, balls and other equipment
Scars
Chapter Four: I Am God
The breast as an organ of protest
Are breasts like swords?
Amazons as role models
'Anarchic Amazons': the women of 1968 and their breasts
Burning bras: feminism as breast liberation?
'Beautiful women': the limits of protest
Hysteria, ecstasy and the dance of the maenads: the naked breast as a sign of the 'other'
The two bodies of Angela Merkel: breasts and power
Conclusion: Weighty Breasts
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Bibliography
Notes