When Why Men Love Fake Boobies? first popped up in my blog reader, I wasn't sure I wanted to click on it. I imagined the grainy web cam photos of fake breasts on some barely legal girl that populate spam websites. But I clicked anyway. Instead of pictures, I found the assertion that men like the confidence a woman with large fake boobs exudes. My first thoughts were that the author was on to something; confidence is attractive. Men do like a woman that can walk into a room with her head held eye not matter where their gaze lands. But are fake boobs an outward manifestation of confidence?
Confidence to me is knowing what you are and being okay with it, so okay with it that you can put anything on the line and do what needs to be done. Confidence is knowing your stuff and what you can do with it. Confidence is liking yourself the way you are.
There are a million reasons why women get plastic surgery; reconstruction after cancer, correcting birth defects, and improving self-esteem are the common ones. I'd like to ruminate on this last one -- improving self-esteem.
If the old man or Tom for short in the article is correct, men like fake boobies because they show self-confidence. This is an interesting premise. My reaction to this mixed though -- it shows self-confidence after perhaps a bout of low self-esteem. These women felt they weren't good enough as is, that they needed to be corrected.
But therein lies the secret to their confidence; they saw something they wanted -- new boobs -- and they corrected it, sparing no expense or personal discomfort. They choose to do something for themselves -- something to radically alter their bodies. But what about the self-esteem question?
At first glance, we would hope that outward appearance isn't so readily tied to self-esteem. We'd like to say that it's what is on the inside that counts. But research actually shows that plastic surgery helps self esteem. In fact, a research study by The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF) "found that cosmetic surgery patients experience a real-time decrease in 'negative body image' in specific social situations for at least 12 months after surgery." While there are limitations to these studies as the APA reports, it seems there is growing evidence that plastic surgery might not be just a band-aid; for some, it could be a cure. However, maybe it isn't about the boobs or the changed body but about the process of taking charge, risking money, time, and physical pain to be what you want to be.
Which brings me back to why men love fake boobies; maybe it isn't just the double Ds, maybe it really is the swagger that comes from taking charge of yourself and changing yourself to become what you really want to be. The good news here is that you don't need to have plastic surgery to get this swagger, this man attracting confidence. If you are willing to work on yourself in any way that matters to you, if you can hold your head high and rock whatever situation you find yourself in, you too will have double D confidence from the inside out.
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(a) They don't actually read before commenting,
(b) They already had their minds made up before reading,
(c) They can't read, or
(d) They can't comprehend what they're reading.
The article is not saying that fake boobs gives you more confidence. It's saying that actually *doing* something about your low self-esteem gives you more confidence. If getting a boob job does that for you, then go for it. But that's not the only way to do it.
I know I get hit on a lot more when I go out in a new dress, hair and makeup done, etc. It's because I feel sexy and confident, and it shows. At the same time, there have been days where I think I look like crap but am in a really good mood, and get hit on just as much. This doesn't happen when I'm feeling down, no matter how "done" my exterior is. I don't have the same bounce in my step or smile on my face.
I really don't see how plastic surgery is morally any different (albeit more expensive and risky to your health) than women wearing makeup or dying/styling their hair. It's all about presenting a "better" version of the "natural" you. If you (hypothetical you, not the author) are against boob jobs because they are a way of playing into the male ideal of sexy or patriarchal structure, then I hope you're also against wearing makeup, shapewear, high heels, dying your hair, and all those other things that hide who we "really" are.
Male and female animals have always tried to improve their mate-attracting features -- 21st century humans just have a lot more tools to do it.
What happens in a fire?
--Brandi
Thanks for the question Brandi. I was able to clear up any confusion.