Today's yapping : Octobre Rose
TW : flashes in the video. And a lot of Jake's skin.
In France, October is, as it is almost everywhere else in the world, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We call it Octobre Rose. The aim is to inform, prevent, and support research into breast cancer.
I know the cause only too well, having been through it myself a long time ago. Autumn is usually the time when I have my checkups, so between that and the days getting shorter, it's not my favorite time of year. Octobre Rose tends to rub me the wrong way, it kind of ruins the spooky season and its beautiful colors for me.
But I have to admit that some of the campaigns on the subject are quite pretty, cheerful, sometimes funny and sexy, even provocative. And it's nice to see it being treated as something other than a grim subject.
A while ago, I saw a photo of Jake somewhere. Jake, in the middle of a solo performance, head thrown back, tits in full display. The light highlights his chest and... a breast. A real breast. Round, fleshy, very pretty. Tempting. We know the guy's signature style : he lets us see what's sexy about him, his shirt open in all weathers, highlighting that beautiful spot, with his medallions resting in the middle, between his two pectoral muscles. Indeed, the cleavage is to die for, and yes, it's furiously sexy. He knows it very well. And the photo made me take a closer look at other videos.
And I saw, flustered, a breast. I say one, because the other is hidden by the strap of his guitar. He shows us his left breast, which rolls, dances, and bounces with him as he moves. A breast, basically.
And this strange idea came to mind. Between the sensuality of these photos and videos and the time of year, I wanted to post this video on social media with the caption : āJake shows his support and participates in Octobre Rose, thank you, Jake. By the way, girls, check yourselves.ā
And then I didn't dare. Something held me back. Because the subject isn't funny, really. Because... my zooms on that tender and touching part of his anatomy are perhaps a little too... invasive. Because yes, I am sexualizing the guy. Of course, his stage persona. Of course, an image. But... I didn't dare.
What would people have said if a man my age had zoomed in like that on any part of a 30-year-old woman's body? What would people have said if a man, period, had zoomed in like that on a woman's body, period? We would have yelled. We would have revolted. It would have caused a scandal, and probably deservedly so.
And yet... and yet, there is something wildly liberating about all these videos, memes, texts, and stories. There is something different. Perhaps we are getting our revenge after centuries of oppression and objectification.
And his breasts moving on his rolling pecs, his nipple right at the bottom, the graceful undulation of it all, it's inspiring. It turns us on, it makes our mouths water and makes us want to stick out our tongues, wet or fiery emojis superimposed on top. Yes.
But this guy isn't an AI image. This guy exists. We don't know him, he doesn't know us. He's just a guy. A normal guy who shaves, picks his nose, laughs at stupid jokes, goes shopping without forgetting cat food, blows his nose, farts, complains about paperwork, steps on the scale with a grimace, writes down his chiropractor appointments in his calendar, and sometimes burns whatever he's cooking because he lost track of time watching a stupid video.
The rest of the time, he transforms into a hypersexual creature who drives us all crazy.
But he's still human. At the end of the day, just a guy.
A quick aside - I recently got a tattoo. A beautiful tattoo that covered my mastectomy scar. I showed a little bit of it, the part that everyone can see, on my shoulder.
My tattoo artist, along with the association that tattoos women who have undergone surgery, posted a before-and-after photo, without showing my face, of course. The "after" photo was a little weird to see, but okay, it's a tattoo. But the "before" photo... wow. The "before photo" is just my naked chest. My operated side, flat, and... my surviving breast. Just like that. In a photo. Raw. Bam.
And... although I completely understand the purpose of the post, especially for the women who are still wondering, I asked for the "before" photo to be removed. Seeing my body, even anonymized, even for a noble cause, without any intention of sexualization, in a photo on a social network, bothered me.
And yet, without any pretension, I am not ashamed of this body. On the contrary. And above all, I am not famous. I should not care. But I do... End of the aside.
What about Jake? What about all the close-ups we do on his body? His face? Are we zooming in on his ears, his nostrils, his neck (mea culpa), his butt, his fly (oh, mea culpa, again) ? His love handles and his cute belly, which we cover with heart emojis and GIFs that bite into them? Yes, I know, his brother, his brothers are entitled to the same treatment. His companions at Mirador won't be far behind either.
And I don't know what to do with it. Because I made my video anyway. And I like my video. But I'm objectifying him. I'm turning him into an object of fantasy (yes, I know he's twenty years younger than me, blah blah blah - but looking back, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I had been younger). Like all of us here. So I posted it here. Because eh, it's my blog, it's my home, I do what I want.
Feel your beasts to check, ladies. Feel Jake's breasts, ladies (oops, sorry I did it again).
As usual, I ask for your indulgence, English is not my mother tongue, I try, sometimes I use a translator to check the accuracy of what I say. Let me know if you would like me to repost some of my texts in French.
