Handbra

A handbra (also hand bra or hand-bra) is a photographic pose in which a female model's nipples and areolae are covered with her own hands or with someone else's. It is also a gesture that a woman makes to draw attention to her breasts and to signal sexual anticipation laced with anxiety to a prospective sexual partner.[1]

In the media

The handbra gained prodigious exposure with Janet Jackson's appearance on the September 1993 cover of Rolling Stone, which later named it their "Most Popular Cover Ever".[2][3]

The pose is a mainstay in lad mags, such as FHM, Maxim and Zoo Weekly[4][5] that prominently feature photos of scantily clad B-actresses and models.[6][7][8]

In July 1994, Ronald Reagan's daughter Patti Davis appeared on the cover of Playboy with another model covering her breasts. Photographer Raphael Mazzucco created an eight-woman handbra on the cover of the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and a photo of Marisa Miller covering her breasts with her arms and her vulva with an iPod in the 2007 Swimsuit Issue.[9]

The handbra was the subject of a pointed parody advertisement for Holding Your Own Boobs magazine performed by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Will Ferrell on the May 15, 1999 episode of Saturday Night Live.[10]

There is a brassiere named the "handbra" that is fashioned in the shape of hands as a parody of the technique.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "6 Body Language Clues That Say You're Interested". iVillage. 2011-06-03. http://www.ivillage.com/6-body-language-clues-say-youre-interested/4-a-284179?p=2. 
  2. ^ Phil Rosenthal (February 3, 2004). "Cover story so bad, even FCC sees through it.". Chicago Sun-Times. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20040203/ai_n12532751. Retrieved 2007-12-05. "And Jackson, who has a CD coming out, is no stranger to using her breasts to sell her music. Remember the handbra on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1993? Or the nipple ring on the cover of Vibe in 1997? Or the cover for her last album, All For You, in which she was nude, obscured only by a sheet?" 
  3. ^ Ogunnaike, Lola (February 4, 2004). "Capitalizing On Jackson Tempest". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/04/arts/capitalizing-on-jackson-tempest.html. Retrieved 2007-05-04. "In 1993 she posed topless for the cover of Rolling Stone. Then, her nipples were obscured by a pair of male hands, not a silver broach." 
  4. ^ "Erotic photography: art or porno?". Shot Addict. http://www.shotaddict.com/wordpress/category/professional-tips/nude-photography/. Retrieved 2007-11-29. "Recently several popular glamour magazines known as lad mags are reversing the trend by emphasizing glamour while showing less nudity, in favor of implied (covered) nudity or toplessness such as the handbra technique. Examples include FHM (For Him Magazine) and Maxim magazines, which launched in 1994 and 1995, respectively." 
  5. ^ "News from Paul Merrill - Editor, Zoo". Press Gazette. http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=30688. "The deal has fallen through over a suggestion she do 'hand bra'." 
  6. ^ Janice Turner (October 22, 2005). "Dirty young men". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1596384,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-10. "The cover model's breast is partially concealed by her cupped hand. 'We call that shot "hand-bra",' says Paul Merrill, launch editor of Zoo and now in charge of international editions, 'We use that a lot.' He flicks to a cover showing a model whose hair extensions cover her nipples: 'This is hair-bra,' he says." 
  7. ^ "New Talent". Zoo Weekly. http://zooweekly.com.au/members/viewPost.php?pid=0&aid=763&rc=blogs. Retrieved 2007-11-29. "Besides being amazingly bootylicous, the Shire gal loves to watch The Family Guy and drink vodka cranberries... all at the same time. Let's hope she does this like her Janet Jackson style profile pic. Three cheers for hand bra!" 
  8. ^ "Girls". Zoo Weekly. http://zooweekly.com.au/members/video/viewVideo.php?aid=71&pid=0. Retrieved 2007-11-29. "You can't beat a babe who is happy to sex it up with a hand-bra." 
  9. ^ "All-Star SI Cover Model Beach Party". SI Cover Search. Time Inc.. 2006-02-17. http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers/issues/2006/0217.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24. 
  10. ^ "Saturday Night Live: Sarah Michelle Gellar/Backstreet Boys". http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/sarah-michelle-gellar-backstreet-boys/episode/95083/summary.html. Retrieved 2007-04-23. 
  11. ^ "Handbra: Tired of the Wonderbra?". http://www.funniestgadgets.com/2007/03/06/handbra-tired-of-the-wonderbra. Retrieved 2007-04-26.