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  • Breast Size - A Human Anomaly - Science - The Guardian

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    Sorrowdusk
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    The human female breast is anomalous compared to other primates, as it remains large and rounded outside of lactation periods. In other primates, breasts enlarge only during lactation and then reduce in size. It is theorized that human males evolved to prefer women with symmetrical, plump breasts as this indicated phenotypic quality and fertility. Over time, this male preference led to women developing permanently large breasts, unlike other female primates, as a secondary sexual characteristic to attract mates. While breast size may not correlate to milk production, symmetry is a better indicator of health and genetic fitness.

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    The full, plump bosom seen in the human ape is an anomaly. No other primate has a permanent breast. During lactation all the ape species develop a full breast to store milk. In non-human primates (and other mammal species) a full breast is a clear indication the female is suckling young. Not so in humans.

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    Breast Size_ a Human Anomaly _ Science _ the Guardian

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    The human female breast is anomalous compared to other primates, as it remains large and rounded outside of lactation periods. In other primates, breasts enlarge only during lactation and then reduce in size. It is theorized that human males evolved to prefer women with symmetrical, plump breasts as this indicated phenotypic quality and fertility. Over time, this male preference led to women developing permanently large breasts, unlike other female primates, as a secondary sexual characteristic to attract mates. While breast size may not correlate to milk production, symmetry is a better indicator of health and genetic fitness.

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    61 vizualizări2 pagini

    Breast Size - A Human Anomaly - Science - The Guardian

    Încărcat de

    Sorrowdusk
    The human female breast is anomalous compared to other primates, as it remains large and rounded outside of lactation periods. In other primates, breasts enlarge only during lactation and then reduce in size. It is theorized that human males evolved to prefer women with symmetrical, plump breasts as this indicated phenotypic quality and fertility. Over time, this male preference led to women developing permanently large breasts, unlike other female primates, as a secondary sexual characteristic to attract mates. While breast size may not correlate to milk production, symmetry is a better indicator of health and genetic fitness.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Descărcați ca PDF, TXT sau citiți online pe Scribd
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    din 2

     

    Breast size: a human anomaly


    Carole Jahme
    Carole Jahme shines the cold light of evolutionary psychology on readers' problems. This week:
    breast size
    Fri 14 May 2010 06.47 EDT

    From John, a student

    I'm an animal science student and during our mammogenesis lecture a professor brought up the
    obvious, but seemingly overlooked notion of the size of the female human breast. Other species do
    have obvious teats and great apes have breasts, but humans are at the extreme end – obviously not
    all – but it does make one wonder on a selection and genetic level, why?

    Carole replies:

    The full, plump bosom seen in the human ape is an anomaly. No other primate has a permanent
    breast. During lactation all the ape species develop a full breast to store milk. In non-human
    primates (and other mammal species) a full breast is a clear indication the female is suckling
    young. Not so in humans. In addition, females
    in early adolescence can start developing a
    breast before menarche and females maintain
    breasts post menopause, so the full breast is
    not a reliable indicator of fertility. Neither is
    size an indicator of milk production – bigger
    breasts don't necessarily produce more milk. It
    is the symmetry of the breasts that indicates
    the phenotypic quality and fitness of the
    individual female, not the size.

    The sex appeal of rounded female buttocks and


    plump breasts is both universal and unique to
    the human primate1. Fertile women tend not to
    store fat around the abdomen, so the waist of a
    fertile female is usually slimmer than her hips.
    Other female primates do not have fat
    deposited on the rump. For example, the
    female gorilla has a skinny posterior and stores
    fat on her abdomen, as do human males. So it
    has been widely theorised that the plump
    buttock and bosom of modern women are
    sexual ornaments, selected for by ancestral
    males2. Seen from a distance the adult female
    form, either from behind or from the front, can
    be recognised as distinct from the male of the
    Ask Carole: Chimpanzee wearing spectacles Photograph: Public species. An hourglass figure, plus youthfulness,
    Domain would have attracted male hominids looking
    for mating opportunity3. The hourglass figure
    remains attractive to modern males. Over the centuries females attempting to increase their mate
    choice have dressed to exploit this shape (corsets, bustles and wonder bras). If ancestral males
    had not shown a preference for the mutation producing symmetrical, plump bosoms, modern
    women's chests would resemble the flat thoraxes of the other apes.

    Today, plastic surgery is used by some women, particularly those working in the sex industry, to
    enhance bust size and exploit ancient male programming. But the ultimate function of the human
    breast becomes clear only when an infant is born and lactation begins.

    1) Miller, G (2000) The Mating Mind: How sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature.
    Vintage

    2) Moller, AP, Soler, M and Thornhill R (1995) Breast asymmetry, sexual selection, and human
    reproductive success. Ethology and Sociobiology. 16 (3): 207-219

    3) Singh, D (1995) Female health, attractiveness, and desirability for relationships: Role of breast
    asymmetry and waist-to-hip ratio. Ethology and Sociobiology. 16 (6): 465-481

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