Breast taboo

In North America and in many other westernized countries woman's breasts are a taboo: they are supposed to be hidden. Exposing woman's breasts in public is considered shameful and inappropriate ("indecent exposure") even on beaches or while breastfeeding. In other words, breasts - or at least the nipple - are supposed to be covered at all times.

Parents tend to teach their children the same way, and many times children don't see a single naturally nude breast (apart from their own) while growing up. It is totally possible that a child grows up in North America and never sees a baby breastfeeding!

However, while exposing breasts in public is a 'no-no', children often see breasts (although never the nipples) displayed in a sexually provocative fashion on television, in print media and at magazines. Breasts are emphasized big time in the media and advertisements, who signal to our young people that breasts are a sexual object, and only beautiful when big and protruding.

But we know big breasts is a fallacy since women in ads and movies use push-up bras and breast enlargement to artificially 'enhance' the way their breasts look like. Just think: if young girls continually see this propaganda without a balancing view of natural naked breasts, it is no wonder they also start seriously worrying about the size and shape of their breasts even to the point of suicide!

And women do greatly worry about their breast size as proven by the huge amount of augmentation surgeries: according to American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, in 2006 383,336 women had a breast augmentation. The same year, cosmetic surgeries were up 446% from the year 1997.

"Even at the age of 27, I have probably seen only 10 or 15 pairs of real breasts. Most of my knowledge about breasts comes from movies and magazines. But actresses use body doubles to give the illusion of a more "perfect" body, and photographs of models have been airbrushed to remove any "unsightly" bumps or discoloration. ...
When girls as young as 12 talk about getting breast implants based on this standard, I say we have a serious problem. Three 14-year-old girls have told me separately that they need breast enlargement surgery, with nothing to base their body hatred on but a stolen copy of Playboy. ...
How can we say that to view a woman's breasts will damage children, when it is so clear what not seeing them is doing?"
Allison Roberts at TERA articles page

"I would say most women are not happy [with their breasts]. I took a bunch of slides of women's breasts, as part of a slide show I put together, and every single woman who took off her shirt for me, had something to say, "Like, my breasts used to be great, but now they're saggy." Or, "I bet I've got the smallest breasts you've ever seen." So, unfortunately, many of them are not happy. ...

But you know, of the women I interviewed, the ones that were happiest with their breasts were the women while they were breastfeeding. They weren't thinking about, "Is it too small? Is it too big?" It's just doing something wonderful."
Carolyn Latteier, the author of Breasts, The Women's Perspective on an American Obsession, in Berman & Berman's TV program "All about breasts". (aired June 4, 2002, see transcript)