An older female friend and avowed feminist–I’m talking one of the original generation of hardcore liberators who burned her (ample) bra and railed against sexism everywhere–keeps insisting that Playboy’s centerfolds, of past and maybe still present, often deliberately got/get pregnant so as to enlarge their breasts just before a pictorial photoshoot. After the Playboy photoshoot, as her theory goes, these models get their checks, get an abortion, and go about their merry ways.
After listening to this for the third time in about 2 years, I keep telling her that she’s basically nuts on at least two obvious counts–the first being wild speculation on my part, the second being fact, I think.
First, I’ve told her that pregnant females don’t experience breast swelling until well after they are showing in their abdomen. Whatever gains in breast size would be matched by gains in a huge stomach. Rather unsightly, unless you’re a Demi Moore wannabe. Moreover, I don’t think Hugh Hefner and daughter have taken this marketing tack.
Second, I’ve insisted that breast implants render her theory laughable. Why get pregant when you can go under the knife? She responds that, well, Playboy’s centerfolds “used to do it,” at which point I respond that centerfolds in the 60s and 70s did not have the huge breasts of today and that silicone injections were available to the desperate and unwise.
Disclaimer: this is now my second post in about 1 month on breasts. Let’s overlook this startling trend. I’ll just note that both posts can be traced to comments from this same nutty friend. I’ll also mention that she seems to be on the prowl lately, although she’s almost two decades my senior.
P.S. No word on whether her (full) breasts are 100% organic, but I’m thinking this 54-year-old woman probably isn’t pregant and hasn’t been e-mailing Christie Hefner. I’ll shut up now.
Remember too, that shortly after becoming pregnant for the first time, a woman’s areolae change forom pinkish to brownish. I’m not sure just how quickly this happens, but presumably if enough time has elapsed for the breasts to enlarge, then enough had passed for this to occur to. Most of the Playboy models I’ve seen have nice, pink ones.
Well I would think abortion would be far more dangerous than it would be worth to make your breasts bigger for a photo shoot. There may have been a model or two who got pregnant and had an abortion and that made it into an urban legend for the time though.
I will say that one of the big clues that I was pregnant was the extra two cup sizes I gained in the first 5 weeks (long before my belly began to expand at all)
Umm. Upon reviewing the names of the Playmates in the first years of Playboy, it’s apparent that, at first, Hugh Hefner featured moderately famous actresses and models, and many repeat appearances. This makes the Pregnancy Theory even less likely than it was on the face of it.
Um, while I agree that the big titties are almost certainly the result of silicone or saline, not hormones, I can tell you your assertion ain’t necessarily so. I found my blouses getting too tight long before my pants during both of my full-term pregnancies, and many female friends have reported the same. It’s common enough that alarm bells go off among experienced females when someone is suddenly “enhanced”. Yes, this is months before the milk factory will begin production. No, it doesn’t make any sense. But anybody who’s been through it can tell you, pregnancy doesn’t make sense.
Well, the pill works by tricking your body into thinking that it’s in first-trimester pregnancy. Many women experience the same sort of changes that they would if they were pregnant, including swelling up to a cup size bigger.
BUT, I think that your friend is silly. Most of my friends are silly, too, so I don’t mean anything bad by that.
Ah, I see. You’re taking the Logic Tack, a big mistake with my ardent friend. Were she here, I’m sure her response would run along these lines:
a) “I’m not referring to the earliest years, but rather to the following ones.”
b) [More Likely] “Are you telling me that women can’t get pregnant more than once?”
BTW, for any skeptics, this (divorced) woman is quite serious about her claims. Said insists she read it “somewhere.” Says it’s widely known in the “industry.” I might add that she’s pro-choice, wears a bra, and seems to believe that any baring of the (female) form is tantamount to exploitation.
Not that I am an expert, but for every really busty silicone Pam Anderson clone, there are a few more ‘natural’ playmates. I think Hef…or whoever runs the magazine these days goes for a variety. Of course every year the ‘variety’ of playmates is pretty similar.
Actually, I took her bra-burning at face value, given the more difficult proposition of Playmates getting knocked up so as to increase their breast size, suitably impress Hef, yadda yadda.
I was poking about on snopes and they had an article on an urban legend about women athletes getting pregnant and having abortions to increase their performance. Maybe this is the basis for your friend’s claim?
Every pregnancy is different for every woman. Heck, my two pregnancies were completely different! I carried differently, felt icky in different ways both times… And my nipples never changed color and I didn’t get my visit from the boob fairy until it was Bossie the moo cow time and then I gained two cup sizes (which is considered standard from what I’ve read in various pregnancy and breast feeding books.) I can’t imagine that anyone would attempt to do this on a lark–obvious risks aside, how would you be able to time it right?
