The New York Times published five pictures of topless women recently. The New York Times.

How could they do it? The women depicted all had had double mastectomies and chose not to have breast reconstruction. So they didn’t have nipples.

This is a powerful story for many reasons, but an unstated one is to point out the ridiculousness of the rules of many media outlets against showing human bodies in their natural form. The idea that you could show the topless pictures of women only because their breasts had been cut off is beyond bizarre.