Breast Implants, Yes or No?

Can we talk? I am dismayed by all the fake breasts lately. We are seeing a female form that is unnatural and surgically created. Very, very thin women with big breasts do not exist in nature. When you are extremely thin, the breast tissue goes too. Breasts are primarily made of fat. When you get very thin, think Nicole Richie at her thinnest, you lose your breast tissue.

What we see now, are women who are too thin to have breasts naturally, with fake silicone, or saline filled, sacks installed in their chests. We know they are fake because we see the perfect circles that stand up on the chest like inverted bowls. Protruding hip bones, skinny thighs, flat butts and inverted bowls on the chest is the new feminine ideal. Add inflated lips and you have the entire package.

Now I have to admit, I am biased. Aren't we all? I grew up during a time when breast implants were very rare. I am also naturally large busted, although they shrank some when I lost weight. So I have never felt less than because I had small boobs. To think that we should base our self worth on the size of our boobs, boggles my mind. Gloria Steinem, where are you?

I came of age in the l970's when feminism was the rage. We didn't wear make-up, shave, or cave into trying to look sexy to please men. We were our own women and we were celebrating our new found freedom to work, to be comfortable, to make our own choices, to "have it all".

What happened? Gloria? It seems the pendulum has swung, once again, in the other direction. Farrah Fawcett, Marilyn Monroe, Bridgette Bardot, Ursula Andress vs. Pamela Anderson. All known for their sex appeal, but from completely different times. Pam Anderson, without the surgery, would not be Pamela Anderson.

If you have chosen to get implants, they will not last forever. They will need to be removed, or replaced, in the future. Implants may mean you cannot breastfeed your baby, as they can decrease or even stop milk production. Implants also make mammography more difficult. The presence of implants may mean that your early stage breast cancer will not be found. If you have your implants replaced, your risk of complications goes up much higher than it was from the initial surgery. Additionally, implants can rupture. Very big risks to take.

So what do you think of breast implants? Sexy? Hideous? None of anyone's business but the buyer's? What do you think?

Follow Irene Rubaum-Keller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/beasybuns

Comments

[colibrimoon]

I wish I would've read this blog earlier. My 19 year old daughter has a condition that resulted in her small breast being shriveled and sagged. It is a sorry sight, I have been extremely supportive of her, but she does not have a boyfriend because she is convinced that she is a freak. We are in the process of saving for her to get breast implants. Call me superficial if you want, but I guess sometimes you just have to give into society's pressure.

[La-Shaun Latore]

What a woman does with her body is her business, no one else's.

[Jo Christie-Smith]

Of course, what an individual woman does with her body is her business.

However, when we start to see a trend we are entitled to ask why so many individual women choose to have surgery to change their shape to one that does not occur in nature. Surgery and breast enhancement is inherently risky and can damage health but yet, brings no benefits other than cosmetic.

If the reason behind such mutilation of a natural body is one of social pressure then one can start to see that some women may feel a lack of self esteem and it may not be such a simple exercise of individual choice.

I would like to that the society that we live in (I live in the UK, but we share many cultural trends) is compassionate enough to recognise harmful trends.

[Heraklia]

When I was young, I yearned for breast implants; never got them because I couldn't afford it, and now I'm glad I couldn't. They look too artificial, and I've heard too many horror stories about ruptures, scarring and leakage. There are alternatives: padded bras are cheap and painless.

Why did I want breast implants, long ago? It had nothing to do with attracting men. There was no lack of male attention. I just thought my body shape was too asymmetrical. I was and still am a slender person except for my hips, which are quite wide due to bone structure. It makes me look pear-shaped. I thought my body would look more balanced and symmetrical if I had bigger breasts, and that I would look better in my clothes. As the years passed, I learned not to care so much about it.

[chroma601]

I just wish women would stop diminishing themselves into thinness. So many women are pressured into being thinner than they ought to be, then they get so flat chested they put in fake looking boobs. If women would stop dieting themselves into skeletons, they wouldn't feel like they need implants.

[Alarmist]

As someone who does not have this problem, I can't sit here and say that flat-chested women should not get implants if they think it makes them feel better. Of course, there is a line that too many women cross, and I don't like the fake way it looks. Yet, it's not my place to tell someone not to do it. I think the doctors should warn of the risks Keller mentioned, such as hindering mammogram results and such, after which it's the woman's choice to get them.

[krisgarfield]

First off, let me say that I agree with Ms. Keller's analysis of this whole plastic boob thing. Yet, I get the distinct feeling that some, if not, most of the self congratulatory American guys here who SAY they don't like them, are so full of beans! C'mon fellas...fess up. You do prefer them. I know quite a few ladies (I do live in West Los Angeles after all) whose husbands/boyfriends pressure them into enlargements. Some even pay for their lady friends new "girls". So let's cut out the B.S., and start dealing with WHY you love them so?

Hey...maybe y'all should of been breast fed a little longer, then perhap you wouldn't be so hungry for those big, rockhard, Pershing Missle, MAMAS.

[Skye]

I agree with you Kris although I think it's more of a Los Angeles thing. Same as the fake lips and botox. You don't see as many women pressured into getting them where I live.

[krisgarfield]

You must live in France! Nah kidding...You do make a valid point though.

[salvesons]

They are disgusting. They only advertise that the woman who goit them is vain, image obsessed, stupid to not understand the long term health consequences, and mistaken in their appoach to relations with the opposite sex. Its sad. A little more sad, than, say, even tattoos.

Many women think that men like large boobs. (Sure, some do, but most don't). This is a fundamental mistake that many young ignorant women make. They think that its the size of the boob that attracts men. That is not true.

