Why is it that many women display a goodly portion of their breasts in public but men are forced to sneak peaks at them for fear of being caught looking?
Are they trying to attract the right mate yet irritated at having to run the gauntlet of all wrong ones that are also attracted?
Can any women, or worldly-wise men, explain this conundrum?

"Can any women, or worldly-wise men, explain this conundrum?"

In one word, Nature!

It all depends on how you look, Proxy ;)

"It all depends on how you look"

- But how can you tell how she looks before you actually look?

LOL. I generally engage the eyes before any other part of the body.

It's generally a good indication of how to proceed.

(Please, let's not bring burqas into this one)

It's not the first glance, it's the repeated glancing that reaffirms the exposeé's desire to be desired. Perfectly natural behaviour for both. The problem is the unwanted stares but that goes with the territory. Also perfectly natural.

"Can any women, or worldly-wise men, explain this conundrum?"

Well there's a hundred things going through my mind right now,lol and if your looking for a worldly or wise man, your dead-set out of luck on that one.lol.
I go to bed with a size 10, so don't think Iam going to screw that piece of heaven up.smile,.

But I will tell you what my dear old grand-father used too say." if you dress like a whore, you will be treated like one.

Oh boy! Iam going to be in trouble now. smile.

TTM.

"Depends on how you look".

Is that how good looking you are, or how good your ogling technique is CJ?

Clothing fashions are related to
broader social trends. There's a
distinct relationship between women's
clothing and society's attitude towards
sexuality. During the highly restrictive
Victorian era, women's bodies were almost
completely concealed, during the permissive
1960s, the miniskirt was the rage, and in
the more individualistic society of today -
it's - whatever one chooses to wear.
Some people choose to be more daring then
others. It's a way of asserting personal
identity and showing that one is worth
noticing, that one is a little different from
everyone else. This tends to appeal primarily
to people who have possibly less secure
identities. And when this trend becomes so
wide-spread that it no longer offers a
distinctive identity to its adherents, it
tends to be regarded as something of a bore
and is usually abandoned.

Fashion trends however do change very rapidly,
and women's bodies assume new contours every
year - their necklines and hemlines rise and
fall with the passage of the seasons. What was
popular yesterday may no longer be popular
tomorrow. Our modern societies are oriented
towards the future rather than the past and novelty
is considered desirable rather than threatening.
Of course there's also powerful commercial
interests that encourage changes in fashions because
they profit from the demand for new styles.

As for men not daring to look. That has never been
a problem, from my experience...
However as a famous actress once said,
"I dress for women, I undress for men!"
I don't think men have much to be concerned about!

Glad you picked up the double entendre, Hasbeen - but who said anything about "good"? Also, in my experience, ogling would be about exactly the wrong way to look at an attractive woman.

Coincidentally, I was at a country ball last night, where the younger women were proudly displaying their cleavage everywhere I looked. Since it was optional fancy dress and I was dressed as a priest (my partner went as a nun), I made a point of going around and taking 'confession' from as many of these gorgeous young ladies as possible ;)

It was a very dificult night - not!

Yabby, where are you? I am sure you would have an opinion on this.

Foxy, You may well be right about fashion. I pre-Elizabethian times breasts in ladies were completely exposed, or was that only in France?

I think Indivual may also be on the right track with his 'desire to be desired' by females. Maybe she is competing with the other females and if she can attract enough attention from males it gives her a wider choice of mates. Whether she chooses physical attributes or the means to support her and her offspring.

Women teeter around on high heels because it enhances the appearance of the legs and bum. Same with the, obviously uncomfortable, brassiere as it lifts the breasts and pushes them out. Must be a relief to undo the clasp when bed comes.

Like most men, I seem attracted to breasts. Maybe because they played an important part in my early life or perhaps it is in my genes to assess a female as to her potential to nurse a child adequately.

Maybe some women have an upper body overheating problem and have aerate the body. Whatever, if some, or all the breast is exposed I will defiately look and take it all in, as I reckon if they would be covered if they did not want them looked at.

Funny thing, when women get dressed up for a gala event, they do the opposite to normal, and have far more material below than on the top.

What ever you do Proxy, do not discourage the exposure as it is nice.

Dear Banjo,

It's great that you and many other posters
on this thread admit to admiring women's
breasts - however there is another side
that needs some consideration and I wonder
how many men would be prepared to put
the following bumper stickers onto their
cars? :

1) Breasts, boobs, knockers, hooters,
It doesn't matter what you call them,
SAVE THEM!

