Aww, He Gave You a Butt…

This is what I want to say when I see someone got a horrible heart-shaped pendant.  I know that there are many people who love them, I sold hundreds of them in my jewelry store days, always telling the customer that they were lovely, beautiful, such a wonderful gift, but let’s be honest, I would have said anything to sell something.  Commission baby, cha ching!

This is prompted by the Open Heart Collection.  Every time I see a commercial for this “new” item (not so new anymore), it makes me think of butts and boobs.  So they took the classic heart shape, which always reminded me of an ass, and added boobs onto it.  If my husband gave this to me I would be mortified.  I would promptly return it.  The good news here is that he knows me well enough not to buy me a butt hanging from a chain to wear around my neck.

The heart shape has been around for centuries.  The shape actually has a few different takes on the where/how it came to be, and why and how it became a symbol of love.

One of the oldest theories is that it came from the silphium plant.  The seeds were heart-shaped, and an ancient form of contraceptive.  I mean really what else says love like safe sex?  Good job ancient Egyptians.

The heart symbol could be an actual depiction of a human heart, there are two sides, depending on which  angle it is viewed from it can in fact look a bit heart-shaped.  So there is that.  My guess is that someone like Cecilia Jimenez, must have been the one who came up with that work of art.  Trying to create an anatomically correct heart, the artist came up with the basic heart shape we now know.  Just a thought.

 Then there is the butt/boob theory.  In Pompeii, the heart shape was used to convey the business of a brothel, hung in a window, or in a door frames so the patrons would easily recognize the type of establishment .  The heart depicted the shape of breasts, behind or that of a “female sexual organ.”  It turned into a popular tattoo among the seafarers, and when asked what the tattoo meant they said “love” rather than to state that it was actually a symbol for a brothel.

So there you have it.  If you are wearing a heart-shaped pendant you can take your pick for what it symbols to you.  Love, birth control, brothel, butts or boobs, take your pick.