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"Booberday" is a Saturday event made popular on the social network Google Plus that promotes posting images of breasts. The origin of this meme is debated. Some have said that it's meant to raise awareness of breast cancer, while others have made it clear their participation is only to get back at users who flood the stream with pictures and animated GIFs of cats, another meme that occurs on Saturdays known as "Caturday."
As Google Plus user Brett Bjornsen explained in a comment: "We were sitting in a hangout last weekend, and saw our stream bombarded by Caturday pictures... the topic turned to what would trump cats on the internet... and well... the term 'Booberday' was born.... and a website was created... and the rest is history."
Said website, booberday.com, now features links to cancer organizations "to support," though the links do not direct users to donation pages, and in any event, these are at the bottom below posts about recent upheaval surrounding the meme, which claims to be "all about raising awareness in an atmosphere of fun and mutual respect." These items are closely followed by a call to action to send e-mail submissions of breasts to motorboating@booberday.com -- because nothing says "let's donate to cancer research" like motorboating, the act of burying one's face between breasts, shaking it violently and making a brrrrrr sound.
The issue of "Booberday" came to a head Saturday when Google Plus power user and tech pundit Robert Scoble decided to participate in the meme by posting a close-up of a friend's breasts. The post was initially well-received, if you can call the online equivalent of wolf-whistling a good reception.
But when some of Scoble's followers, particularly women followers, brought up the impropriety of the image, Scoble ignored their remarks, finally arguing weakly that his friend had allowed him to take a photo and post it, making it acceptable for him to do so. Mostly, Scoble engaged users who supported the posting and those who claimed to be behind "Booberday," apologizing for being unable to join their Hangout on Google Plus (a live webcam-enabled form of discussion on the network). The link to the Hangout was posted several times throughout the comment thread.
When women expressed disappointment in Scoble for the photograph, his male followers went on the defensive, with comments ranging from "lighten up" to insults such as: "We can't all have a little fun at the expense of breasts when there are mugs out there for breast cancer awareness that read 'FEEL YOUR BOOBIES'? I can't speak for all commenters above, but none of my posts were meant as demeaning or degrading. If you're reading them this way, then you're just too insecure." and "Funny how weird, frustrated feminist radicals call cleavage 'perverse'. What do these dried up virgins do when they get out of the shower?"
Male commenters came out of the woodwork, exhorting Scoble to refrain from apologizing for posting such an image. Scoble's response to the critique was again weak: "Heard and noted. I did it to, well, have a little fun on a Friday night. Part of having a heatlhy [sic] community is being able to not always take things so seriously." His post was "plussed" (the Google Plus equivalent of the Facebook like) 29 times.
Finally, someone pinned a pink ribbon on it, though the Scoble post and most other such "Booberday" posts had made no mention of breast cancer awareness or included any way to contribute to cancer research. The point of "Booberday," Karen Prior said in Scoble's post, "is breast awareness, there is nothing demeaning about it. The people who are in the 'booberday hangout' have not posted any content that is nudity and as the older female of the hangout, I find it amusing and lightens a topic that can be scary for many others."
JUST PAINT IT PINK
As someone who writes about sex, I receive a fair amount of press releases from everyone -- from lingerie companies to sex toy companies to porn studios, if it's sex or sexy, I've gotten the press release for it. In preparation for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, it seems everyone and their publicist is looking for a tie-in to sell more products. I have nothing against companies that want to donate a percentage of their proceeds to cancer research, but to get a press release from a porn site that thinks that slapping a pink ribbon on its main page and dedicating the coming