2) I love BREASTS
which is why we need to hurry up
and find a cure to help save them!

3) Lost my BOOBS
Not my sense of humour!

*but men are forced to sneak peaks at them for fear of being caught looking?
Can any women, or worldly-wise men, explain this conundrum?*

What conundrum? If they are openly displayed, why should you
not look at them? I don't share your confusion :)

Foxy,
Was it only the French upper class ladies that had all their breasts exposed? Bring back that fashion.

Yes, I would gladly display those bumper stickers, although the last one does not apply to me. Men have been known to have breast cancer and I can see no reason why any man would object. I give to the MacGrath foundation.

As a retired farmer, I can tell you there is nothing more satisfying than to see a calf sucking with froth running onto the ground or little lambs suckling and their tails wriggling flat out. Sometimes two lambs will jack mums rear completely off the ground. Very nice.

You see I support breast feeding, where possibe, for three reasons:-
1) It is the right formula
2) It is the right temperature.
3) It comes in better looking containers.
Beats me why anyone could object to breast feeding anywhere.

Aside from the obvious function of feeding babies, breasts are great comforters, as in warm pillows. Been known to rest my head there at times. Lovely to see a child asleep, cradled in mums arms, with head resting on her breasts.

There is nothing not to like about breasts and we should see more of them.

Banjo, I have to disagree with you on this one. Fully exposed is often not the best way to present the brest.

A little of the right material, judiciously placed can not only support that which may be better for such support, but may add to the allure, by keeping the spectator in suspense, hoping for the full revelation.

By the way, I wonder which woman hating homo designer invented the dreadful boob tube thing. If ever there was a thing designed to destroy the beauty of this gift to mankind, that is it.

Hasbeen,
Yeah, but you have class. A connoisseur (had to look that word up,French too)of the female body. Not fair, you know the finer points.

Yabby,
Comon, tell us why males are attracted to breasts. Also why some females like to give them air and display a good proportion of them.

Is Foxy right with the fashion bit or is Individual right with his 'desire to be desired' theme?

I recently read that human breasts are shaped the way they are so babies can breathe while suckling. Most other animals have a more pointed face with the mouth at the tip.

Why do human breasts still remain large after lactation stops?

Dear Banjo and HB,

You obviously both admire perfection
and are in harmony with the female
form.

Bless You!

You may be interested to know
that Dr Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist
claims that just 10 minutes of staring
at the charms of a well-endowed female
(such as Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson)
is equivalent to a 30 minute aerobics
workout.

The New England Journal of Medicine and
German research, states that men staring
at women's breasts do in fact prolong their
lives by years.

As to why some breasts stay large after
breast-feeding - it's genetic. The breasts
do stay large until all the milk is gone,
however, then most breasts tend to become
soft and sag a bit, unless of course the
breasts were small from the beginning.

Thanks Banjo for supporting
the McGrath Foundation. It's a good cause - and
I support it as well!

*Yabby,
Comon, tell us why males are attracted to breasts. Also why some females like to give them air and display a good proportion of them*

Sheesh Banjo, I would have to dig out my old Desmond Morris stuff,
he did alot of investigations about all this. A more interesting
question would be why do women think that pouting lips are sexy?
Many women in the US have them swelled up with botox. Then they
paint them bright red, which makes them look like a pair of
labias :) Labias swell up too, when girls are keen.

IIRC Morris thought it was an evolutionary adaptation, for chimps
don't have large breasts. But when our ancestors started walking
upright, those large swollen labias, as chimps have when fertile,
disappeared with the change in posture, so hiding their sexual
availability.

Males selecting for large breasts would make evolutionary sense,
for it implies more milk, so healthier kids.

By what I've read, even though its subconcious, when studies
were done, they found that women dress more revealingly when
ovulating, then when not ovulating.

As a farmer you could ask yourself, if you want lots of milk,
do you select a cow with a large udder or a tiny udder? :)

Dear Yabby,

Silly me, and I thought that
size didn't matter to most men,
as far as appendages went. That
it was how they were used that
counted, plus of course - quality
of the product!

You live and learn!

Ah Foxy, in evolutionary terms, I guess it matters on which appendage
and why it was selected for!

