"Free the Nipple" One Broadcast at a Time: FCC Indecency Regulations of Nudity
![handle is hein.journals/wiswo35 and id is 69 raw text is: FREE THE NIPPLE ONE BROADCAST AT A TIME: FCC INDECENCY
REGULATIONS OF NUDITY
Michaela Mullis & Jasmin McNealy t
ABSTRACT
With feminist movements gaining momentum, it is important to examine
societal constructions rooted in androcentric ideologies, including laws and
policies. This article examines FCC indecency regulations in conjunction with
the Free the Nipple campaign, a social movement emphasizing the liberation
of female toplessness. Through exploration of societal and legal contexts, this
article disputes two popular arguments for the censorship of the female nipple on
broadcast television: the sexual organ argument and the child protection defense.
A B STRA CT ...................................................................................................... 65
SOCIETAL CONTEXT: THE AMERICAN CULTURE OF NUDITY ........................ 67
Androcentrism and Third Wave Feminism ....................................... 68
M edia and C ulture ............................................................................ 70
LEGAL CONTEXT: THE FCC AND NUDITY REGULATIONS.............................. 71
Broadcast Obscenity and Indecency................................................. 72
Current FC C C ode............................................................................ 74
The Janet Jackson N ip Slip............................................................... 77
Indecency, Nudity and the Breast...................................................... 78
DISCUSSION: FREEING THE NIPPLE FROM ANDROCENTRIC ARGUMENTS.......... 81
The Sexual Organ Argum ent............................................................ 82
The Child Protection D efense............................................................. 85
C ON CLU SION .................................................................................................. 88
Why is my nipple more obscene than a murder?1 The Free the Nipple
campaign poses this question that begs the examination of societal standards and
t Michaela Mullis, Ph. D is a graduate student at the University of Florida College of
Journalism and Communications. Jasmine McNealy, Ph. D is an attorney and an associate
professor in the department of telecommunication at the University of Florida's College of
Journalism and Communications where she is an affiliate of the STEM Translational Research
Center and the UF Informatics institute.
1. Free the Nipple (Film Trailer, Sundance Selects 2014),
http://www.mongrelmedia.com/index.php/filmlink?id=370c7de6-d244-4a71-9842-
789fcd015256 [https://perma.cc/6V9L-HQ9K]. Free the Nipple (2012) is a film inspired by
true events that showcases the efforts of a group of women in New York City to protest
65](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/wiswo35&div=6&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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"Free the Nipple" One Broadcast at a Time: FCC Indecency Regulations of Nudity
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