A Little Bit of Coconut: the granola Speculates about Big Boobs

Since posting about Public Breastfeeding on my other blog, I've been thinking about why breasts are an object of sexual attraction, and why we have tissue that supports the mammary glands so that they are perky. They don't have to be to function, and usually aren't despite good support after pregnancy and breastfeeding. Besides, bras are a recent invention.

So is birth control.

Women of childbearing age used to spend most of their time either pregnant or nursing. I suspect breastfeeding, since it was far more exclusive and there was overall poorer nutrition, bestowed a much bigger interval between pregnancies than it does in modern women who nurse. I think it would be reasonable to say that except for a young woman who had never been pregnant, a woman of childbearing years who wasn't pregnant was nursing.

And her breasts were likely to be full at least during some points in the day.

So what if perkiness is meant to simulate full breasts, thus telling the prospective mate that here was a woman who provides plenty of milk for her offspring?

Large breasts, of course, aren't necessary for good milk production but they do signal being well fed as well also simulating the full breast of a nursing mother. Being well fed would be a good signal for having robust offspring who would not only benefit in utero, but also from her skill as a food gatherer.

So, two things: ability to produce milk (full breasts) or simulated ability (perky or large breasts) and ability to eat well (large breasts).  ¶ 3:04 PM