Cleavage is the narrow depression or hollow between the breasts of a woman. Joseph Breen , head of the U. The term was explained in Time magazine on August 5, The visible display of cleavage can provide erotic pleasure for those who are sexually attracted to women, though this does not occur in all cultures. Explanations for this effect have included evolutionary psychology and dissociation from breastfeeding.
Since at least the 15th century, women in the Western world have used their cleavage to flirt, attract, make political statements such as in the Topfreedom movement , and assert power. In several parts of the world, the advent of Christianity and Islam saw a sharp decline in the amount of cleavage which was considered socially acceptable. In many cultures today, cleavage exposure is considered unwelcome or is banned legally. In some areas like European beaches and among many indigenous populations across the world, cleavage exposure is acceptable; conversely, even in the Western world it is often discouraged in daywear or in public spaces.
In some cases, exposed cleavage can be a target for unwanted voyeuristic photography or sexual harassment. Cleavage-revealing clothes started becoming popular in the Christian West as it came out of the Early Middle Ages and enjoyed significant prevalence during Mid- Tang-era China, Elizabethan era England, and France over many centuries, particularly after the French Revolution.
But in Victorian era England and during the flapper period of Western fashion, it was suppressed. Cleavage came vigorously back to Western fashion in the s, particularly through Hollywood celebrities and lingerie brands. The consequent fascination with cleavage was most prominent in the U. With the advent of push-up and underwired bras that replaced corsets of the past, the cleavage fascination was propelled by these lingerie manufacturers.
By the early s, dramatization of cleavage started to lose popularity along with the big lingerie brands. At the same time cleavage was sometimes replaced with other types of presentation of clothed breasts, like sideboobs and underboobs.
