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==Cultural and historical background==
==Cultural and historical background==
Many people in [[Western culture]], both male and female, consider breasts an important female [[secondary sex characteristic]]<ref>[http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/secondary_characteristics.html secondary sex characteristics]</ref> and an important aspect of [[femininity]] and many women use [[décolletage]] or low neckline that exposes cleavage as part of their [[physical attractiveness|physical]] and [[sexual attractiveness]] and to improve their sense of femininity. Display of cleavage with a low neckline is often regarded as a form of feminine [[flirting]] or [[seduction]], as well as [[aesthetic]] or [[erotic]]. Most men derive [[erotic pleasure]] from seeing a woman's cleavage,<ref>[[Alfred Kinsey|Kinsey, Alfred C.]] et al. ''[[Sexual Behavior in the Human Male]]''. Saunders, 1948.</ref> and some people derive pleasure in their female partner exposing cleavage. When cleavage is enhanced with a push-up bra or exposed by a low neckline it draws considerable attention.<ref>Dr. Ted Eisenberg and Joyce K. Eisenberg, ''The Scoop on Breasts: A Plastic Surgeon Busts the Myths'', eBooks2go, 2012, ISBN 9780985724931</ref> During adolescence, some girls become obsessed with breast shape and cleavage.<ref name=Ashlea>Ashlea Worrel, ''An Examination of Women's Body Image and Sexual Satisfaction'', page 15, ProQuest, 2008, ISBN 9780549651444</ref> In [[South Africa]], [[Wonderbra]] sponsors a [[National Cleavage Day]] during which women are encouraged to display their cleavage.<ref name=WONDERBRA>[http://www.wonderbra.co.za/nationalcleavageday.aspx "National Cleavage Day"] on Wonderbra.co.za</ref> The use of tight clothing and the display of cleavage has been attributed as causes of an increase in breast fetishism, and atypical [[paraphilia]].<ref name="ggf2003">{{harvnb|Glazier|Flowerday|2003|p=58}}</ref>

In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much cleavage exposure is acceptable in public.<ref>{{cite web |last=Salmansohn |first=Karen |title=The Power of Cleavage |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-salmansohn/the_power_of_cleavage_b_70260.html |publisher=The Huffington Post |date=October 29, 2007}}</ref> In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose her breasts depends on social and cultural context. Displaying cleavage or any part of female breast may be considered inappropriate or even prohibited by [[dress code]]s in some settings, such as workplaces, churches, and schools, while in some spaces showing as much cleavage as possible can be permissible or even encouraged. The exposure of [[nipple]]s or [[areolae]] is almost always considered [[modesty|immodest]] and in some instances is viewed as [[lewd]] or [[indecent]] behavior.<ref>D. Leder, ''The Body in Medical Thought and Practice'', page 223, Springer Science & Business Media, 1992, ISBN 9780792316572</ref> Art historian [[James Laver]] argued that the changing standards of revealing cleavage is more prominent in evening wear than in day wear in the Western world.<ref>Carter, Michael ''Fashion classics from Carlyle to Barthes'', page 732, Berg Publishers, 2003, ISBN 1-85973-606-8</ref>

