I weigh in on the mutilation side. This is because A) I find small breasts incredibly attractive and sexy; and B) Implants imply to me a lack of self-esteem, which I find unattractive.
I would put it in the mutilation category, hand in hand with foot-binding, clitorectomies, neck-stretching, etc.
And you can add to that nose jobs, liposuction, face-lifts, body piercings, tattoos, branding. Did I miss something?
How 'bout we sing ‘Kyle’s mom is a stupid bitch’ in D minor?
I’m typically very practical in my attitude for most things. I don’t see what benefit is derived from breast enlargement. I suppose some men(boys?) find it attractive, but it’s a terrible comment on the person who has it done. As far as other body adornment, I am not opposed to it in that it is a one shot deal without all the maintenance that’s required for implants (high maintenance is impractical you see).
Some of those one this board have expressed an aversion to all physically enhancing activities, but I’d like to point out that the application of make (and the cost) and the act of men (some women) shaving every day has absolutely no practical value and has been institutionalized only because the editor of “Harpers” magazine found it more attractive. That’s pretty silly don’t cha’ think?
Self-mutilation, definitely. All it is is pandering to what is essentially an institutionalized fetish. We here in the United States express horror at clitoridectomy and other forms of genital mutilation, but when women here do it to their own mammary glands, it’s just accepted as a matter of course. Of course, I have had myself tattooed and pierced in order to enhance my appearance, so maybe I have no basis to pass judgement, but there is a difference between having a small amount of ink placed under your skin, or a small piece of metal implanted somewhere and having two big bags of a chemical I wouldn’t call non-toxic placed inside your chest. Self-mutilation is self-mutilation, but some forms are worse than others.
Heck is where you go when you don’t believe in Gosh.
I think it’s sad. A lot of women do it to please their men, which makes it even worse. I admit, I need a little “help” in that department once in a while, so I just use some outside assistance… : )(Lots of clothes are made with C in mind, I think. 
) Anyway, what gets me is when I am all dressed up like that, the difference in the reactions I get compared to when I’m au naturel. Pretty scary. No way would I go under the knife though. I only resort to help as a last resort, I like me the way I am!
(I can’t believe I’m going to post this publicly! I better get to bed before I say something I’ll REALLY regret! Like, “can you help me with my thesis?” I’m JUST KIDDING!!! )
A girl
It is self-evidently mutillation. So are many other forms of body decoration. To me, the question becomes “is it an inoccuous form of mutillation?” Physically, I think the answer is yes. I believe the weight of evidence has come down pretty squarely on the “no causal link” between omplants and connective tissue disorders. I have not heard of other serious health concerns with implants. I believe that some women experience reduced sensation in the nipples, but that seems a risk for each woman to evaluate individually. Psychologically, I suspect that a significant percentage of women who receive implants have problems with self-esteem or difficulties in establishing healthy sexual relationships. I have no numbers to back that up, it is simply a generalization from personal experience. I also suspect that a significant number of women without implants have problems with self-esteem or difficulties in establishing healthy sexual relationships. The same is true for men, regardless of the silicon content of their pects. Really, then, it boils down to this:
I don’t like them. They look good from a distance or bulging through a tight bodice, but they look silly close up and in non-vertical postures. Even if they feel all right to my hand, my lips can tell the difference. Eeeewwww.
It is always possible, though, that I simply have not sampled widely enough. My wife was not enthused when I proposed widening the scale of my study. I think she’s a Luddite.
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*
Just some hypotheticals:
Let’s say you have a huge black hairy benign growth the size of an apple just above your right eyebrow. It poses no health risk to you. It doesn’t even really inconvenience you. Would going “under the knife” to get that removed be mutilaation?
What if it were just a small mole you didn’t like?
Gypsy: Tom, I don’t get you.
Tom Servo: Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby.
Oooh another one:
Are breast implants after a mastectomy mutilation?
Yes.
No. Scale does enter into the concet of mutilation.
No. It is an attempt to repair a prior mutilation.
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*
So you’d keep the hairy apple on your head, but remove the mole?
What if instead of a mastectomy, a woman was born with two very uneven sized breasts. Is getting any corrective surgery mutilation? There is no prior mutilation.
Is putting an implant in the smaller one more of a mutilation than reducing the larger one?
Gypsy: Tom, I don’t get you.
Tom Servo: Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby.
I’d say breast implants are the subject’s business; if she wants them, why should it be anyone else’s concern? Personally, I feel that too much of an emphasis is placed on breast size. I prefer quality over quantity. Worst of all (in my opinion) are breasts that have been blown up to unnatural proportions. What’s the attraction of making a part of your body blatently artificial?
Re masectomy:
I was going to bring this up until I read that Alphagene already had. I think that this is an important part of the healing process. Many women feel like they’ve lost a large part of their femaleness after a radical masectomy (some larger than others, I guess).
