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Women's body knowledge gap: Seven facts about the female breast

18.12.2023

Translation: machine translated

Art, culture, career: the female breast has always caused excitement, red heads and some controversy. The educational series enters the next round: find out here what you should know about the female breast.

Breasts. Hardly any other body part is more celebrated in art, culture and everyday life than the female bosom. They are probably the most popular secondary sexual characteristic - and yet you probably know remarkably little about them.

The female body is many things, but it is not a place of science and enlightenment. It's as if mystification is part of the female allure. You may have an inkling of what's to come: After the clitoris, the Vulva and menstruation is followed by the female breast - in seven facts.

Asymmetrical, mysterious, powerful: everything you need to know about the female breast

Why is one breast often bigger than the other? How many litres of milk can they produce per day and what the heck is a nipple orgasm? I'm here to quench your thirst for knowledge:

1. humans are the only mammals to always have visible breasts

The female breast will not only drive you crazy, but also scientists. Because while other mammals only carry their breasts around with them during pregnancy and breastfeeding, humans are blessed with an obvious cleavage from sexual maturity onwards. The only question is: why?

One of the oldest scientific theories comes from the British scientist Desmond Morris. In his 1967 book "The Naked Ape", the zoologist was convinced that the upright gait had caused the female's bum cheeks, which in primates are an invitation to sex, to disappear from the male's field of vision. So nature came up with curves at eye level as a new lure - and the female breast was born. According to Morris, breasts are the visual substitute for buttocks.

Well, men and their theories about the female body ... That's why the next theory is coming soon: this time from the Israeli biologist Amotz Zahavi, who presented the handicap principle almost ten years after Morris. To summarise, he claimed that those who manage to assert themselves in evolutionary terms despite this unnecessary, energy-intensive body part demonstrate great reproductive fitness. The plumper the cleavage, the more genetically valuable the woman. Doubts from experts have been have been voiced several times, including the disarming criticism: Handicaps have never prevailed in natural selection. Touché.

Instead, we now know that breast shape and size have nothing to do with a woman's fertility. One of the more recent theories comes from anthropologist Gillian Bentley: she hypothesised that the protruding shape of the female breast evolved with the shape of the human face, which is relatively flat compared to primates. This would make breastfeeding easier, as she is quoted in an article in the New Scientist.

In her book "Woman: An Intimite Geography", science journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Natalie Angier comes to another conclusion: the female breast was created by chance and serves nothing more than human pleasure in aesthetics.

Whether sexual or reproductive approaches: The question of why evolution blessed humans with breasts remains unanswered for the time being.

2. breasts swell by up to 25 per cent during orgasm

Breasts are not only beautiful to look at, they are also always ready for a surprise. They actually change all the time. This is due to their anatomy: in principle, breasts are made up of glandular and fatty tissue, blood vessels, nerves and lymphatic vessels. You can find an anatomical illustration of the breast structure here. The glandular tissue in particular changes dynamically over the course of a woman's life - mostly due to the influence of hormones.

Your breasts don't even keep their shape and size for one menstrual cycle. If the oestrogen level rises in the first half of the cycle, the growth of the milk ducts (in preparation for a potential pregnancy) is simulated and the breast swells. In the second half of the cycle, the hormone progesterone takes over and causes the mammary glands to change, which leads to the familiar breast tenderness.

The breasts undergo the biggest changes during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Every pregnancy announces itself very early with a change in the breast: it gains volume, the nipple and areola change colour and size, the existing mammary glands swell and new milk lobules form. During the menopause, the female hormones finally reduce and the breasts lose their elasticity, shape and size - the once plump breasts sag.

A piquant fact: during orgasm, the breasts swell by 15 to 25 per cent. At least that's what the research team William Masterson and Virginia Johnson claim in their four-stage model of sexual response. The reason for this is apparently the increased blood flow in the body. All the more reason to endeavour to achieve a female orgasm. The next point reveals how to achieve this.

3. 12 per cent of women experience nipple orgasms

The breast is an important erogenous zone for women. And while penetrative sex doesn't even bring a quarter of them close to the finish line, up to 12 per cent of all women experience orgasms through the stimulation of erogenous zones outside of their genital region alone. Including the nipple orgasm.

Studies prove this: Breast and nipple stimulation can lead to sexual arousal and even orgasm. A study by Istanbul University shows why this is the case. Apparently, stimulation of the nipples activates the same area of the brain as stimulation of the vulva: the genital cortex.

4. 6000 new cases of breast cancer in Switzerland every year

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women: In Switzerland alone, there are almost 6500 new cases every year.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are as many as 2.3 million diagnoses per year worldwide. Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast tissue multiply uncontrollably. Malignant tumours usually develop in the glandular part of the breast, often in the outer area between the armpit and collarbone.

Palpaging yourself regularly helps you to get to know your breasts well and recognise changes at an early stage. You can find out how palpation works at home here.

While breast cancer is still the main cause of female cancer deaths in many parts of the world, the risk of death has already been drastically reduced in high-income countries such as Switzerland.

5. the left breast is usually larger than the right

What you will also have noticed when you take a closer look at your bust size: Your breasts are different sizes. Unlike spontaneous changes, this is nothing to worry about. In fact, the two halves of your body are not 100 per cent symmetrical.

Statistically, there is a clear pattern: according to a Swiss study, the left breast is larger than the right in 62 per cent of women - regardless of age and origin. Why this is the case seems to be another mystery of the female body. There are speculations that most women prefer to breastfeed their child on the left side and that this side can therefore produce more milk than the right.

6. one litre of milk a day

How much milk this is varies from woman to woman. One thing is certain: Your breasts are capable of true peak performance during breastfeeding. The average woman can produce up to one litre of milk a day for her child. If you follow the recommended breastfeeding duration of up to two years, this amounts to around 730 litres of breast milk per child.

An incredible feat that not only provides the child with all the necessary nutrients in the first few months, but also strengthens the immune system and protects against allergies and intestinal infections. But don't worry: women who can't or don't want to breastfeed can also raise healthy children. You can find instructions for healthy bottle feeding here.

7. women with large breasts are considered unfaithful and stupid

I want to finish with an exciting fact: what sounds like a stereotype from the century before last actually comes from a recent study:

A total of 265 women and men were asked to evaluate women's bodies (including breast size). Women and men were shockingly unanimous in their findings: large breasts are still associated with high fertility, good breastfeeding ability, promiscuity and an overall higher sexual desire. They are also associated with infidelity and low intelligence. Women with small breasts were categorised as less attractive.

And there's more: according to a study on the relationship between breast size and job success, women with smaller breast size are more likely to be promoted to management positions than women with a large bust size.

Cover photo: shutterstock

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Olivia Leimpeters-Leth

Autorin von customize mediahouse

oliver.fischer@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm a sucker for flowery turns of phrase and allegorical language. Clever metaphors are my Kryptonite – even if, sometimes, it's better to just get to the point. Everything I write is edited by my cat, which I reckon is more «pet humanisation» than metaphor. When I'm not at my desk, I enjoy going hiking, taking part in fireside jamming sessions, dragging my exhausted body out to do some sport and hitting the occasional party.

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