Availability attracts men.

When women show off their boobs in public with low cut or clinging outfits, they think that is what gets the man's attention. But its not true. Its the "availability" that is being signaled that gets the man's attention. A woman may signal availability by wearing clothes that accentuate her sexuality. That's what men respond to... "oh, a woman seems to be signaling that she wants a sex partner."

Small boobs are just fine. What's important is that the woman signals availability to a man by exposing them or wearing low cut or clingy outfits that accentuate them. its not the size, its the opportunity advertised. Women mistakenly think its the size that makes the difference.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi salvesons, I appreciate your viewpoint. I do agree that we project what we want and who we are and that is what attracts people to us. Thanks for your comment.

[LuckyLT2]

Down right gross. Women like to believe that we know what men like, but we will never be able to see things from their POV and should just leave our bodies alone! I live by, what you see is what you get!

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for your comment LuckyLT2. I think one of the problems is that there is no such thing as "what men like" since they are all individuals. I love that you are content with yourself.

[saami]

Plastic boobs are good for saving you from drowning maybe or at least you will float on your back. These women look rediculous and are freakish. Having larg breasts aren't all that great especially when you are talking to someone that insists on speaking to your boobs; they are usually male. You have to remind them that you face is up here and point to it. Won't it be nice if we ever reach the point where we can be happy with our bodies as they are and see each other as individuals worthy of knowing?

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Very well said saami.

[Jesse Mathewson]

They won't even help you there! Natural breasts are made of fat, which is less dense than water, while silicone and saline solutions are all more dense than water. So add the possibility of drowning to the con side.

[HalfBakedSushi]

Random observation: Pam Anderson has no bellybutton in that picture.

I think a lot of women get implants (and lipo and botox and other forms of plastic surgery) as a result of being bombarded daily with pictures of Photoshopped, airbrushed, (fakely) perfected women and, in turn, women believe THAT is the ideal to which men are attracted. Why else would it be everywhere if that's not what men want? (would seem to be the reasoning) I think, too, many women suffer from deeply negative self-esteem, so rather than addressing the inward issues which cause that, they alter their looks to appear more attractive than they may feel.

And I adore the posted picture of (who I believe is) Norma Jean (aka Marilyn Monroe) in the striped bikini holding the top up on the beach. Looks more Norma Jean than Marilyn, if my ID is correct. What I love is that her skin is natural (not deeply tanned) and her belly's a little poochy. And, if we're truly honest with ourselves, Norma Jean was as much a victim of the poor self-esteem and need to appear perfect as many women today. Norma Jean became Marilyn Monroe who was a projection of a fake self.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi HalfBakedSushi, Great name, btw. So, you are completely right that is Norma Jean before she morphed into Marilyn Wasn't she beautiful and natural then?

[HalfBakedSushi]

Indeed she was. I much prefer the natural Norma Jean to the iconic Marilyn ... but I am probably a minority in that opinion.

And thanks for the screen name compliment. :)

Incidentally, I think the recent overwhelming response about the photo published by Glamour is worth noting here.

http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2009/08/on-the-cl-the-picture-you-cant.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/24/glamours-plus-sized-tummy_n_267200.html

[Jo Christie-Smith]

I agree with your analysis.

Over here in the UK, the Liberal Democrats have just produced a women's policy paper (due to be debated and hopefully passed at our conference in September) that seeks to address the incrediable influence of airbrushed magazine photos on the self esteem of women.

http://www.realwomen.org.uk/

We want to ban photoshopped or airbrushed images being used in adverts aimed at under 16's, thereby helping to protect children from developing body image problems just as their own bodies and self image are developing.

And also, to help consumers be more informed by requiring advertisers to indicate the extent of digital retouching that has taken place.

[dct1999]

No. But that is probably easy for me, or any other man to say. In the black and latino communities the emphasis is usually on the hips and bootie. I have a beautiful niece who wants to go to the Dominican Republic and have butt implant surgery because she claims that she isn't "sexy" enough. As many posters have already said, natural is better.

[LuckyLT2]

I concur. And some go as far to get illegal "butt-shots."

[janeycat]

i think we should all be happy with what we were born with.....i have the largest in all my sisters , we are all happy with what we got.......BUT...i have a neice that is skinny as a stick and has BIG ones,she calles me when she gains 5 to 15 pounds real excited,but the weight does not stay on her.she wants to be heavier..says she wants to match her bo.obs.....

natural is better for health and emotional well being..when i was smaller i fit in a bathing suit better....oh well.....i am who i am..

[antaeus]

Hideous. They can be seen as emblematic of a culture that has raised shallow artifice to a standard. Fake breasts. Fake incomes. Fake mortgages. Fake wealth.

There's a lot of celebration of Julia Child just now, some of it by youngsters not old enough to have watched her in her prime. Do these folks realize that they are responding to authenticity? Had Child been around today, she never would have stood a chance of becoming Food TV's next big personality. Not photogenic enough. Fake rules.

[PhilipB]

Well said.

[gfk]

Who are women getting these for if most men don't like them?

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Great question gfk. Maybe some women who have them will weigh in on this blog.

[sunnybunny]

I don't have them, but I know a lot of women who do. They got them because they wanted them. They either didn't like having small breast or they wanted the attention that men give women with extremely large breasts. Also, if they are dancers, models, or actresses, there is the making more money thing.

[Cannaya]

I think they're a pretty big turn-off, personally. I don't care if she has large or small breasts, but if she has fake ones, it kinda squicks me out.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for your comment Cannaya. You echo the sentiment of many men who have weighed in on this.