View source for Cleavage (breasts)

[[Image:AriaGiovanni0175.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Aria Giovanni]] displaying cleavage]]
[[Image:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Girl Braiding Her Hair (Suzanne Valadon).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Suzanne Valadon]], painting by [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir|Renoir]], 1885. Profile view of cleavage.]]
[[Image:Densie Milani in pink.jpg|thumb|portrait|[[Denise milani|Denise Milani]] showing off her rather large cleavage]] 

'''Cleavage''' is the cleft created by the partial exposure of a woman's [[breasts]], especially when exposed by low-cut clothing. The neckline of a garment that exposes cleavage is known as '''décolletage''' (or "'''décolleté'''" in current [[French language|French]]).

==Anatomical terminology==
"'''Intermammary sulcus'''" or "'''intermammary cleft'''" are the terms adopted by the [[International Federation of Associations of Anatomists]] for the area of cleavage between the breasts not including the breasts. 

==Theories of cleavage==
[[Evolutionary psychology|Evolutionary psychologists]] theorize that humans' permanently enlarged breasts, in contrast to other primates' breasts that only enlarge during [[ovulation]], allowed females to "solicit male attention and investment even when they are not really fertile."<ref>Charles B. Crawford & Dennis Krebs (eds.), [http://books.google.com/books?id=B96QZyBluRgC&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=%22flat+chested+ape+to+modern+buxom+woman%22&source=web&ots=RaQ7YIBwJ2&sig=cDIuiyc56Xi7rd8ZbXsU9wuraL4#PPA113,M1 "How Mate Choice Shaped Human Nature"], ''Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology: Ideas, Issues, and Applications'', Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (1998).</ref>  Popular [[United Kingdom|British]] [[zoologist]] and [[ethologist]] [[Desmond Morris]] theorizes that cleavage is a sexual signal that imitates the image of the [[Cleavage (buttocks)|cleft between the buttocks]].<ref name="theory">http://sil.mcmaster.ca/Archive/life/041014lifefeature.html</ref>

==Annual celebration==
In South Africa, [[brassiere]] marketer [[Wonderbra]] sponsors a 
"National Cleavage Day" each Spring. <ref>http://www.wonderbra.co.za/nationalcleavageday.aspx</ref>

==See also==
*[[Breast fetishism]]
*[[Cleavage enhancement]]
*[[Mammary intercourse]]
*[[Buttock cleavage]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Category:Decolleté|Decolleté}}
*[http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=424 "Sargent's Portraits"], an article including a mention of the scandal caused by the portrayal of cleavage in [[John Singer Sargent]]'s "[[Portrait of Madame X]]". 
*[http://www.azcentral.com/style/articles/0314bosom.html "Cleavage Is Back by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, The Baltimore Sun"], viewed 9 June 2007.

[[Category:Breast]]
[[Category:Human appearance]]
[[Category:Parts of clothing]]
[[Category:Necklines]]

[[da:Kavalergang]]
[[de:Dekolleté]]
[[es:Escote]]
[[fr:Décolleté]]
[[id:Belahan dada]]
[[nl:Decolleté]]
[[ja:胸の谷間]]
[[sv:Dekolletage]]
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