As far as just getting implants for superficial reasons, it’s just that. Plus, their weird.
And what if they’re too big to begin with. I have a friend who’s pretty much average except for her huuuge breats. As a result, her back is all akimbo. While it might be mutilation to have them reduced, I see nothing wrong with that.
It’s not how you pick your nose, it’s where you put the boogers
These 2 statements completely contradict each other as far as I can see.
A woman gets a mastectomy, she wants tits, gets implants. That is NOT superficial? Bullshit, yes it is. Personally I give more credence to the actress or model or adult entertainer whose career and money-earning abilities go hand in hand with the appearance of their body than some woman who didn’t like the fact that she needed to have her breasts removed to SAVE HER LIFE. Christ, be thankful you’re alive or at least living longer than without the operation. Wear falsies.
BTW- I was not condemning tattoos or piercings or cosmetic surgery, I have some myself, to each his own, but it is mutilation.
How 'bout we sing ‘Kyle’s mom is a stupid bitch’ in D minor?
So, psycat, if you lost say . . . your nose because of cancer, or a chunk of your skull due to a car accident . . . would you refuse reconstructive surgery on the same principle?
My mother had her right breast removed because of cancerous tissue and her left breast removed several months later as a precautionary measure. The same time she had her left breast removed, a plastic surgeon used fat tissue from her abdomen to rebuild her breasts.
Reconstruction has a hell of a lot more to do with healthy body image and feeling like a whole, healthy person than the impulse of vanity you seem to ascribe to it, and if you think for an instant that you can judge my mother’s emotional and physical needs to feel whole after something as traumatic as a brush with cancer, then I will see you in the Pit, and you had better bring some ammunition.
Breast implants aren’t mutilation to me. Of course, they’re a waste of time and money to me because I prefer smaller breasts. Besides, I don’t view body “enhancement” as mutilation. Mutilation implies some kind of intentional disfigurement such as “female circumcision.”
If a woman wishes to have her breasts enlarged, go ahead. It’s her body and her money.
Still, I personally find bodacious, burlesque, weather balloon boobs more humorous than sexually attractive.
No, phouka, I would not refuse reconstruction, particularly regarding my face or head, which, unlike breasts, are always in public view, short of wearing a hat or mask or veil, etc.
And, like I said, I am not condemning cosmetic surgery, but you can’t say that it’s not mutilation or not superficial for a cancer patient but it is for someone unhappy with the size they are born with. It is what it is, regardless of the circumstances that bring a woman to that decision.
How 'bout we sing ‘Kyle’s mom is a stupid bitch’ in D minor?
So, your field of vision apparently stopped at a person’s collarbone and picks up just below the ribcage?
Just because YOU can’t see part of a person’s anatomy means that THEY shouldn’t get reconstructive surgery?
I mean this in the most sincere way I can muster, psycat: I fervantly hope that neither you nor anyone you care about ever faces breast cancer or any other disease or injury that might disfigure you, because you don’t have a fucking clue as to what the psychological effects of a mastectomy. I’d rather you didn’t inflict your judgemental ignorance on anyone who is already dealing with a dire illness or injury.
phouka, calm down. I am very sorry to hear about your mother, and I think I have been rather clear that cosmetic/reconstructive surgery is not a bad thing. I don’t think I was being too judgemental and certainly not to your mother. Somehow you don’t like the idea of a woman who required a mastectomy and opts for implants or reconstructive surgery(actually, the procedure you described, I would not even classify as implants and in my eyes does not relate to this thread at all) being compared to a woman who wants larger breasts for career purposes or just to feel better about herself. Are you invalidating their feelings and emotions? Are you saying that THEIR decision is a wrong one, but any women who gets cancer and makes that decision, hers is a right one? That does not make sense and it seems to me you are now being judgemental. The procedure(implants, that is) is the fucking same no matter what is going on inside the woman’s head.
How 'bout we sing ‘Kyle’s mom is a stupid bitch’ in D minor?
I haven’t said a thing about women who decide to get implants for reasons other than reconstruction.
But, you did say this:
If you still think that’s an accurate statement, then I stand by my response to you. Reconstruction - whether it involves silicon implants or other techniques - is hardly superficial. If you think it is, then you really don’t have a clue, and for your own sake, I hope you never find yourself in a situation where you are forced to aquire one.
I have yet to see anyone post anything that disagrees with: “hey, it’s an individual choice.” I consider body piercings to be mutilations, too. That does not mean that I don’t think anyone should have piercings. I don’t even object if people want to have limbs amputated. I think it is a pretty silly/sad choice, but its their body they can do what they like. FTR, though, my mother has had cancer in both breasts, so I feel that I do have some understanding of the kind of emotions a woman goes through in those situations. Not as deep an understanding as she does, of course, which is really the whole point.
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*