There is a widespread fascination with women's breasts, and especially their size.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Yeung|first1=Peter|title=The female artists reclaiming their bodies|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/22316/1/the-female-artists-reclaiming-their-bodies|website=Dazed|accessdate=20 November 2014|quote=The fetishisation of womens’ bodies and their regular reduction to breasts is something that New York artist Cindy Hinant is acutely aware of}}</ref> For example, film producers such as [[Russ Meyer]] produced films which featured actresses with large breasts. ''[[Lorna (film)|Lorna]]'' (1964) was the first of his films where the main female part was selected on the basis of breast size. Other large breasted actresses used by Meyer include [[Kitten Natividad]], [[Erica Gavin]], [[Lorna Maitland]], [[Tura Satana]], and [[Uschi Digard]] among many others. The majority of them were naturally large breasted and he occasionally cast women in their first trimesters of pregnancy as it enhanced their breast size even further.<ref name=russmeyer>{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=Russ |others=(Under the pseudonym "Adolph Albion Schwartz") |year=2000 | title=''A Clean Breast: The Life and Loves of Russ Meyer'' (3 volume set) |publisher=Hauck Pub Co |location=El Rio, TX |isbn=0-9621797-2-8}}</ref> Author and director [[William Rotsler]] said: "with ''Lorna'' Meyer established the formula that made him rich and famous, the formula of people filmed at top hate, top lust, top heavy."<ref>{{cite book|author= McDonough, Jimmy|year=2005| title=''Big bosoms and square jaws : the biography of Russ Meyer, king of the sex film'' | publisher=Jonathan Cape | location=London | isbn=0-224-07250-1}}, p.138</ref>
There is a widespread fascination with women's breasts, and especially their size.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Yeung|first1=Peter|title=The female artists reclaiming their bodies|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/22316/1/the-female-artists-reclaiming-their-bodies|website=Dazed|accessdate=20 November 2014|quote=The fetishisation of womens’ bodies and their regular reduction to breasts is something that New York artist Cindy Hinant is acutely aware of}}</ref> For example, film producers such as [[Russ Meyer]] produced films which featured actresses with large breasts. ''[[Lorna (film)|Lorna]]'' (1964) was the first of his films where the main female part was selected on the basis of breast size. Other large breasted actresses used by Meyer include [[Kitten Natividad]], [[Erica Gavin]], [[Lorna Maitland]], [[Tura Satana]], and [[Uschi Digard]] among many others. The majority of them were naturally large breasted and he occasionally cast women in their first trimesters of pregnancy as it enhanced their breast size even further.<ref name=russmeyer>{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=Russ |others=(Under the pseudonym "Adolph Albion Schwartz") |year=2000 | title=''A Clean Breast: The Life and Loves of Russ Meyer'' (3 volume set) |publisher=Hauck Pub Co |location=El Rio, TX |isbn=0-9621797-2-8}}</ref> Author and director [[William Rotsler]] said: "with ''Lorna'' Meyer established the formula that made him rich and famous, the formula of people filmed at top hate, top lust, top heavy."<ref>{{cite book|author= McDonough, Jimmy|year=2005| title=''Big bosoms and square jaws : the biography of Russ Meyer, king of the sex film'' | publisher=Jonathan Cape | location=London | isbn=0-224-07250-1}}, p.138</ref>


Revision as of 19:34, 18 December 2014

Breast fetishism (also known as mastofact, breast partialism, or mazophilia)[1] is a paraphilic (highly atypical) sexual interest focused on female breasts (see partialism).[2] The term breast fetishism is also used to refer to cultural attention to female breasts and the sexuality they represent, with debate continuing as to whether the modern widespread fascination with breasts among heterosexual males in western societies is a sexual fetish.[3]

Scientific explanation for non-paraphilic attraction

Some scientists have hypothesized that sexual attraction to breasts is the result of their function as a secondary sex characteristic. For instance, British zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris theorizes that cleavage is a sexual signal that imitates the image of the cleft between the buttocks,[4] which according to Morris in The Naked Ape is also unique to humans, other primates as a rule having much flatter buttocks.

Evolutionary psychologists theorize that humans' permanently enlarged breasts, in contrast to other primates' breasts, which only enlarge during ovulation, allows females to "solicit male attention and investment even when they are not really fertile".[5]

The reverence and theorizing shown to breasts also appears in the science of modern civilization. Breast fetishism is claimed to be an example of a contagious thought (or meme) spreading throughout society,[6] and that breasts are features that have evolved to influence human sexuality rather than serve an exclusive maternal function.

Alternative opinions

Some feminists have argued that incidences of breast fetishism have been found going back to the neolithic era, with the goddess shrines of Catal Huyuk (in modern Turkey). The archaeological excavations of the town in c. 1960 revealed the walls of the shrine(s) adorned with disembodied pairs of breasts that appeared to have "an existence of their own". Elizabeth Gould Davis argues that breasts (along with phalluses) were revered by the women of Catal Huyuk as instruments of motherhood, but it was after what she describes as a patriarchal revolution – when men had appropriated both phallus worship and "the breast fetish" for themselves – that these organs "acquired the erotic significance with which they are now endowed".[7]

Some authors from the United States have made the statement that attraction to the female breast is a sexual fetish, that it is the American fetish-object of choice,[8] and that breast fetishism is predominantly found in the United States.[9][10][11]