The way I understand it, gorillas have 2" penises and small testicles,
for of course they secure their harem of 6 or so females by brute
strength. Those silverback males are not to be argued with !

Chimps have larger testicles and penises, for when females are on
heat, its free game, whoever scores, so large testicles would have
an evolutionary advantage.

With humans, I'm not sure how much difference it makes. Plenty
of white women have fantasies about some large black guy!

There is in fact a cute true story about that. Pansy Wright was
a famous Australian medical scientist, who sometimes lectured medical
students back in the 40-50-60s etc. He had a great sense of
humour and could be quite umm blunt. Back in those days, people
were more conservative then now.

Anyhow, one day Pansy Wright turned up in the lecture room with
a specimen jar containing a penis. He pointed out that blacks on
average have larger ones then whites, etc. One female student
got up and was leaving the lecture, (seems like she thought that
the subject was not appropriate). Pansy piped up "No need to
rush, the boat for Africa does not leave for another week".

Hehe .

Men are men and girls are girls. game over. but to treat your thread, the sun comes up for both. I think back to work for all and lol.

TTM

Foxy,
This thread is very interesting. All the benefits of looking at boobs, I never would have guessed. My wife could not dispute what a female gerontologist has to say, could she? And there are thousands of breasts, of all sizes, just a click or two away, so I am told. If I don't feel like doing my walkies, I should ask her to remove her top and I still get the aerobic benefits. Or maybe a thick ear.

I still want to know about the era of the bare breasted French ladies though. From my family history reading, I found at English village fairs they held fights between females stripped to the waist, which would have been entertaining. Each held a coin in each hand , to discourage hair pulling. Bull baiting was another entertainment.

My question was not clear about lactating and non-lactating breasts. In humans, females develope breasts before getting pregnant which is not so in other mamuals. Why is this so? Breasts of human females remain quite large whether lactating or not, compared to other animals.

Another CRITICAL question. In most animals milk flows from the nipple in one stream, yet in humans the milk is expressed from a number of tiny openings in the nipple. I wonder why this is so? There has to be a reason for this strange difference.

Proxy,
Don't know if your question has been answered yet or not. Maybe I will try to sumarise later.

There is a song about breasts called 'Show them to me' by Rodney Carington on youtube. I won't put the link up as someone might get offended if a kid accidently clicks it.

By the way, around the base of the nipple there are quite a few little lumps. They are brail that reads 'suck here'.

Your
world is USA. And we see it. Good luck.

TTM

From the truth is stranger than fiction file -
I wasn't sure whether this one belonged on the Mohammed thread or this one:
Mohammed taught his followers how to get around the prohibition of unrelated men being near womenfolk.
By sucking on their breasts!
This would establish a maternal relationship between the woman and the man so that he notionally becomes her foster child.
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/muslim/008.smt.html
Sahih Muslim, book 008, number 3425,6&7.
You couldn't make this stuff up!
Maybe some brave OLO posters might try this when next they meet a Muslim woman and let us all know how it went!

Look..here are 40% of my boobs... NO..NOT YOU! they are there for mr "right".....

...time passes.

(nice looking man walks by)

Look..here are 45% of my boobs...YES..YOU!

Man stops.. engages in chit chat... (skilfully avoiding direct staring)

In his mind he is thinking "Hmmm..she is hot..and must be easy for showing off her bits like that"...but he takes the 'cunning' route and asks

"So...what are your interests?".....and she thinks "wooooo..he is intersted in me as a PERSON"....

He thinks "aaaaah..I've GOT her now"

He asks here out..and they have a nice dinner..lots of conversation about many topics.... she is drawn to him because he isn't just on about 'sex'.....

He takes her home.. she rewards him with "would you like to come up for some coffee?"

They conclude the evening with a good romp...

In the morning she is thinking "Wow.. I've managed to get into a great relationship with a really hot guy who just thinks of me as a person"

He leaves..

She says "Call me..k".......

Last she ever hears.

Cleavage is fashionable again, it was too in Jane Austen's time.

What a funny thing we make of boobs, just two bits of fatty cellular appendages that stick out a bit.

In some tribes breasts are just milk containers for the young and women go around naked on the top. In Western culture breasts took on a more sexual emphasis.

Look or don't look, it doesn't matter, however discretion is always considered more gentlemanly.

If we all walked around naked as we did in primitive times (when weather permitted) were men thinking about boobs?

