Answers From Men

April 5, 2011

Men’s obsession with big breasts has been chronicled throughout history in countless different civilizations. In ancient Africa sculptures of full-figured, large chested and hipped women were rendered to honor their fertility goddesses and hopefully bring about healthy offspring. Bigger women were preferred by their male suitors and they held higher status within their tribes. Many cultures in Africa today still prefer women with a little more girth than the average woman across the world, especially the Nigerian culture. Similarly, in Victorian England, women with slight builds were considered sickly, unattractive, and of a lower class. Pictures of the women of high society and even the pictures of the brothels, show the preferences of men towards larger women and their affinity for big breasts. Once again, fuller-figured women were the standard of beauty. Today, the conscious of society has shifted towards glorifying smaller frames, however, when asked and given anonymity, men still prefer women with a voluptuous build and more importantly, big boobs. Though most men say that a “C” cup is the perfect sized breast, studies and even common culture prove otherwise. Christina Hendricks’ figure matches the prototype for the aforementioned fertility sculptures and her body type has been represented in both of the previously mentioned time periods and in recent popular surveys of the most attractive women. Why are men so infatuated with big breasts?

There are many evolutionary and social theories as to why men like large mammaries. Men may like big boobs, because they are socialized to like big boobs. From a young age, men are taught by their peers to objectify women. If a woman with big  breasts enters a room full of men, they will ogle her and make lewd comments to her or between themselves regardless of how attractive the entire package actually is. The common man’s first interaction with the opposite sex is often made with a pack of their peers close behind in the context of public setting like a school dance. Acceptance from his peers influences this person’s likes and dislikes both emotionally and sexually. During the latter formative years, a sense of belonging is necessary for proper development. From a social standpoint, men could desire larger breasts because approval in their social circles dictates that they like them.

A quaint, evolutionary theory behind men’s obsession with breasts is that they closely resemble buttocks and our ancestors mounted their mates exclusively from behind, giving breasts a special appeal. People are driven by three basic drives, hunger, sleeping, and sex. Since sex is one of the stronger desires, it is reasonable to infer that from a biological viewpoint, some attraction to breasts would be based on inherited, primordial desires. Larger breasts more closely resemble buttocks than smaller ones, so they would be preferred. Furthermore, big breasts are a sign of higher estrogen levels, which indicates fertility. This theory suggests that predilection towards ample bosoms lies within intrinsic, ancestral preferences. Mens’ proclivity towards big breasts could be inherent in their sex drives.

A divergent, but equally intriguing conjecture was created through the life’s work of the world’s most famous psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. Freud’s Oedipal Complex, states that young boys are sexually attracted to their mothers and seek to usurp their father as her husband. Freud bases his theory on a child’s base need for emotional connection. Babies bond with their mothers through the constant nurturing and attention that they receive in their first years. They rely solely on their parents and are fed from their mother’s breast which further strengthens that maternal bond. By Freud’s estimation, females look to their mother for guidance into becoming a woman, but males become jealous of their father’s position in the family structure. They are taken from the breast (when they are no longer nursing), subconsciously believe that they are removed from their connection with their mothers by their fathers which causes jealousy and contempt. Freudian disciples postulate that, because men are deprived of their mother’s breast, a symbol of their affection and their connection, the male children become affixed to it. The denial of access to that the original source of physical and emotional nourishment causes an infatuation with the female bust that can remain through adulthood.

The final theory on the mens’ complete obsession with big breasts combines evolution, biology, and socialization. Humans are social creatures, and are one of a few animals that practice pair-bonding or monogamous mating. Attraction to breasts is quintessential for men if this male to female bonding is to take place. When touching, kissing, and caressing a woman’s breasts oxytocin is released into her system. This hormone is the same hormone that flows when a woman breastfeeds and it promotes feelings of love and bonding between people. Oxytocin is a neurochemical that relaxes the amygdala (the defense gland which produces the fight or flight response) and bolsters the mating process. It increases trust between men and women and reduces their stress levels. Our closest animal relatives monkeys, specifically bonobos, gibbons, and tamarins practice sexual touching even without the promise of intercourse. This gives insight into the practices of our ancestors. Paying close attention to breasts may have been important to building relationships in pre-human man. Men may be fascinated with breasts because their fascination with and manipulation of breasts helped to bond them to women.

There are countless ideologies of why men like big breasts, ranging from social, to mental, and even physiological. Different people use diverse, complex conceptualizations to explain a fairly lucid phenomena. Men like big breasts because men are simple creatures. Whether the internal reason is male to male socialization, evolutionary links to male-female bonding, or subconscious maternal attachments, ultimately men like big breasts because they look nice on an attractive woman.