Today I write my post from Los Angeles, the land of breasts...
Breasts are an evolution from a time when our round bottoms were literally in the faces of prospective mates as we traveled on all fours. Eventually becoming a more prominent frontal lure and symbol of fertility, breasts became the new force of seduction. In some societies breasts hang freely, while in most of the Western world breasts are hidden from sight. As of late it seems like the bigger the better, but is thisa construct of nature or a response to even increasing bust-lines due to plastic surgery? "Boobs" are just complicated and their history doubly so. So why do we find breasts so fascinating?
A lot of the fascination with breasts comes from the sheer diversity of shape and size. Some women want their breasts bigger, some smaller, some perkier and every permutation of change. We push them up, sometimes we strap them down, we pad our bras, we can even ornament them with pasties and tassels. I’m not even going to begin to get into the wide world of nipples.
While some women are happy with their breasts, for others bigger the better dominates, with many women seeking augmentations. Is it astounding that now we have an L size bra…are breasts getting bigger or are we finally starting to accommodate women with larger breasts than the norm? Smaller breasted women have complained for some time that retailers don’t sell sexy lingerie in their sizes, often resorting to buying bras in the pre-teen section of stores…less than sexy when you have Dora the Explorer on for that hot date.
For some women the desire for larger breasts moves beyond a simple meeting with a local doctor, and in some cases the desire for breast implants becomes a form of tourism. Welcome to wild world of breast implant tourism. Like any other type of tourism certain areas are prime picks due to the skill of surgeons as well as the reduced price of surgery.To read the account of one woman's visit to Bangkok to receive breast augmentation, read the Richardson Magazine link below!
Venezuela is known for some of the most beautiful women in the world and it a constant force in the world of beauty pageants. A few years ago I went there to study not only this phenomenon, but to also discuss how beauty is used as a tool of empowerment in this economically dressed and racially diverse, but stratified society. The idea of "cafe con leche" or "coffee and milk," referring to the ethnic mixing heralded as the cause of their national beauty. While living in Venezuela, I visited with women from every socio-economic background, and at a few dinner parties was brought into bathrooms by women eager to show off their surgically enhanced breasts, proud to be a part of my research project. Many men have deeply envied this aspect of the project.
One of the most striking billboards I saw was at one of the universities, which loosely translated said “We understand the economic situation of our country, but we also know you want your breast implants…sign up here for the monthly payment plan to cover your surgery.” I used to joke, what would they do if you couldn’t pay in the end…well it turns out, they can attempt to reposses them. A German woman recently ran into this situation when her ex boyfriend requested that "she return the 4,379 euros ($5,865) he gave her to pay for her breast enlargement surgery in 2009 or he'll call the police and get the repossessors involved." The woman had negotiated that she would pay the sum back over a year and it is reported sheeventually wired the sum into his bank account.
She was not as lucky as twenty year old, Danielle Sheehan, a British woman who won her breast implants in an auction at "millibid.co.uk for an "ultimate makeover" and was shocked to win for just £3.90." She went from a 34C to 34E, which she hopes will launch her modeling career.
So love your breasts and make sure to do regular breast exams and beware the possible fake breast exam a man may offer at a bar...to read more: http://www.kval.com/news/offbeat/108702704.html?
To learn more about one woman's voyage into breast implant tourism: http://www.richardsonmag.com/post/1549010/breast-implant-tourism
To learn more about boob reprossesion: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40356587/ns/health-skin_and_beauty/
To learn more about the boobs won in auction: http://newslite.tv/2011/01/04/wouldbe-model-shows-off-4-her.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+newslite+%28news%3Alite.tv%29
To learn more about the L cup bra: http://newslite.tv/2011/01/21/lcup-bra-released-for-bigboobe.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+newslite+%28news%3Alite.tv%29