Tits Up: What Sex Workers, Milk Bankers, Plastic Surgeons, Bra Designers, and Witches Tell Us About Breasts

After years of biopsies and a double mastectomy, sociologist Thornton (Seven Days in the Art World) decided to write this book about the history, cultural significance, and social valuing of breasts. The book is often hilarious, but it’s consistently grounded in research and a nuanced understanding of intersectionality. The humorous parts are underscored by Thornton’s clear awareness of broader systems and the deeply rooted sexism that she experienced during her own mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Her book is replete with stories of sex workers, milk bankers, plastic surgeons, and myriad people and industries that profit from and prey on breasts. She includes historical images that show how persistently breasts figure in society’s cultural milieu. Thornton says she wants to “improve women’s esteem for their torsos” but acknowledges that one must first understand the forces behind negative views on breasts. This drives her interrogation of patriarchal structures and the ways in which women have subverted them to achieve a degree of ownership of their bodies, still too often bound up in dominant discourses.