Well, as has been pointed out, they get hard when the woman is horny. And signs of sexual excitment in a woman are bound to be exciting to a guy. This is a pretty basic tenent of heterosexuality.
Of course if she’s just cold it would constitute a false positive but…the reponse is already there.
Guess it’s all in the interpretation. When I see someone with their arms crossed I assume they’re either cold or pissed – not unconfident or ashamed of their body. YMMV.
Nips Ahoy and The Pointer Sisters.
God bless us everyone! 
As to the OP, like others have said, it depends on whether they’re hi-beam or lo-beam. The only time I can remember feeling horribly self-conscious about it was when my (then) SO’s parents came into town, and we were all sitting in the living room of the home at which they were staying (the SO’s apartment was too small) talking. Suddenly the SO stood up behind me on the couch and started massaging my neck and shoulders.
Honey, I thought I’d poke his poor dad’s eyeballs right out! (I told him this later, and he said that his dad is usually pretty clueless/unobservant, so I shouldn’t worry.)
I agree with this as well, it’s just that I’m only willing to go so far to do it. I definitely wear professional clothes to the office (though not everyone does). But the boobs are there and there’s no hiding them. When I was in my late teens/early twenties, I adopted a shrug-shoulder posture because I was embarrassed about guys looking at the girls. Took me years to get a decent posture. Now I just don’t care who looks.
Surprisingly, there’s plenty of bras with some padding in them in a D-cup. But that makes 'em looks bigger. So it’s damned if ya do, damned if ya don’t. That’s why I just don’t care anymore. Besides, comfort is important, which is why most of my newer bras are plain cotton ones (with a damn underwire, of course).
And Gundy, if you ever decide you want to change your screen name, it had to be Nips Ahoy.
No man is that clueless, blind, perhaps, but not clueless. See, betenoir.
A friend of mine told me the best one yet:
RAISEN SMUGGLER!
nip - ons
I’m gonna try the duct tape trick out. I’m so friggin’ nipply all the time, and unless I wear a bra like armor, its very obvious.
At my last job, I actually got told to please start wearing thicker bras because of this. A couple of women with nothing better to do complained to HR about me.
But, God, DUCT TAPE? Won’t it hurt like hell taking it off?
And ouisey, that there sounds like sexual harrassment. Would it be inappropriate for the shape of your kneecaps to be discernable through your pants? What about buttocks - do you have to wear a hoop skirt or something? No? Then HR should piss off and die.
(I got a little bitchy there, sorry, but that’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard)
That’s the biggest bunch of bullshit ever. I love how they made it your fault because a couple of petty whores in your office couldn’t keep their eyes on your face instead of on your tits.
People make me sick.
ANYway, as for my own two cents, I’m a DD cup and I go braless. I’m not prone to being very, ah, nipply (?), so it’s not that big of a deal for me. I can usually tell when it happens, though.
Gah – doesn’ t that HURT?
I’m only a D and I wear a bra every waking hour. And even with a bra on, I still hold the girls when I run up and down the stairs.
See, I’ve never understood this. Lots of women ask that and my reply is always “No. Is it supposed to?” I mean, ah, to put it delicately, my breasts are pretty, um, heavy. There’s not a lot of bounce going on. Now if I run (which I’m not prone to doing anyway–heh), yeah, I’d probably give myself a concussion, but I’ve found that happens with or without a bra.
I personally won’t deal with the discomfort of bras to minimize the already next-to-no bounce factor. I do occasionally wear bras with tops that are a bit on the short side, as I have a tendency to stretch my arms above my head a lot (which would expose the girls–heh), but that’s about it.
and does No One offer to help you carry the packages?
Chivalry Is Dead.
What do you do for a living, QGG? I wouldn’t dream of leaving the house sans a brassiere and I certainly wouldn’t go into the office without one!
Well mine aren’t exactly lightweights – they are a D cup after all. And at certain times during my cycle, they can get pretty darn tender. That’s when even looking at them can hurt.
Well the future Mr. C always offers. But honestly when they are that tender, I don’t even want him breathing on the girls.
Right now I’m a hausfrau, unfortunately (although it has good perks). My last job was technical support, in which I worked with probably about 200 men, and I was one of three females. It was never an issue. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wear skintight clothing; I’m more prone to baggy comfort.
With all of the jobs I’ve been at, most of them have had a majority-male workforce, and I’m sorry but I’ve always found that any flak I’ve gotten has been from bitc–um, females. The guys really didn’t give a shit either way. It’s not in the “Haw, haw”, wink, nudge way either. To be fair, though, I’ve always been considered one of the guys, so I imagine it would be harder on a very feminine (and/or heterosexual) female.
Oh, and I’m not knocking (I’m sorry, I couldn’t help the pun) women who choose to wear bras. I just won’t do it personally.
Regarding duct tape on the nipples-- be careful! Duct tape can rip tender skin right off. Removing the offending nipple is no way to solve headlght issues. There’s special stickers you can buy, that I’ve seen at sports stores, in the runner’s section.
Oh, and I can always tell, but my chest gets spoken to so often, I’ve given up trying to divert attention, cover, etc.
Ah, the period thing. I don’t really have any breast problems during that time. From what you say, I should count my blessings there.
I’m now officially jealous.
D-cup pointy girl here.
I used to have the shame,
then realized that was a game.
Now I let those crazy diamonds shine,
and they do it all the time.
To answer–
I only notice when I’m cold, cold, cold.
And if they decide to steal the show if I’m giving a presentation at work, I say “Damn, it’s cold in here, isn’t it?”.