Friends? I didn't know that.

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT3976083

The portion of the patent that explains the background and the reasons for the bra is priceless.

Well, to answer the question about nipples being "always hard", some of us have ones that naturally poke out all the time. It isn't a matter of them being "always hard" so much as it is just that they stick out enough naturally that shirts don't do that much to hold them down - especially thin cotton shirts like the ones in both pictures. Also, some of us who have those kinds of nipples tend to be cold all the time, which obviously adds to the effect.

And some of us would appreciate not being treated like freaks for having bodies that are slightly different than other female's bodies.

Ah, boobies. I am an essentially straight woman, but boobs make me much more sympathetic to men's inability to stop looking at women sexually. Boobs are so lovely -- big, small, soft-nippled, hard-nippled, high, hangin' -- doesn't matter. They're all just soft, beautiful, friendly mounds of happiness.

Ahem. Sorry. Basically, I think what you've got here is fashion being fashion. As you pointed out, there have been times when showing a hard nipple would be considered really tacky. Now it's "sexy" (thank you, Friends). But I don't see anyone getting bossed around, here. Shirts with artificial nipples inside aren't the next big trend that it's hard to avoid. Some choice or another has to be made about mannequin breast size/shape/ anatomical correctness. As long as they are reasonably realistic, I'm not sure what the "correct" answer for them should be.

Now, the giant boobed manniquins you link to I'm not so keen on. Anything that encourages people to have major surgery and to stuff plastic bags into their body is not so cool.

Wow, stop!
Since when is it embaressing if nipples can be seen? In what country? Why? And for what reason?
There is absolutely nothing wrong about nipples under a shirt - why should there be? They are just a part of the human body, men's as well as woman's.
As waxghost said, some women have hard (looking) nipples all the time, and those can sometimes even be seen if the person wears bra, shirt AND pullover. So what?
This makes the person neither horny nor vulgar nor indecent.
It's just the way it is, hopefully none of us wants them to hide under a burqua.
If somebody reads too much into visible nipples, even makes the nipple-carrier feel bad about her own body, than that person better had other issues to worry about.

I couldnt help but giggle for some reason when I read "obliterate the nipple"

Am I the only on taken aback by the price of that bra? After shipping and handling the bra is $2,150. I’m sure the rubber band trick is much cheaper. I guess that’s the price you pay for the “sensual no-bra-look while wearing a bra”

Kitty, I think there is a barely visible nipple, I mean, period, in those numbers - and it is $21.50 back whenever that ad was published.

xac:

apparently you've never been to the Bible Belt?
Not only are women there often shamed for looking "loose" or slutty if their nipples (your headlights are on!), they are often also shamed for making others uncomfortable. I can remember a furor over outfits worn by Helen Reddy and Cher back in the day... they--and Farrah Fawcett, come to think of it--were the subject of at least one sermon in my church!

Xac:

I'd add that here in South Korea, there is also a BIG taboo against women's nipples showing.

Having said that, there has certainly been a veritable revolution in Korean women's confidence with their bodies and standards for women's lingerie and swimwear since I arrived here 9 years ago, when literally 19 out of 20 women wore t-shirts over their bikinis and swimsuits when "swimming" at the beach and lingerie advertisements emphasized hiding and/or minimizing pantie-lines and bra straps and so on. Now, perhaps only 5 out of 20 still wear t-shirts at the beach, and, following the shake-up of the Korean lingerie industry and a trend started by Winona Ryder a few years ago, it is now the fashion to make lingerie clearly visible.

Despite all that, nipples are still a definite no-no, and in fact the only time I've seen them in public was on my wife, who rushed back home red-faced once she realized that she wasn't wearing a bra!

welcome release from the subconscious effects

This? I am totally putting this in my next patent submission. I'll work it in there somehow.

Two things:

(i) I find it interesting that, for the poster, they chose an image where the female has a blowup-doll expression. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but I take the suggestion to be: visible nipples equate their bearer with a sex object.

(ii) I've come across bras that have underwires for support, but which are made of a thin enough fabric that the nipples still show through the shirt.

I always thought that the purpose of wearing a bra was that it was considered obligatory to make a good-faith (though not necessarily successful) effort to hide the nipples for the sake of some sort of modesty. Unless I am running, a bra doesn't serve any practical purpose for me and becomes very uncomfortable on hot days, yet I feel obliged to wear one anyway. Can anyone explain to me why bras are mandatory when it seems they need not even make any effort to hide the nipples?

