Photo: Breast is Best for Baby!Well, there are lots of ways one could approach this important and controversial subject :)
I had quite a personal interest regarding breasts and society's varying perceptions of them, even before getting a diagnosis of breast cancer. I now have even more takes on this subject!
Okay - here goes!
Number one reason for breasts, a.k.a. mammary glands: feeding your babies! Yes - Really!
Beyond this, all the other numbers of interest are up to you :)
Well, that was easy. Right!
Going back to that whole judgement thing I wrote of a couple of postings ago, I think one of the hardest parts is to be spacious and loving when one feels a difference of opinion. This can be especially true when society dictates how breasts "should" look.
Breasts are one of those body parts that have great diversity. Diversity is good. Unfortunately it seems that there sometimes isn't a lot of space in society, or in some people's minds, to accept this. Breasts should look like....blah, blah, blah. And it seems the "breast gods" (read: 'our minds') have this sway over people.
And I suppose this whole subject doesn't just speak about breasts per se, but about our whole attitude towards our bodies. But saying that, breasts do have their own special allure or aura.
Just to add an interesting note, humans are the only mammals to have their mammary glands develop fully after puberty and stay fully developed. All other mammalian breasts, after breast feeding their babies, revert to the tiny size they were before pregnancy! Weird, eh. Seems there is a design factor at play regarding attracting the opposite sex? (Or same or both sexes- this is California, you know ;)
Anyhow, I could go on and write tons on this but I'll just share a few interesting snippets.
I was searching for information on seromas. Seromas can occur after breast surgery, when the cavity left behind fills up with serous fluid as the body is healing itself. On one search hit for seromas there was a link to breast augmentation, as there can be many complications with that type of surgery, too. Clicking on the link I was shown a gallery of 'before and after' photos of breasts that had been augmented. Here were photos of beautiful natural breasts of various sizes (A,B & C cup) that are literally inflated to D and DD cup sizes.
A little later, I found a site a where women with larger breasts were having breast reductions. Some of the 'before and after' photos showed breasts of D & DD cup sizes being reduced to smaller cup sizes. Well, it does seem the grass is always greener on the other size...
I do know that breast reduction can be for medical reasons, as one can experience much pain and difficulty with very heavy breasts. I know someone who had her breasts reduced from a 32F and was so relieved, literally, to not be handicapped by them.
Another important 'breast fact' is that the size of a breast is no indication of the amount milk it will produce. I know a number of women with smaller breasts who could have fed multiple babies when breast feeding. What makes a breast bigger is fat distribution.
I think it is good for each of us to examine our own, and society's, ideas of what is acceptable or healthy, and what is not acceptable or unhealthy, regarding our attitude to breasts.
It's kinda bizarre to think of all the attention on breasts - on one hand you have people desiring the "perfect" breast size, shape, whatever; and on the other hand you have a current near epidemic of breast cancer diagnoses.
Breast cancer, and the 1 in 7 or 8 odds of any woman getting it, really puts things into perspective - May all that we be concerned about be to just have healthy breasts and then let all the other stuff go. Please.
We are all fine - just as we are!
Large breasted, small breasted, two breasted, one breasted, no breasted. Just perfect :)