I though Yabby would come up with a biological imperative on this one - like the natural proclivities to procreate or something like that. :)

Foxy ,
Good work with the Bumper Stickers .
I liked no.2.

It would go well next to my little sticker contribution to better mens health, "HEY,don't tempt Fate,check your Prostate, Mate !!"
[Actually I have still to get a men's health promoter for this one !]

While watching my daughter's final wedding gown preparations seconds before the wedding, it was interesting to see her decide she needed a bit more "uplift " just to make everything just that little bit more perfect.

She didn't need it - but I guess that's what girls think about .

Dear kartiya jim,

We've got a family friend who's a prostrate
cancer survivor. Many people may not
realise that the number of men that die from
this type of cancer each year - equals that of women dying
from breast cancer. The sooner that people become
aware of the risks involved and have themselves
tested - the better. Early testing just may save
their life.

I bet that your daughter looked perfect on her
wedding day. And I can understand her wanting
the right bra to achieve the perfect shape.
It's all part of the "feminine mystique,"
isn't it? I suspect that I first attracted my
husband's attention with my low-cut cleavage.
Although he claims it was my eyes and long legs
that attracted him. Nice man!

Posted by Foxy http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=3664#88260

"You may be interested to know
that Dr Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist claims that just 10 minutes of staring at the charms of a well-endowed female (such as Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson) is equivalent to a 30 minute aerobics
workout.

The New England Journal of Medicine and German research, states that men staring at women's breasts do in fact prolong their lives by years."

Those findings seem like the male equivalent of women finding out that chocolate can be good for you.

I'm so looking forward to the public health campaign based around that but then had the scary thought that Rudd might put Julia Gillard in charge of running it or worse yet try to do so himself. Really they probably should bring Bob Hawke out of retirement to run that campaign.

So for all those women who though that men did not look after their health, we so do. For those women looking for something extra you can do to help the community, the answer is right there in front of you.

R0bert

It's funny how some think that breast size has anything to do with milk produce. It's all in the milk glands, the rest, surrounding the milk glands, is just fatty tissue and has nothing to do with the amount of milk one produces.

Takes me back to the time I was breast feeding my babies.
I hope it's not too much information, but I'm a C cup but when I was breast feeding, my breast swelled up to Double D size- wooo-hoooo! No kidding. No wonder I never gave my babies a bottle!
I felt like parading the streets before the first morning feed, "Look at moooiii, look at moiii".

But ahum, of course, the reason why I breast fed my daughter until she was almost two, was for the babies' health, and to keep myself trim and slim. Breast feeding takes a lot of energy when you do it full time!
I fed my son for 17 months.
Why did I feed my daughter for almost 2 years and my son for 17 months?

Because by then, he started pulling my nipple and screaming with laughter while saying things like: PONG.
Typical boy!
Hehehe he obviously was due to be weaned!

PS Belly I have no clue why women's milk comes from different parts of the nipples than animal's nipples. I'm sure I could research, but these days I'm only interested in where my wine comes from. Right now I'm having a red from Western Austrialia...

Pelican, it gets worse than that, when it comes for respect for a ladies brest.

In the believe it or not catogry, but true, in some PNG cultures, a man who can raise a pig so it's tusks grow around into a full circle, to make an armlet is much respected, & gains the stature of "big man", Touer Bada in the Trobriand Island talk.

In many of these places, the older women are required to brest feed the young pigs, to speed their growth.

I found this hard to believe, until I saw the scares from this practice.

Hasbeen: << I found this hard to believe, until I saw the scares from this practice. >>

Heh. I've seen women breastfeeding piglets in the PNG highlands, and I agree it was pretty scary :0

That was... a little odd, Boaz, to say the least.

But it did remind me of something... now what was it?

>>Look..here are 40% of my boobs... NO..NOT YOU! they are there for mr "right"...time passes.(nice looking man walks by)Look..here are 45% of my boobs...YES..YOU!Man stops.. engages in chit chat... He asks here out..and they have a nice dinner...He takes her home.. she rewards him with "would you like to come up for some coffee?" They conclude the evening with a good romp... He leaves.. Last she ever hears.<<

Ah yes...

It is the Boaz version al-Hilaly sermon.

"you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem."

You two have more in common than you realize.

Wow Hasbeen and CJ - just goes to show how culture can influence the significance and usefulness of certain parts of the body. :)

Celivia, yes a good reason for breast feeding, however I think there is a much better one.