I think women wear bra's for different reasons - I am large breasted, and I have to wear some support if I want to move at anything faster than a slow walk, otherwise it feels uncomfortable. My nipples will happily poke through a bra, t-shirt and cardigan, so its not for that reason.
And stop it with the "unrealistic" breasts. I'm real, so are my breasts and I do look a bit like those mannequins. Some of us have uncommon bodies. I don't think any shape should be held up as an ideal, especially one that is quite rare naturally, and I don't like people fetishizing parts of my body as if I'm not attached to them. But lots of blogs that I otherwise enjoy treat pictures of people (or dolls) that look like me as if they are joke, or as if there must be implants. You had a link to the natural breast gallery - I'm a H-cup, some woman naturally go up to a K. It happens.

Farah Fawcett made it not only acceptable but also desirable for women to display their nipples, in a famous 1976 poster, long before Friends. I was a baby dyke back then and have never forgotten it.

"If somebody reads too much into visible nipples, even makes the nipple-carrier feel bad about her own body, than that person better had other issues to worry about."

So, how many "somebodies" does that have to be to make it worthwhile to post on a sociology web site, in your opinion? You don't think that the existence of "modesty panels" indicates that at least some people are thinking about it very seriously?

Leading on from Morag's comment, I'm thinking now about whether it's possible to make mannequins that don't hold up some body style or another as an ideal. I mean, I guess you could vary them throughout the entire store, but there are only a limited number of mannequins - much fewer than the actual number of different bodies out there. Is there a reasonable way to make sure you're not leaving someone out?

Whoa--come to think of it, that *is* a blow-up doll face.

I love being able to see nipples thru shirts,blouses, I want nipples so badly. I love to see old ladies with big breast hanging with nipples hard,

I wonder if I'm too late or too remotely removed from the discussion to post here. It's just that I was struck by the phrase "blow-up doll", as I was about to close this window. And I'm still not quite sure how to respond. I can see your point, certainly. And yet, I also wonder whether we aren't almost consistently made to choose between the lesser of two evils (for those of you willing to accept the descriptive "evil" being applied to nipples visible through a woman's top and her arguably attractive face in the open-mouthed "semi-confused"--yet somehow endearing &, I daresay, somewhat arousing, expression).

What I'm trying to say is there are less decent things many people are looking at--on the internet and elsewhere--right at this moment. I would agree with you if you were to say that you don't think it's right for people to be expected to always choose between the lesser of two evils rather than the better of two goods. But if we are ever to behold a change on the horizon, we have to agree on someplace to start, and that someplace must be grounded in the present reality, no matter how difficult it may be to at first accept. Eventually, I hope, as I think we all do at some level, that we may someday find ourselves choosing between what we consider to be rather acceptable options more often than we find ourselves choosing between what we consider to be rather unacceptable ones.

I'd also like to add that I don't think this "blow-up doll" look is merely another example of the influence of male chauvinism. I think it is another example of the subconscious-creeping influence of Hollywood. Next time you watch a movie or TV show--especially those casting young men and women in roles that exploit their attractiveness--keep watching for that half-gaping, dumbfounded expression...on either the males OR the females. You see, it used to bother me to see that, so (under the influence of reverse psychology) I made a mental note whenever I'd see another such expression, and I began making a conscious effort to capture that expression whenever I happened to be watching TV. The men seem to do it just as much as the women do. I can't give you too many examples, although I saw David Schwimmer do it throughout the movie "Six Days and Seven Nights" (although I'm sure Anne Heche did it a lot, too... I just didn't notice as much). My point is that if you feel like blaming somebody for popularizing--and sexualizing--that look, don't blame the men alone. Blame those directing the entertainment media, as I do. I'll admit I think it's potentially attractive under the right circumstances, it's just downright annoying when it becomes overused and over-acted, as it were (i.e., faked, anything but candid).

Thank you all for reading and considering my "left field" opinion;-)

Darlings - tripped over this site by accident & enjoy reading the comments. I love my breasts & take care of looking after them. An over 55 aged lady & know of women who have had breast removed through cancer & often wonder if their prudish/prudent ideas could have perhaps contributed to this dreadful illness. It is essential to massage breasts for good health & particularly nipple area which is very pleasurable indeed. Fashion can makes stupid rules & can screw minds up. Take pleasure in enjoying your breasts; large nipples are lovely to see through clothing.

I "Googled" for Helen Reddy and stumbled upon this site.
It taught me a lot about how "liberal" and "open minded" people in America have become in the 21st century.
My granny was born in 1888 in Victorian England and never wore a bra in her life. It was normal in those days. My gran always had a really good figure, but nobody ever suggested she was flaunting her body.
There must be one hell of a lot of sick minded prudes living in America for this topic even to be raised as an item for serious disccussion on a web site.