Cultural and historical background

Many people in Western culture, both male and female, consider breasts an important female secondary sex characteristic[12] and an important aspect of femininity and many women use décolletage or low neckline that exposes cleavage as part of their physical and sexual attractiveness and to improve their sense of femininity. Display of cleavage with a low neckline is often regarded as a form of feminine flirting or seduction, as well as aesthetic or erotic. Most men derive erotic pleasure from seeing a woman's cleavage,[13] and some people derive pleasure in their female partner exposing cleavage. When cleavage is enhanced with a push-up bra or exposed by a low neckline it draws considerable attention.[14] During adolescence, some girls become obsessed with breast shape and cleavage.[15] In South Africa, Wonderbra sponsors a National Cleavage Day during which women are encouraged to display their cleavage.[16] The use of tight clothing and the display of cleavage has been attributed as causes of an increase in breast fetishism, and atypical paraphilia.[17]

In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much cleavage exposure is acceptable in public.[18] In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose her breasts depends on social and cultural context. Displaying cleavage or any part of female breast may be considered inappropriate or even prohibited by dress codes in some settings, such as workplaces, churches, and schools, while in some spaces showing as much cleavage as possible can be permissible or even encouraged. The exposure of nipples or areolae is almost always considered immodest and in some instances is viewed as lewd or indecent behavior.[19] Art historian James Laver argued that the changing standards of revealing cleavage is more prominent in evening wear than in day wear in the Western world.[20]

There is a widespread fascination with women's breasts, and especially their size.[21] For example, film producers such as Russ Meyer produced films which featured actresses with large breasts. Lorna (1964) was the first of his films where the main female part was selected on the basis of breast size. Other large breasted actresses used by Meyer include Kitten Natividad, Erica Gavin, Lorna Maitland, Tura Satana, and Uschi Digard among many others. The majority of them were naturally large breasted and he occasionally cast women in their first trimesters of pregnancy as it enhanced their breast size even further.[22] Author and director William Rotsler said: "with Lorna Meyer established the formula that made him rich and famous, the formula of people filmed at top hate, top lust, top heavy."[23]

In clinical literature of the 19th century, the focus on breasts was considered a form of paraphillia, but in modern times this interest is considered normal. Some have attributed the use of tight clothing and the display of cleavage to the increase in so-called breast fetishism.[17] The phrase is also used within ethnographic and feminist contexts to describe a society with a culture devoted to breasts, usually as sexual objects.[17][24]

See also

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References

  1. ^ Hickey, Eric W. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Murder and Violent Crime. Sage Publications Inc. ISBN 0-7619-2437-X
  2. ^ Association, American Psychiatric (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders American Psychiatric Association - 5th edition (5th ed. ed.). Arlington: AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC PUBLISHING. ISBN 978-0890425558. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Latteier 1998, p. 117
  4. ^ Desmond Morris. Manwatching. A Field Guide to Human Behavior.. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1977. ISBN 0-8109-1310-0.
  5. ^ Crawford, Charles; Krebs, Dennis (1998), "How Mate Choice Shaped Human Nature", Handbook of evolutionary psychology : ideas, issues, and applications, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, ISBN 9780805816662
  6. ^ Marsden, Paul. (1999). Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation. Review of Thought Contagion: How Belief Spreads through Society. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  7. ^ The First Sex: The Breast Fetish (1971) by Davis, Elizabeth Gould. Penguin Books, p. 105.
  8. ^ Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide (2000) by Slade, Joseph W. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-31520-6, p. 402.
  9. ^ Miller, Laura. (2006). Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics. p. 74. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24509-9
  10. ^ Latteier 1998
  11. ^ Morrison, D. E., & Holden, C. P. (1971). "The Burning Bra: The American Breast Fetish and Women's Liberation". In Deviance and Change, Manning, P.K. ed., Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall.
  12. ^ secondary sex characteristics
  13. ^ Kinsey, Alfred C. et al. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Saunders, 1948.
  14. ^ Dr. Ted Eisenberg and Joyce K. Eisenberg, The Scoop on Breasts: A Plastic Surgeon Busts the Myths, eBooks2go, 2012, ISBN 9780985724931
  15. ^ Ashlea Worrel, An Examination of Women's Body Image and Sexual Satisfaction, page 15, ProQuest, 2008, ISBN 9780549651444
  16. ^ "National Cleavage Day" on Wonderbra.co.za
  17. ^ a b c Glazier & Flowerday 2003, p. 58
  18. ^ Salmansohn, Karen (October 29, 2007). "The Power of Cleavage". The Huffington Post.
  19. ^ D. Leder, The Body in Medical Thought and Practice, page 223, Springer Science & Business Media, 1992, ISBN 9780792316572
  20. ^ Carter, Michael Fashion classics from Carlyle to Barthes, page 732, Berg Publishers, 2003, ISBN 1-85973-606-8
  21. ^ Yeung, Peter. "The female artists reclaiming their bodies". Dazed. Retrieved 20 November 2014. The fetishisation of womens' bodies and their regular reduction to breasts is something that New York artist Cindy Hinant is acutely aware of
  22. ^ Meyer, Russ (2000). A Clean Breast: The Life and Loves of Russ Meyer (3 volume set). (Under the pseudonym "Adolph Albion Schwartz"). El Rio, TX: Hauck Pub Co. ISBN 0-9621797-2-8.
  23. ^ McDonough, Jimmy (2005). Big bosoms and square jaws : the biography of Russ Meyer, king of the sex film. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-07250-1., p.138
  24. ^ Evans, Phil. (1989). Motivation and Emotion. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-01475-1, p. 34.

