Breast Fetishism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Breast fetishism is a fetishistic sexual interest in the female breasts, especially their size, shape, display and movement. Particularly in American and Japanese culture, this fixation has increased cultural acceptance of female breast implants. The roots of this phenomenon date back to ancient history, are biologically and culturally driven, and reflect differences in each society.

A bountiful bust is seen by some as a symbol of sexuality and attractiveness, especially in large portions of the Western world, although historically the "preferred" breast size has changed many times. Anthropologists and sociologists have often tried to explain this in terms of natural selection and biology but conflicts exist over what is the conclusive reason for many men's attraction to big breasts. It is worth noting that breasts are not completely sexually irrelevant organs, since the nipples are an erogenous zone.

Not all breast fetishism concerns size. Some fetishists prefer puffy areolae or unusually long or thick nipples. The "puffy" fetish, in particular, can be somewhat controversial because this characteristic is most common in pubescent girls (though it is not unknown in older women). There are also fetishes concerned with lactation in general, and with nursing ("milk fetishism"). Finally, some prefer small rather than large breasts (estimates of men's preferences range as high as 1/3).

Some individuals have a fetishistic preference for large "natural" breasts without breast implants. Natural breasts are required to become a Page Three Girl in the UK tabloid The Sun. There is evidence, therefore, that such a fetish is a peculiarly British characteristic.

Like any other sexual fetishes or paraphilias, this preference might become psychologically problematic when it develops into a strong fixation and becomes the only means of sexual arousal.

Popular culture

Massive breasts are also pervasive in American comic books and video games. Publishers such as Image Comics and Maximum Press often featured large-bosomed heroines on their comic book covers in the 1990s. The Tomb Raider video game series also featured a large-breasted heroine, Lara Croft.

More recent breast fetishism can be in part linked with the Canadian actress and glamour model, Pamela Anderson, who helped amplify and normalize the trend by openly acknowledging her cosmetic surgery to increase her breast size and shape, and whose enlargement seemed to increase her stardom, rendering implants more publicly acceptable for the average woman.

My Musings...

Monday, March 20, 2006