You may not be aware of it, but there is currently a battle going on over a part of the adult female anatomy. I call it: the battle for boobs.

The battle for boobs is an ideological one, between those who believe that bare breasts are exclusively sexual and those who believe that breasts are simply beautiful.

The "breasts as sexual" philosophy says any and all nudity is sexual. It is by far the most powerful faction. Its handiwork is all around us. It is this philosophy which leads to the presence of the myriad porn site links that show up on supermodel home pages and web searches on the internet. It leads to the term "erotic" being used on sites which feature nothing more than nude figure studies. It leads to a sore lack of beauty in strip joints. And, most unfortunately, it leads to Playboy magazine being banned from many stores in Canada and the Unіtеd Stаtеs, including Chаptеrs Bооkstоrеs and 7-11 Cоnvеnіеncе Stоrеs.

The other philosophy, the "breasts as beautiful" side says, obviously, that breasts are mainly beautiful. This is the school adhered to by classical art, and until recently, Playboy magazine. Plаybоy's Plаymаtе Reviews always used to begin with an index page which featured topless portrait shots of all of the previous year's Playmates.

Some people said these pages over sexualize and degrade women, but I always liked them. They claimed boobs for the side of beauty. The pretty faces of the Playmates pull their breasts out of their sexual stigma into their proper place as a power worthy of beauty and admiration. Such portraits are more beautiful than they would be without bare breasts, and they make us think of the whole woman - not just her face - as beautiful.

Thе Prе-Raphaelite painter Rosetti knew what I'm talking about. But, unfortunately, Playboy does not. The photos in their index pages for their Plаymаtе Rеvіеws no longer include the ladies' bare chests.

Too bad. It seems Playboy has joined the very trend that is working against it. They have sided with the same "breasts as sexual" contingent that is responsible for getting them banned.

It might seem that breasts exist in a netherworld between sexuality and beauty, and can go either way depending on circumstances, but the truth is, breasts are neither sexual nor beautiful. They are both. And ideally should be depicted as such. When successful, such pictures are invariably the most sexy and the most beautiful of all.