# Larger Nippled Women **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371 "2004-02-26T23:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/1 "2004-02-26T23:24:08Z")
I’m wondering if there is any sort of study done on the occurence of larger nipples on women… through observation I haven’t seen that many of them. What purpose do larger nipples serve? What proportion of the female population have larger nipples? Is it dominant and recessive… or does it mix? Do certain races have larger incidences of this characteristic? By larger I mean about 5cm+ in diameter as opposed to about 3cm. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/2 "2004-02-26T23:29:18Z")
Now _there’s_ an idea for a grant proposal . . . ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/3 "2004-02-26T23:40:31Z")
My experience has been that almost half of the women whose breasts I have seen have nipples larger than average. I hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/4 "2004-02-27T00:00:00Z")
> [@](#): > > My experience has been that almost half of the women whose breasts I have seen have nipples larger than average. And almost the other half have nipples smaller than the average. I hope you meant that as a witty joke. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/5 "2004-02-27T00:22:04Z")
Just don’t tell a woman her nipples are average, because that’s mean. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/6 "2004-02-27T00:36:35Z")
Nipples aren’t usually measured in terms of diameter, I wouldn’t think. Perhaps you mean “areola.” I mean, 5 cm. …? ---
**Author:** ![seaworthy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@seaworthy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seaworthy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/7 "2004-02-27T04:29:43Z")
An ex of mine told me about an ex of his whose areolas almost completely covered her boobs. Which, even if she were small-breasted, is still like 4 inches. And way out of proportion. I mean, 4 inch areolas aren’t too unusual if you have DDD breasts. ---
**Author:** ![seaworthy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@seaworthy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seaworthy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/8 "2004-02-27T04:42:26Z")
Oh man, I just thought about the whole cm/in thing. 5 cm is large? OK, I’m going to go measure mine right now. I know for a fact that for my breast size, I have small to average areolas. I’ve often heard that I have a nice rack. Hang on. Damnit, my ruler only has inches and milimeters. I don’t do conversions, I’m American! So my areolas are 4 mm, or an inch and a half. And I’m a C/D. Oh, ok, that’s like 3.8 cm. Whew. Still, I think breast size is important when you’re talking about “large” areolas. Mine are very small in proportion, so I’d say that even if mine were 5 cm, they’d still look normal. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/9 "2004-02-27T04:44:19Z")
> [@seaworthy](#): > > An ex of mine told me about an ex of his whose areolas almost completely covered her boobs. Which, even if she were small-breasted, is still like 4 inches. And way out of proportion. I mean, 4 inch areolas aren’t too unusual if you have DDD breasts. Perhaps she had breast-REDUCTION surgery? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/10 "2004-02-27T04:47:46Z")
Its child birth. Women who have had babies have large areolas those who have not yet conceived have small ones. ---
**Author:** ![seaworthy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@seaworthy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seaworthy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/11 "2004-02-27T04:50:10Z")
I’m a mother, and mine are still the same size. I didn’t breastfeed, though, does that make a difference? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/12 "2004-02-27T05:09:43Z")
:: **Sunspace** reads thread, breaks into a sweat, says nothing, tiptoes away… :: ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/13 "2004-02-27T05:19:14Z")
I have no idea what the answer is, but this is simply one of the best topic headers I have seen ever. Please, ladies, continue your research. Detail is of the utmost importance. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/14 "2004-02-27T05:29:01Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Its child birth. Women who have had babies have large areolas those who have not yet conceived have small ones. I have personal proof that this is incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/15 "2004-02-27T06:14:50Z")
Just don’t let Michael Powell find out about this thread, mmkay? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/16 "2004-02-27T06:39:08Z")
“Yeah, I’d like the new issue of Scientific American, the MIT Technology Review, the Journal of Advanced Physics … oh yeah, and a copy of Jugs.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/17 "2004-02-27T07:43:29Z")
Damn you, **Little Nemo** , I was doing my best to pretend I wasn’t home, and now my housemates have heard thirty seconds of hysterical laughter. ---
**Author:** ![Chotii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Chotii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chotii)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/18 "2004-02-27T08:51:52Z")
No no no. You have it all wrong. I like saying that. Look: the pigmented aureola is a visual cue for the infant. For most women, during pregnancy, pigmentation increases and may appear to spill raggedly beyond the normal demarcating line of the aureola onto the breast tissue itself\*, at about the same time as the _linea negra_ appears. When an infant is born, it has pretty good eyesight up to about a 12" distance, which is roughly the distance from the breasts to the down-turned face, which the baby will be looking up into when he’s nursing. The darkened areola tells the kid where the food is. And humans are hardly the only species to have such a visual cue. After pregnancy ends, this pigmentation may or may not fade away. Mine always does. \*This pigmentation may appear as solid color, as freckles, or as raised bumps of darker skin, similar to moles. However, the size of the aureola is irrelevant. Almost any woman who wishes to breastfeed can do so, given adequate support, education, and a willing infant. As far as that goes, the size of the nipples themselves is irrelevant, though especially large nipples may cause problems with initial breastfeeding efforts with a small newborn, or a newborn with a small mouth. You might as well ask what is the purpose of freckles, or that weird splotchy pigmentation some folks get all over their bodies or their hands, or about the ‘raccoon eyes’ (‘mask of pregnancy’) some women get. It doesn’t mean anything. It just is. And variations are just variations. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/19 "2004-02-27T09:20:24Z")
Just, something that occurred to me… and maybe TMI, but it might have a scientific/biological basis. I am kinda turned off by the really dark pigmentation of nipples that I understand occurs during pregnancy (much darker than normal)- Everything else about pregnancy I find very sexy. Maybe this acts as a visual indicator both for the baby and amorous mates, signalling and warding men off from the offspring’s foodsource? Any other guys wanna weigh in on it? dark nipples=repellant or attractive? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371/20 "2004-02-27T09:22:50Z")
Technically, I guess that would be “dark aereola”, repellent or attractive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larger-nippled-women/231371.md?page=2)