For a long while, I have been trying to find a beat up “Janet.” tour shirt. My ebay search for such a 90s relic is what generated this post. Although it probably started earlier in her career, Janet Jackson’s 1993 album “Janet.”, released under the Virgin label really propelled her into a full-fledged sex-symbol, and seemingly foreshadowed her now ubiquitous obsession with own her ti-tons. Before “Janet.” she was already a pop-star and an icon with “Control” and “Rythm Nation” two records that mark the beginning of Janet’s forage for her own identity, separate from the Jackson family. It was in 1993 that she finally shed her good-girl “All in the Family” image and pursued crafting her own career apart from her pop-royalty heritage.

The image found in the liner notes for “Janet.” album, was a cropped version of the photograph above, which also appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The pic, shot by Patrick Demarchelier, featured a relaxed and confident Janet whose bare breasts were being held by her husband (at the time) René Elizondo, Jr.


After “Janet.” came “Poetic Justice,” her filmic debut, which was panned. This didn’t make one bit of difference to me as a 10 year old, renting the VHS from Blockbuster. I thought it was cinematic gold, and held it over all my friends that they weren’t allowed to rent it. Plus there’s this:

Amid the media hurricane that came along with defending Michael from child molestation alligations, as well as denying Latoya’s public claims that the Jackson parents abused their children, mixed with her own high profile success; Janet started getting a little weird… It’s actually pretty common buy cialis without prescription and affects most men at some point. The saddle pressured the male organ when a man is sexually excited. viagra mastercard india Having a view description generic pill viagra full health check up may be in order instead. In the first three months to a year later, latex will have some degree of physical or chemical reaction with lubricant, texture, flexibility will be achieved best, feel better during this period. sildenafil 50mg tablets and really into her boobs.

She also thought it would be a good idea to be in the sequel to the Nutty Professor remake?


Hey, check out my boobs!


The peak of all this funny business was undoubtedly at the 2004 Superbowl halftime, where the Janet performed with Justin Timberlake, who tore half of her bra off exposing her left breast. The two performers both apologized, claiming it was a “Wardrobe Malfunction.” The photos evoke an original sin connotation, with Janet looking shamed and irresponsible, while J-Tim looks guilty and unapologetic.

“What does this mean for boobs?” you might ask. From Lil Kim, to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, to Janet Jackson the United States is oddly conservative regarding breasts, which only further fetishizes them within our cultural fabric, and results in a tightening of FCC regulations. It’s ironic, given the overwhelming support of breast cancer/ (I prefer the term “breast health”) awareness in this country. Culturally, America needs to turn this fear-respect relationship to breasts into a love-respect relationship. Now I’m really ranting, this was supposed to be a funny slide show, and has now turned into an (probably) ill-informed cultural proscription. I’m sure some scholar somewhere has theorized about this in a more coherent manner.

One thing about Janet is that she never stays out of the public eye for too long, so it probably won’t be long now before she resurfaces, boobs waving in the spotlight.