RealityChuck-
I guess then that the venus figurines 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
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.
*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… 
**Why does a nice female bosom get a man’s attention? **
Who wants to deal with an angry tit?
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.
I find myself looking at Spider-Man in a whole new light.
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.
This is also incorrect:
Recorded history tells a very variable story about what is/was considered sexually attractive. Here’s a contradictory example 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 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.
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.
Especially when you consider they usually travel in pairs.
Appologies to Woody Allen
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.
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.
Mmmmmm… boobies. Boobies good. Mmmmmm…
I’m sorry, what was the question again?
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 (of the second type listed in the link).
Much like the boy scout’s reason for climbing a mountain.
Because they’re there.
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.
You mean Manboobs? Ummmmm…No.
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.
Trust me, not all of them meet both those conditions.