Further reading

  • Bass, Alan. (2000). Difference and Disavowal: The Trauma of Eros, The Part Object. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3828-9.
  • Bonder, Bette; Laura Martin; Miracle, Andrew W (2002), Culture in clinical care, Slack, ISBN 9781556424595
  • Block, Susan (2004), "Covering Justice: Ashcroft's Breast Fetish", in Cockburn, Alexander; St Clair, Jeffrey (eds.), Serpents in the garden : liaisons with culture & sex, CounterPunch, ISBN 9781902593944
  • Carey, Kimberly (1997-05-25). "Breast Enlargement Fantasy a Big Burden to Bear". Chicago Tribune. p. 6. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  • Davis, Elizabeth Gould (1971), The First Sex: The Breast Fetish, New York, Putnam, OCLC 206443
  • Draitser, Emil. (1999). Making war, not love: gender and sexuality in Russian humour. The Breast Fetish (pg. 29). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-22129-0.
  • Evans, Phil. (1989). Motivation and Emotion. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-01475-1.
  • Glazier, Stephen D.; Flowerday, Charles (2003), Selected Readings in the Anthropology of Religion: Theoretical and Methodological Essays, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9780313300905
  • Hickey, Eric W. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Murder and Violent Crime. Sage Publications Inc. ISBN 0-7619-2437-X.
  • Latteier, Carolyn (1998), Breasts: The Women's Perspective on an American Obsession, Haworth Press, ISBN 9780789004222
  • Marsden, Paul. (1999). Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation. Review of "Thought Contagion: How Belief Spreads through Society".. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  • McConaghy, Nathaniel. (1993). Sexual Behavior: Problems and Management. Springer (Publisher). ISBN 0-306-44177-2.
  • Miller, Laura. (2006). Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24509-1.
  • Miner, Horace Mitchell. (June 1956). wikisource:Body Ritual among the Nacirema, from American Anthropologist, vol 58.
  • Moreck, Curt. (1965). Breast fetishism. International Press of Sexology. ASIN B0007HAEES
  • Morris, Desmond. (1967). The Naked Ape. Jonathan Cape.
  • Morrison, D. E., and C. P. Holden. (1971). The Burning Bra: The American Breast Fetish and Women's Liberation. In Deviance and Change, ed. P.K. Manning. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall.
  • Slade, Joseph W. (2000). Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-31520-5
  • Tovar, Virgie. 2007. Destination DD: Adventures of a Breast Fetishist with 40DDs. Sexy Advisors Press. ISBN 0-9788699-4-X
  • Wijsbek, Henri (2000). "The pursuit of beauty: The enforcement of aesthetics or a freely adopted lifestyle?". Journal of Medical Ethics. 26 (6): 454–459. doi:10.1136/jme.26.6.454. PMC 1733316. PMID 11129847.
  • WikiWLP. White Lightning Productions. "The Magnificent Milkmaid". accessed 2007-10-12.
  • Yalom, Marilyn. 1997. A History of the Breast. pub. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-43459-3.
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