I have seen many places on the mass media where they are airbrushed or fuzzed out. The Today show had female nude painting by Ann Curry and they had to put tape of the nipples of her painting!

You argument is that the media says they should be hidden, or shown, but never let be...

But lets suppose the media /did/ say "let the female body be." Would you be able to make a "sociological image" out of that? You'll find pictures that show things to be one way or another, but never in between. Because the 'in between' world isn't evident in a single photograph or article.

I'm not sure if i'm getting my point across. But what I'm trying to say is that you might be wrong to assume that the media says nipples can only be a 1 or a 0, because a lot of the time they probably don't say anything at all.

"women’s bodies still aren’t allowed to just be."

That's because it's usually somewhat erotic and attracts sexual attention. The ad even says that: the person buying it wants to be "sensual". Men have a similar issue with how much their bulge can show, and issues about erections in their pants. 

So so what.

I remember watching Disney's Fantasia when I was a child. The evil harpies on Bald Mountain had nipples and the demure centaur ladies didn't. 
Nipples = Evil 

Another reason to want artificial aids - very few women are absolutely symmetrical.  Wearing a bra that camouflages nature and substitutes an idealized "reality" is yet another kowtow to unobtainable beauty standards.

I don't know about this one.  Trends in society come and go, as you say.  While there are "modesty" panels now, there are also some bras that allow the nipples to show, and many women don't wear bras at all, allowing the nipple to show.

I get the impression that it's time to complain when either a famous person/show goes toward any one direction, or when it seems (to you) that the majority of products available go toward any one direction.

Just because the majority of mens underwear is either tighty-whitey or boxers / boxer briefs doens't mean I can't wear an Obviously-For-Men-Thong if I so choose.

Rubber bands wrapped tightly around each nipple?? OUCH!!!

Curiously, this has been around for some time.  The patent referred to in the brassiere advertisement itself refers to a 1937 patent for a "bust pad" that, well...

My invention has reference to bust pads, and it has for a purpose the provision of a bust pad characterized by its close resemblance in shape, degree of firmness, and appearance to the perfect human breast, so that when worn over an imperfect breast it will lend to itself the characteristics of the perfect breast.

I am surprised that no one mentioned the new law in North Carolina against visible nipples (or aureola; I have NO idea how to turn THAT into a plural word!!)) for any reason, including breast-feeding. I do not lie. This was just voted on in the North Carolina State Legislature. I kid you not. And we wonder why politicians are unable to solve the true problems in this nation. I would love to have heard the discussion on the NC House floor during THAT debate!

The bra and its ad date to the 1970s http://www.aslipofagirl.net/2008/12/hey-1970s-thanks-for-nipple-bra.html

That ad for the nipple bra is from ca. 1979, and ran in Penthouse Magazine. Viva Lingerie was, I think, a branch of the Penthouse Media Empire, which included, if memory serves, Viva magazine. I had to check this to be sure, and, sure enough, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viva_(magazine)

I stubbled upon this article literally 2 days after I decided to go braless as a lifestyle decision. I've hated wearing bras ever since I hit puberty and my mom rushed me to the closest clothing department to fit me into trainers. Even as an educated feminist, the concept of letting go of my bras entirely was never an idea until one day, while I was complaining about them, my partner said, "Well why don't you stop then?"

But by day 2, I'm already hitting the dilema brought about by this article and the comments. While I don't want to wear a bra, I also don't want hard nipples/bralessness to equate to becoming a fetishized object or something people stare at regardless of sexual preference. I'm sticking with it, but I'm also afraid of how it might translate into looking unprofessional/unkempt. Thoughts?

Uh, professor, watch almost any 70s or 80s sitcom, and you will see nipples. It is hardly new. That ad appears to be from the late 80s or early 90s. Earlier such items would probably have been cheaper.

I always have a hard time going outside.

I have really small boobs. So I can't wear a bra with padding (or even underwire) because then that'd be false advertising (my excuse to the world). So I always wear the bras with no underwire or padding. But I get cold easily and I'm always scared people will see my nipples and think I'm TRYING to be seductive. And I'm nervous that they'll see me as cheap.

This clothing dilemma goes on in my head before leaving the apartment more than it should. I spend an extra 10 minutes just being indecisive about my wardrobe. I just wish it was okay for me to go in public with nipples showing. I wish women's nipples were't that big of a deal.