History Commons^™

Sexuality, Exoticism, And Iconoclasm In The Media Age: The Strange Case Of The Buddha Bikini, James Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

It is widely acknowledged that we in the West are living in an age of both rampant consumerism and competing religious faiths. In addition, those of us living in the United States of America inhabit a society with striking variation when it comes to what is considered appropriate sexual or bodily display, especially when it comes to women’s bodies. The hullabaloo surrounding Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” brought to light some of these tensions, at the single most important religious spectacle in America, no less, the Super Bowl. Though admittedly less well known, another recent scandal even more clearly raises …