Why Men Love Breasts So Much

Popular media represents the most attractive female form as reed-thin, almost anorexic figures. This is curiously in contrast to the fuller female figure that many men profess to find more desirable – figures that have a well-shaped bust. If you too belong to the group of women who have thrown up their hands in exasperation and demanded, “what is it with men and breasts”, here are a few things you may wish to ponder on.

But before delving into the heterosexual male psyche and its complexities, it may be worth considering a few ways in which the process of sexual attraction among humans differs from other mammals and is almost unique. From the viewpoint of biology, women are the only female mammals whose breasts become enlarged at puberty, independent of pregnancy while men are the only male mammals who are attracted to breasts in a sexual context. Little wonder then that humans are the only species in which males caress, fondle and even orally stimulate the female breasts during foreplay and sex. One of the ways this has been explained is by the fact that humans are one of the rare species among primates that have face-to-face sex and thus foreplay focuses on the breasts. Most primates have sex with the male entering from behind. This may explain why some female monkeys display elaborate rear-end advertising. In humans, thus breasts became larger to mimic the contours of a woman's rear and attract mates as a prelude to engaging in face-to-face sex.

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The fascination of men for full-breasted women has been explained in terms of evolution science. The purpose of a female figure, it needs to be remembered, is not first and foremost to gratify male desire. The female body rather has evolved around the primary purpose of bearing and nurturing children. Fuller breasts like rounded hips and a wide waist are indicative of the reproductive function of the female body. In fact, the continuing male desire for curvier women is a throwback to the primitive times when the ability to successfully bear and nurture children was a prime consideration for men choosing their mates. Since the very survival of the group and indeed the species depended upon the females successfully bringing up their offspring, men would go for partners with fuller figures which indicated a greater success rate in bearing and nurturing children. While contemporary men do not see their wives and girlfriends as mere bearers of their progeny, the ancient concerns continue to inform - even though subconsciously - their physical preference in potential partners.

This however does not explain why men continue to be attracted to breasts in times when the recreational aspect of mating has superseded the procreational aspect. Also despite the majority of heterosexual men expressing a partiality for curvier female figures, female breasts in themselves continue to attract men, no matter of what size. Also If the main goal of sex -- evolutionarily speaking -- is to pass along one's genes, it would make more sense for men to have sex with as many women as possible, regardless of whether or not they sported a curvaceous figure. These concerns have been addressed in modern research, an example of which is the book titled The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction, authored by Larry Young Ph.D and Brian Alexander¹. The book posits a neurological explanation for men’s fascination with breasts, one which has to do with brain mechanisms that promote the powerful bond of a mother to her infant. The whole neurobiological process of breastfeeding is very complex and researchers admit, still not fully understood by science. Broadly though this is how it works – upon its birth, a newborn instinctively engages in some kind manipulations of its mother's breasts, part of which is known as latching. This stimulation of her breasts by her baby’s mouth and fingers sends signals along nerves and into the brain of the mother. There, the signals trigger the release of a neurochemical called oxytocin, from the brain's hypothalamus. This oxytocin release in turn stimulates smooth muscles in a woman's breasts to eject milk, making it possible for her baby to nurse.

However oxytocin has purposes other than simply let-down of the milk in a breastfeeding woman. Also known as the love hormone, oxytocin plays a primal role in establishing the mother-infant bond. When oxytocin is released at the baby's instigation, the attention of the mother focuses on her baby. The infant becomes the most important thing in the world. Together with another feel-good neurochemical, Oxytocin helps imprint the newborn's face, smell and sounds in the mother's reward circuitry, making nursing and nurturing a soothing and rewarding experience, motivating her to keep doing it so as to ensure the baby’s survival.

According to Young and Alexander, it is this establishing of the bond as a result of breast stimulation and consequent release of oxytocin that lies at the heart of the male attraction to the breasts of a woman. When a partner touches, massages or nibbles a woman's breasts, it sparks the same series of brain events as nursing. Oxytocin focuses the brain's attention to the partner's face, smell, and voice. The combination of oxytocin release from breast stimulation, and the surge of dopamine from the excitement of foreplay and face-to-face sex, help create an association of the lover's face and eyes with the pleasurable feelings, building a bond in the women's brain. The importance of the building of the bond is better understood in context of evolutionary biology – while the female human can mate with any other male to produce offspring and ensure continuation of species, the bonding with a particular mate is necessary so that he can take care of her as well as the prospective offspring and thus ensure their survival amidst hostile conditions. Even in later stages of human history, this bonding continued to be important as in the cultural context of patriarchy, it ensured a father’s name and familial identity for the offspring. In modern times, this bonding is understood by the more familiar term of love or for the cynics, sexual attraction.

Reference:

1. Huff Post - Breasts: The Real Reason Men Love Them