Why Women Want Bigger Breasts And Is It Fuelled By The Media?

Men generally like big breasts. This sentence is not universally true and has no objective reason, but it is a statement that’s very hard to deny. But why do women want big breasts? Is it simply an echo of men’s desires? Is it natural or influenced by society and the media? Over 300.000 breast enlargement surgeries are done each year in the US alone, and this article will outline some of the reasons that make women do that, while trying to figure out if the desire for bigger breasts comes from within, or is induced by what women are exposed to every day in the media.

The first reason women choose breast augmentation surgery is obviously to become more attractive in the eyes of men. Why men prefer that is, of course, a discussion on its own, since bigger breasts do not give the woman a clear advantage and small breasts can nurture an infant just as well. However, Paleolithic cave art from 35.000 years ago portrays women having giant breasts, so it’s fair to say men have always been naturally inclined to choose such women. A potential reason for that might be that larger breasts indicate a well-nourished and healthy woman, with good access to food. That could explain why even today studies show that poorer men tend to prefer larger breasts, while the richer a man is, the smaller his breast size preferences are.

Another reason so many women choose to enlarge their breasts is competition with other women. The mating game is not and never was a level, fair playing field, it’s actually quite a mess, with studies showing that 80% of women go for the top 20% of men. The reasons for that are once again widely linked to evolution; given the fact that a male can produce a virtually unlimited number of offspring and the woman has a very limited number of children she can bear throughout her lifetime, she is genetically programmed to seek the best possible father for her children. It might sound sexist, but it’s science: women consciously or unconsciously compete for the attention of desirable men, and as we established earlier, men generally like bigger breasts.

Larger breasts also make the woman seem more mature and feminine in the eyes of people around her, but especially in her own view of herself. There are many physical differences between men and women, but genitalia aside, the biggest difference of them all is obviously that women have breasts and (most) men don’t. Cisgendered heterosexual people have an innate desire to be clearly identified as members of their own gender, and few things are more hurtful to someone than a man being confused with a woman or vice versa. It’s also insulting for an adult to be confused with a child, and breasts are the most obvious outside sign of a girl turning into a woman. So definitely a large proportion of women choosing breast enlargement surgery feel the need to be considered feminine and mature.

We live in a very materialistic world, and no matter how well prepared we are for a job or a task, studies have shown that physical appearance is a very clear indicator of a person’s chances of succeeding professionally. Just like taller men generally earn more than their short counterparts, the same goes for women with larger breasts, compared to ones with small breasts. Of course, in the professional arena, there is a point where it can become too much, as very big breasted women struggle to be taken seriously, but the general rule is higher attractiveness equals better odds of succeeding in the workplace, the reason probably being a combination between what others think of you and your own self-esteem and consequent attitude.

On a more personal level, fashion is also a major factor for women wanting larger breasts. Although designers clearly prefer skinny models with small breasts, in the real world the women’s clothing industry is obviously geared toward women with at least a decent-sized pair. Ask any small breasted woman and you’ll hear about the trouble of finding a bra, or how hard it is to find a decent top that doesn’t make you look like a 12-year-old boy, as most fashionable tops have generous cleavages. Usually, the first thing women do after recovering from breast augmentation surgery is to go shopping for new clothes, as for the first time of their lives they can bask in the mainstream.

Last but probably not least, a major reason for women getting breast implants is celebrity culture. Reports have shown that the number of breast augmentation surgeries dramatically goes up when a celebrity with large breasts rises in popularity, and that’s why many women who actively seek fame have the surgery early in their careers. The media is pushing famous women as role models, and women are primed to believe, from an early age, that the famous people they look up to are the ideal people and should always aspire to that.

Now that we’ve taken a closer look at the reasons why women want bigger breasts, can we tell if their desire is natural or influenced by the media? Well the answer is, as in most cases, somewhere in between and a little bit of both. Men do naturally desire larger breasts, but media and advertising has been using this for ages to sell anything from cars to paint thinners. Women also naturally compete with other women, but they’re also constantly being sold the idea that you’re inferior if you don’t possess a distinct set of traits. You do look more mature and seem more competent if you don’t have small breasts, but the clothes industry and celebrity culture have been abusing these perceptions to death, and their ability to reach girls at a very young age made sure that the desire to have large breasts, while natural at its origins, is unnaturally enhanced by people looking to exploit human instincts and impulses in order to sell you something. So the old debate of nature versus nurture is once again a stalemate, with the truth, as in most cases, somewhere in between.