# Why does a nice female bosom get a man's attention?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 15, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783 "2002-11-15T00:08:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/21 "2002-11-15T16:44:10Z")
**RealityChuck** -
I guess then that the [venus figurines](http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/archaeology/artifacts/venusfigurines.html) were made sixty years ago in the US, huh?
You are completely ignoring the evolutionary aspects, and I suggest you read this paper:
[Breasts: Their volutionary Origins as a Deceptive Signal of Need for Provisioning and Temporary Infertility](http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/breasts.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> most breast tissue is merely fat, not milk-producing tissue. At puberty the human breasts enlarge through the development of both glandular tissue and fat. The human is the only primate whose mammary glands (breasts) are visibly enlarged in the absence of pregnancy or lactation
> …
> Initially, males who chose to devote mating effort to women with prominent breasts got mates who were better able to nurse their children, causing the males to leave more surviving offspring. This led to a male preference for women with breasts. However, males could not distinguish large breasts due to fat from large breasts that really indicated much glandular tissue. Thus, women with breast fat deposits were more successful at attracting males. This selected for breast fat.
> …
> A female with breast fat deposits appears attractive to men and receives extra provisioning. When she is not lactating, the extra food is still helpful and increases the number of her offspring (possibly by adding to body fat). When she is lactating, the extra fat will give her even larger breasts, and cause her to be preferentially provisioned over females whose breasts contain only tissues devoted to milk production.
> …
> females with breasts were better provisioned. Thus, females with genes for preferentially depositing fat in their breasts left more descendants, causing such genes to be selected for. Thus, breast fat, by mimicking pregnancy and lactation, deceived males, (or non-dominant males at least) into providing better provisioning. [para 54]
>
> Males were selected to find breasts attractive because this led to greater female provisioning when it was most needed, and greater male success in forming durable pair-bonds. These survived until the female was again ovulating. Of course, once the male preference for women with breasts emerged, the usual sexual selection feedback mechanism took hold. Having breasts showed possession of genes for breasts. Such female’s daughters would inherit valuable male attracting genes.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/22 "2002-11-15T19:17:47Z")
I suggest you do a search, since we had a very animated debate about this, around late spring/early summer. Lots of references there too.
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### Author:  [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/23 "2002-11-15T19:48:58Z")
\*Why does a nice female bosom get a man’s attention? \*
Probably for the same reason that a nice IMHO thread with the word “bosom” in it gets a man’s attention… 😉
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/24 "2002-11-15T19:52:30Z")
\*\*Why does a nice female bosom get a man’s attention? \*\*
Who wants to deal with an angry tit?
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### Author:  [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/25 "2002-11-15T21:25:52Z")
God lieu, I’m snorting with laughter.
I’m a hetero female and I find breasts sort of alluring. I guess it’s the curves. I have to say that after being a nursing mom, I appreciate breasts more thatn I did before. But I see them as very miraculous, amazing things. I mean, I don’t feel compelled to bury my head between them and crow “woogah-woogah-woogah,” but I like to look at a nice rack.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/26 "2002-11-15T21:45:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \*
> **(Remember the old distinction between a “leg man” and a “breast man”?)**
I find myself looking at Spider-Man in a whole new light.
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### Author:  [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/27 "2002-11-15T22:08:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Eleusis_
> I guess then that the venus figurines were made sixty years ago in the US, huh?
As the article you linked to explains, **Eleusis** , nobody really knows what they were for. It’s certainly not conclusive that they were sex objects in the porno sense.
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### Author:  [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/28 "2002-11-15T22:42:22Z")
This is also incorrect:
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by RealityChuck_Throughout most of recorded history, large breasts were considered unattractive – a lower-class trait, good for a wetnurse, but not what you want in a lover. To assign evolutionary importance to a phenomenon that’s only about 60 years old is ludicrous.
Recorded history tells a very variable story about what is/was considered sexually attractive. [Here’s a contradictory example](http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rubens/rubens_leucippus.jpg.html) that’s more than 380 years old.
In any case, the examples you quoted were culturally controversial during their day, which might suggest that the artists concerned were treading a line and were prepared to cross it only so far. At times of sexual censorship from the C19[sup]th[/sup] onwards increasing nudity has been accepted socially, but a visitor viewing a snapshot of the evidence out of context might conclude (incorrectly) that ankles, shoulders etc. were a really big deal to humans in general. Similarly various designs of men’s clothing, wigs and the application of makeup have been viewed very differently at different times.
