# Women -- how touchy-feely are women with other women's breasts? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836 "2015-06-30T02:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/21 "2015-06-30T13:27:14Z")
I have never touched another woman’s boobs and no woman has touched mine. Except maybe by accident. Maybe some women just pull up a top to ask about a lump as Becky says. No one ever has for me. No touching amongst my circle, ever. But I don’t hang with a touchy-feely group of people to start with. We don’t hug a lot or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/22 "2015-06-30T13:53:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Nor do we have pillow fights in our underwear and accidentally end up making out. No Santa Claus, no Easter Bunny, no Tooth Fairy and now this. Is nothing I thought I knew real? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/23 "2015-06-30T13:55:29Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I have never touched another woman’s boobs and no woman has touched mine. Except maybe by accident. > > Maybe some women just pull up a top to ask about a lump as Becky says. No one ever has for me. No touching amongst my circle, ever. But I don’t hang with a touchy-feely group of people to start with. We don’t hug a lot or anything. I did touch my sister’s lump pre-mastectomy - as did most of her female friends and acquaintances. She’s a nurse and she’d say “here, you need to know what you are looking for.” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/24 "2015-06-30T14:09:26Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I did touch my sister’s lump pre-mastectomy - as did most of her female friends and acquaintances. She’s a nurse and she’d say “here, you need to know what you are looking for.” I don’t have a sister. And when my mom, who is also a nurse, had a lump, it didn’t even occur to anyone to touch, and she’d never have offered. Of course my family is extra prudish about these things. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/25 "2015-06-30T14:12:40Z")
I’ve never had a woman who wasn’t a lactation consultant grab my breasts. The lactation consultants made pretty free with them, though. When my cousin had a breast reduction, every adult female in the family wanted to see the scars that Thanksgiving. People took turns with her in the bathroom. I was a teenager at the time and it weirded me out, but it’s true, there’s a “we’re all girls here” attitude, and if there’s something unusual about your breasts, you’re supposed to bite your tongue and share. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/26 "2015-06-30T14:23:03Z")
Could be that the story was mis-told (“I change in the stall because otherwise I am under the delusion that people would grab my awesome boobs!”), and then mis-remembered (“She changed in the stall because people totally grabbed her totally awesome boobs!”) and here we are… ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/27 "2015-06-30T14:24:01Z")
The first thing I thought when I saw this was, “What the hell??” To answer your question and to echo the above, this is in no way my experience. I had a friend who had breast reduction surgery and she asked me to touch them, but only the upper slope (what would be visible above the bra). The only time someone other than a gynecologist or partner has grabbed my breasts was when I was modeling wedding gowns and the one I was in was sheer enough I couldn’t wear a bra - they had to have double-sided tape applied to keep it in the right spot. But some random person in the locker room? Hell no. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/28 "2015-06-30T14:24:07Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I’ve never had a woman who wasn’t a lactation consultant grab my breasts. The lactation consultants made pretty free with them, though. Everything about pregnancy makes me extra glad I never got pregnant, and this is no exception. It seems like you just give up all bodily autonomy when you get pregnant. I’ve heard so many horror stories. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/29 "2015-06-30T14:32:34Z")
I have one friend that’s groped mine, but it’s definitely an anomalous situation. Other than that I’ve only seen it happen in movies and it’s never come up in a conversation with friends indicating it’s ever happened to them either. It seems to be relatively common to be comfortable seeing another woman’s breasts, as in casually changing clothes nearby, but more than that is probably rare. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/30 "2015-06-30T14:48:53Z")
The “they’re real and they’re magnificent” Seinfeld episode would not have worked if it was actually common for female acquaintances to have a casual grope. So I’m going to conclude, by inference, no. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/31 "2015-06-30T16:40:45Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I have never seen such behavior. Me neither. Admittedly, it’s been many years since I’ve used a locker room, but when I did, nobody stared at anyone else. If I were in the position described in the OP (woman nude nearby with scars) and it was being discussed, I might look, but I can’t imagine touching in any circumstances. A sort of funny aside: a coworker’s mother-in-law had mastectomy/breast reconstruction, and was proudly showing off her figure (clothed) afterward. My coworker was baffled as to the etiquette - should he comment / compliment it? He said the woman’s sister did have a good public feel and he felt pretty weirded about about that. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/32 "2015-06-30T16:49:37Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Everything about pregnancy makes me extra glad I never got pregnant, and this is no exception. It seems like you just give up all bodily autonomy when you get pregnant. I’ve heard so many horror stories. The good news is after ten hours of unmedicated transitional back labor with a stuck baby, a c-section, and two rounds of mastitis, you really don’t give a flying flip who messes with your boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/33 "2015-06-30T19:46:27Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Makes my sinuses fill with snot instantly, of course. But the face cradle will cause that in just a few minutes anyway, so it really makes little difference. I heard pretty much regular complaints from everyone in the class (myself included) that the face cradle isn’t really very comfortable. Nobody really seemed to like it. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/34 "2015-06-30T19:56:20Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > The good news is after ten hours of unmedicated transitional back labor with a stuck baby, a c-section, and two rounds of mastitis, you really don’t give a flying flip who messes with your boobs. This only serves to strengthen my case. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/35 "2015-06-30T20:34:53Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Everything about pregnancy makes me extra glad I never got pregnant, and this is no exception. It seems like you just give up all bodily autonomy when you get pregnant. I’ve heard so many horror stories. First to address the question in the OP - like everyone else, I’ve never encountered such a thing. The closest that ever happened was after a good friend had a mastectomy, she pulled up her shirt (unasked) to show me the scars/reconstruction. On **Anaamika’s** quote above - good grief, what an unimportant detail when the question is “shall I or shall I not reproduce?” By all means, don’t get pregnant if it’s not a good life decision for you. But a few months (fewer than 9, since you don’t show right away and no one needs to know you are pregnant) of having people more touchy-feely than usual toward you is nothing in the greater scheme of things. It’s like saying, “gosh I’m glad I decided not to go to medical school; someone said the sandwiches in a lot of med school cafeterias don’t have enough mayonnaise.” ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/36 "2015-06-30T20:53:05Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > The first thing I thought when I saw this was, “What the hell??” > > To answer your question and to echo the above, this is in no way my experience. I had a friend who had breast reduction surgery and she asked me to touch them, but only the upper slope (what would be visible above the bra). The only time someone other than a gynecologist or partner has grabbed my breasts was when I was modeling wedding gowns and the one I was in was sheer enough I couldn’t wear a bra - they had to have double-sided tape applied to keep it in the right spot. But some random person in the locker room? Hell no. Not mammogram age yet? Just wait. Honestly, being the mammogram tech has got to be one of the weirdest jobs in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/37 "2015-06-30T20:53:38Z")
The only time a non-physician or non-nurse has ever touched my boobs, was a series of transits through airports when TSA female personnel would pat the titties down for bombs. Every.single.time I flew. Eventually I got a breast reduction and no-one’s touched ‘the girls’ since. I never said anything to anyone, but it creeped me out. Once I could understand, but time after time, no. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/38 "2015-06-30T21:10:59Z")
[quote=“WOOKINPANUB, post:20, topic:723836”] It strikes me odd that this is really a question. But since it seems sincere I’ll respond with no. Nor do we have pillow fights in our underwear and accidentally end up making out. One thing I have heard of, though never witnessed myself, is women who have had breast enlargement and offer to let other women feel them. I don’t recall if anyone has said they’ve taken advantage of the offer nm ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/39 "2015-06-30T23:08:45Z")
Never had another woman touch my breasts outside of a medical exam context. Well, OK, during that one bra-fitting but it was pretty minor and mostly consisted of determining if the bra fit. Yes, some people are more touchy-feely than others, but the crowds I’ve hung with touching anyone else’s boobs without explicit permission would be rude and offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836/40 "2015-06-30T23:43:36Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > So my question to all the ladies out there – is this a thing? Do women really go about poking and handling other women’s breasts without asking? Hell, even asking to do it seems a bit much. In my experience, no, it is not a thing. FWIW I come from a family of all girls, attended an all-female college, and most of my friends have always been girls/women, and I have never experienced, witnessed, or even heard of a woman grabbing another woman’s breasts unless the grabber had some sort of professional reason to be doing so (doctor, TSA agent, bra fitter, etc) or it was in a sexual/romantic situation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-how-touchy-feely-are-women-with-other-womens-breasts/723836.md?page=3)