What, if anything, have we learned from “nipple-gate” — Janet Jackson’s breast exposure during the televised half-time show at the Super Bowl in 2004? Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake planned the “wardrobe malfunction” to coincide with the lyrics “I gonna have you naked by the end of this song” — we know that there was widespread outrage in the United States, but very little reaction in Canada and other countries. We know that the FCC levied fines for the incident, and seemed bent on fining other broadcasters for indecency in the following months. Congress increased the maximum fine for broadcast indecency more than tenfold. But most telling may be what happened to the careers of Jackson and Timberlake. Jackson’s career has faltered since that show, while Timberlake’s has soared. Perhaps some people still view sexual misconduct between a man and woman as mostly the woman’s fault.

CNN Article
‘Nipplegate’ Makes History