As **kitarak** mentioned, what is considered sexually attractive is highly subjective depending on prevalent cultural influences. In Brazil, for instance, small breasts and curvaceous bottoms are highly prized. In most European countries people associate exaggerated breast size with men’s tastes in the USA - certainly artificial breast enhancements are more common in the USA than in continental Europe for sexy models and porn actresses.
[A controversy has arisen recently in Polynesia](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/347637.stm) in which the local women have developed a negative self image due to the spread of Western media. Commonly, the women there tend to be very voluptuous, and the men there seemed to like it fine that way, but they are now dieting to an unhealthy degree because the imported images suggest that they “ought to be” thinner.
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### Author:  [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/29 "2002-11-15T23:29:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by everton \*
> \*\*
> As the article you linked to explains, **Eleusis** , nobody really knows what they were for. It’s certainly not conclusive that they were sex objects in the porno sense. \*\*
True.
I only mentioned them because **RealityChuck** said fixation on large breasts didn’t happen until WWII in America and cited artworks depicting small breasts. I countered by citing artworks depicting large breasts 25,000 years ago in Eurasia.
It’s moot really anyway, because the OP was not “When did large breasts become popular?”, it’s “Is [all] male attraction to breasts purely cultural?”. I believe that the evolution of extra fatty tissue through sexual selection proves that it is not.
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### Author:  [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/30 "2002-11-15T23:55:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by lieu \*
> \*\*
> Who wants to deal with an angry tit? \*\*
Especially when you consider they usually travel in pairs.
Appologies to Woody Allen
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### Author:  [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/31 "2002-11-16T00:10:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eleusis \*
> \*\*I believe that the evolution of extra fatty tissue through sexual selection proves that it is not. \*\*
Fair enough, but the degree to which it’s been influenced culturally is very variable, and the degree to which it’s been selected is very variable too.
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### Author:  [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/32 "2002-11-16T01:19:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eleusis \*
> \*\*
>
> I believe that the evolution of extra fatty tissue through sexual selection proves that it is not. \*\*
I disagree. You’d have first to prove that this evolution is related to sexual attraction. So, it’s possibly an evidence, but certainly not a proof.
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### Author:  [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/33 "2002-11-16T02:15:35Z")
Mmmmmm… boobies. Boobies good. Mmmmmm…
I’m sorry, what was the question again?
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### Author:  [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/34 "2002-11-16T04:17:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by clairobscur \*
> \*\*I disagree. You’d have first to prove that this evolution is related to sexual attraction. So, it’s possibly an evidence, but certainly not a proof. \*\*
Yeah, I guess proof was the wrong choice of words, but it is IMO very compelling and logical evidence.
It makes perfect sense that these exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics would be indicative of [sexual selection](http://www.stanfordalumni.org/birdsite/text/essays/Sexual_Selection.html) (of the second type listed in the link).
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### Author:  [@F.Prefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Prefect)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/35 "2002-11-16T07:56:57Z")
Much like the boy scout’s reason for climbing a mountain.
Because they’re there.
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### Author:  [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/36 "2002-11-16T15:58:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eleusis \*
> \*\*As a continuation of my first post, women _evolved large breasts to attract men_. It may be partially attributed to society, but they are indicators of health, fertility, and sexual maturity.
>
> It’s wired in, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. \*\*
This is probably true. There is a book which goes into it. Don’t remember the author’s name. It is Survival of the Prettiest.
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### Author:  [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/37 "2002-11-17T07:17:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Kendo \*
> \*\*Do women find ‘man breasts’ exciting? \*\*
You mean Manboobs? Ummmmm…No.
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### Author:  [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/38 "2002-11-17T09:26:50Z")
According to the husband of a friend: “They’re easy to find and they’re fun to play with.”
Now I want little green horns and feathery fairy wings, too.
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### Author:  [@Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-nice-female-bosom-get-a-mans-attention/136783/39 "2002-11-17T19:51:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> According to the husband of a friend: “They’re easy to find and they’re fun to play with.”
Trust me, not all of them meet both those conditions.
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