We always found it was much easier, when going somewhere, for my wife to pack a couple of full boobs in the car, than go to all the trouble of sterilising, mixing formula, & keepeng it cool, for later use.

Also found them good for quietening whinging kids.

Strange that a few years earlier I had never thought of these being the main attraction of the things.

Celivia,
It was me,Banjo, that questioned the difference in the nipples of humans and of other animals and asked why? Your mistake probably had something to do with that good WA red. I understand perfectly.

I also asked why it is that breast growth occurs in humans prior to her first pregancy and the breast still remain large after lactation ceases.

I would not question your knowledge of human milk production in relation of small breasts to those of large. All I can say is that in domestic animals the presence of a large udder indicates higher milk production. This is obvious in, say, breeds of cattle that have been bred for milk production or goats when compared to those that are bred for meat.

So whether it is correct or not, I think the attraction of breasts for males has a definate relationship to aassessing a females ability to nurse a child. I also think that males do not realise why we find larger breasts more attractive.

Poor Proxy, still has not got an answer as to why some women like to display their breasts, but i think Individual is right. Its a womens inbuilt 'desire to be desired'.

I think dress fashion follows on from that.

As a young woman, I was always a little embarrassed at the generous size of my chest. I rarely displayed more than the very upper parts above clothing!

Even so, I still had plenty of interest in my chest, as shown by men talking to my chest rather than my face!

I believe men are conditioned from birth to be attracted to breasts, whether they are 'on display' or not. It is nature's way of attracting men to mate with women.

As an older woman, I feel more comfortable showing a little more flesh, but I always believe in 'less is best'!

Dear Banjo,

I've done a little bit of research on the
web and came up with the following facts
for you:

1) Breast baring fashions, according to
one website have been traced to the 15th
century courtesan - Agnes Sorel, mistress
to Charles VII of France, whose gowns
in the French Court sometimes exposed one
or both of her breasts.

2) During the 16th century, women's fashions
displaying their breasts were quite common in
society, from Queens to prostitutes and were
emulated by all classes.

3) Similar fashions became popular in England during
the 17th century by Queen Mary II, and Henrietta Marie,
wife of Charles I, of England.

Today - women expose as much or as little as they wish.
Although most women as Suze stated - prefer the "less is
more" look, although it's an individual choice.
As Sophia Loren once said,

" Sex appeal is fifty percent what you've got
and fifty percent what people think you've got!"

Foxy,
Thank you for that. I just knew that you, being a lady of taste and style, would have information on the history of fashion in
your library.

So the bare breasted look was in fashion for three centuries, and no doubt existed in other European countries as well? Very interesting!

I had thought it was mainly in the upper classes as I assumed the lower classes (point 2) would be normally covered because of cold and protection from the manual work they did. Special occassion dress maybe?

Excellant quote from Sophia Loren. Now she would know. That lady oozed sexiness from every poure in her lusious body. Every young mans dream.

“So for all those women who though that men did not look after their health, we so do.”
Hehehe RObert- I’m glad that you’re so health conscious, just like me, with my red wine! I never knew that, about the health benefits of staring at breasts. I did read something similar, but not as much fun. Looking at pictures of ill people, e.g. people with the flu or with pox can boost your immune system! Hmmm… Poxy breasts must therefore be healthier to look at than foxy breasts?

Banjo, banjo, I’m sorry that I got your name wrong! No it wasn’t the wine, I must’ve been under the influence of my hair colour.
“I think the attraction of breasts for males has a definate relationship to aassessing a females ability to nurse a child.”
It sounds plausible, who knows what goes on in men’s heads, hehehe.

I think there is a place in Africa where mothers bind their daughters breasts, and even roll hot stones over them (which must be extremely painful!) as soon as the breasts start to grow. They figure that she’ll have a lower chance of being raped, if her breasts are smaller. I wonder what it does to her future ability to breast feed- I am afraid that if one kneads and rolls them with hot stones, the milk glands will become permanently damaged.

Another OUCH! Hasbeen and CJ… Piglets?
You’re right about convenience of breast feeding, Hasbeen. No need to sterilise bottles, and freshness and the right temperature always perfect!

That’s really interesting, Foxy. I have an uncle who had an art and framing shop, specialising in antique prints of European fashions, and old world maps. He recently sold his shop when he retired.