Men can’t help being obsess with breasts?

Due to the rise in breasts implants in the past couple of years, I begun to wonder if men are to blame. Before you guys get angry or think I’m a man hater, just hear me out first. Based on what I have seen, read and observe on the social media and magazines, it seems that the majority of men love big breasted women and women in turn have cater to their “needs” or “obsession” by getting implants. According to an article from Huff Post,”American Bra Size Average Increases…” average bra size has jumped from a 34B 20 years ago to a 34DD in 2013. Weight gain and breast implants have played a role in the increase. I have to agree with Huff that there have been a rise in breast implants even among my ethnic group the Laotian Americans. For example, I have lost count of the number of Laotian women on Facebook who have gotten breasts enlargement. Even the younger generations of Lao women are getting breast implants. This new fad is sweeping the Laotian community like wildfire and the men seem to encourage it by the comments they make on Facebook. So now breast implants seem to be the norm not the exception in the Laotian community. I have always said that women should do what makes them happy. However,I’m still shock at how many Laotian women feel the need to get breast implants. It seems like it’s almost a competition among the various group of women I have seen and the men are eating it up.

Back to the real reason of this post which is why men are obsessed with breasts big or small. According to Huff Post article, Breasts: The Real Reason Men Love Them, “There’s only one neurological explanation, and it has to do with brain mechanisms that promote the powerful bond of a mother to her infant.” This bond is formed through breast feeding where the mother “imprints” the child. According to the article,”Oxytocin, acting in concert with dopamine, also helps imprint the newborn’s face, smell and sounds in the mother’s reward circuitry, making nursing and nurturing a feel-good experience, motivating her to keep doing it and forging the mother-infant bond. This bond is not only the most beautiful of all social bonds, it can also be the most enduring, lasting a lifetime.” So basically when the child is touching, ‘manipulating’ the mother’s breasts, a chemical called oxytocin is triggered which then releases the milk. That is the best I can explain it. So
based on this information I am going to assume that men who are breastfeed are more fascinated or obsessed of breasts because of that earlier “imprinting” and bond they had form with their mothers? Makes me it the men who were breast fed as a child are more obsessed with breasts.

Breast implants on the rise

According to the article, ” A Decade of Boosting Breast Size” by Tara Parker Pope of the New York Times,  “Breast implant operations have surged 40 percent in the past decade, with nearly 300,000 women last year opting to increase their breast size”. These operations include lifts and not just implants. Interesting the author noted that, “By contrast, nose jobs, liposuction and lip augmentation are all on the decline”.  This makes me wonder what is responsible for the shift? Is it because big boobs will draw more attention than a nose or lip job or liposuction? Is there more emphasis put on big boobs as the ideal feature? At least that’s what it seems like based on commercials, print ads, movies, magazines, and TV shows. We seem to be constantly inundated with images of big breasted women.

Breast implants among the Laotian women seem to be on the rise as well. Before it was nose jobs and now that obsession has been replaced by breast implants. While our nose has gotten smaller our boobs have gotten bigger! Which surgery changes our ethnic look more? I’m sure many people would say rhinoplasty changes our face more than breast implants. However, increasing our breast size dramatically seems to make us seem less  unique and more like khon kao. Of course, I know breast comes in different sizes for all people, but the rise of fake boobs in the Lao community seems sad somehow? Why are more Lao woman getting breast implants? I’m not here to judge, just want to understand because when I was a teen, I never saw one Lao person with breast implants. Are Lao women likely to have breast implants because:

1. It makes them feel more attractive

2. They do it because they think it will get them more attention

3. They do it because of negative experiences from past relationships

4. Are they getting more pressure from Lao men to have bigger breast?

Ladies, if you are going to bet breast implants, do it for yourself and not because someone wants you to.

Breast cancer and Laotian women

She said, ” Take your blouse off and put this on.” I hesistated briefly before complying and shrugging off my shirt and putting on the temporary “shirt” as the radiologic technologist stepped out to give me some privacy. Then she came back in as she was about to explain the mammogram procedure, she stopped and looked at me and said, ” You look familiar to me”  in which I replied, ” Well I should because we had a parent conference about your son a month ago. I’m part of the child study team.”  Recognization dawned and she said, ” Oh… you also had my daughter last year!”  At this  point, in our conversation, I decided, having my ex-student’s mom giving me a mammogram is a little awkward, but not unexpected because I normally either see former students or recent students or their relatives out in public.  At that moment I decided, I can’t afford to be embarrassed or shy since it is a procedure I needed to get done. I can’t very well stand there the whole day hiding my boobs with my hands and prevent her from doing her job! So I tamper down my embarrassment and listened as she explain what was going to happen. During this time, I kept thinking about how if I was embarrass about this procedure, how would my mom feel or other Laotian women.

As she proceeded to explain the procedure to me, she nonchantly taped a bead on each of my nipples. She explained what they were for but I have since forgotten or maybe I blocked it out since it is a little awkward that my ex-student ‘s mom touching my boobs no matter how professional she was. Throughout the whole procedure she was very professional and good at her job. In between the little steps we talked and laughed at the mundane things. At the end she told me I did an awesome job listening and following direction. I told her, I didn’t want to look bad since I am a teacher. Joking aside, if it was my mother getting the procedure done and the technician was explaining to her what was going to happen; my mother would not understand. She would just smile, nod her head. I believe that many Laotian women who are not familiar with the language, would not be able to ask questions.

I tell this story because even I as a young woman who grew up in America, is still comfortable with exposing my body to a medical professional. I can only imagine, how embarrassing this procedure is to the older Laotian women, like my mother’s generation.  Most young Laotian women who has lived most of her life here in the U.S. is quite aware of breast cancer and the importance of doing a self-exam. However, the older generations may not feel comfortable with touching their breasts to look for lumps or know what to look for. Due to culture, they are not as comfortable as American women or knowledge about the preventive measures they can take such as self examination and early detection. I know my mom does not go get an annual pap smear or mammogram because she hates going to the doctor. Since I am concern with the health of Laotian women, I am going to work with my LANA board member on translating breast cancer and other health related issues into Lao in hopes that more women will do breast examination.

For more information about mammograms please go to: http://www.medicinenet.com/mammogram/article.htm