Why Do Women Have Breasts?

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 03:53

Stop laughing! I'm serious here. (Well, sort of.)

Think about it for a second. The milk glands/ducts do *not* need the fatty tissues that compose female breasts to do their job, which is to provide nourishment to newborns (and a boost to their immune systems).

So what evolutionary trait drove the development of irrelevant tissues, and why? Females of other Earthly persuasions don't seem to have any problems procreating w/o breasts (but do have the prerequisite milk glands/ducts).

And, no, I'm not drunk.

Gatekeeper

MrFun · June 22, 2003, 03:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Gatekeeper

And, no, I'm not drunk.

Gatekeeper

Yes, you are drunk.

cheers

Urban Ranger · June 22, 2003, 03:55

Females of all higher mammals have breasts (even cows do

). It's just that for apes, they don't have breasts all year around - only humans do. But then, IIRC, humans are the only primates that have sex all year around.

MRT144 · June 22, 2003, 03:56

for men to oggle!

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:00

Quote:

Originally posted by MrFun
Yes, you are drunk.

cheers

No, no. If I were, I'd have to follow 'Poly tradition that dicates the inclusion of rambling sentences, wrongly-spelled words, and other non-sensical stuff.

See, this is the sort of stuff I post when I have nothing better to do on an early Sunday morning (3:01 a.m. CST USA).

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:01

Quote:

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Females of all higher mammals have breasts (even cows do

). It's just that for apes, they don't have breasts all year around - only humans do. But then, IIRC, humans are the only primates that have sex all year around.

Hey, good point. Sex year-round for us. Well, most of us.

Dis · June 22, 2003, 04:03

because breasts would look silly on men?

DanielXY · June 22, 2003, 04:03

Usually in the animal-world the butt is used as the part of the female to atract males. But all those animals walk on 4 feet. While the Butt still has relevance in the Human World it doesnt stick out that much, since Humans walk in standing pos. . Ergo some other thing with the requirment to be very visible in standing pos. had to be invented to atract males...
This is why there are breasts

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:03

Quote:

Originally posted by MRT144
for men to oggle!

Typical teen response! You won't be so flippant when you grow your own pair ... oh, wait, you're a male. Scratch that! (Hopefully.)

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:07

Quote:

Originally posted by Dissident
because breasts would look silly on men?

Heh. I agree, and yet, year in and year out, there are more males choosing to turn into females than females turning male. The female form is nature's "standard" blueprint; the male form is the "aberration," so to speak. Necessary, yes, but an aberration nevertheless.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:08

Quote:

Originally posted by DanielXY
Usually in the animal-world the butt is used as the part of the female to atract males. But all those animals walk on 4 feet. While the Butt still has relevance in the Human World it doesnt stick out that much, since Humans walk in standing pos. . Ergo some other thing with the requirment to be very visible in standing pos. had to be invented to atract males...
This is why there are breasts

Hey, not bad ... **LOL**

MRT144 · June 22, 2003, 04:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Gatekeeper

Typical teen response! You won't be so flippant when you grow your own pair ... oh, wait, you're a male. Scratch that! (Hopefully.)

id get breasts if someone payed me

Dis · June 22, 2003, 04:13

here's another reason

the shape is probably easier for infants to find and grasp onto with their mouths.

watch, I'll get banned for that.

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:16

Quote:

Originally posted by MRT144
id get breasts if someone payed me

Ha! You'd best be careful what you say when on 'Poly in regards to stuff like that. I wouldn't be surprised if someone attempts to take up a collection for you, MRT, and then you'd have to go through with your promise!

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:19

Quote:

Originally posted by Dissident
here's another reason

the shape is probably easier for infants to find and grasp onto with their mouths.

watch, I'll get banned for that.

Aww, I bet Ming's heart will melt when he sees the beautiful picture of motherhood that you posted, Dissident. But then you'd still have to hop rah's heart melts, too.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:20

Oh, I forgot about MtG. He's the wildcard, Dissident.

I suppose Markos is, too. Jeez. Four OT mods ... wild bunch here, I tell ya.

Dis · June 22, 2003, 04:24

I don't want to get banned.

But I feel this is a beautiful thing that shouldn't be censored.

This is an act crucial to the survival of the human race (of course the same thing can be said about sex

). Nothing is more natural. And I chose a picture that did not show too much of the breast, a google search found a lot more revealing ones than this.

But if you look at it, it does not show much of the breast (less than I have seen in bikini pictures and such). And you can't in your right mind say it is a sex act.

So my question is, what rule would I be breaking?

Asher · June 22, 2003, 04:25

Because then it's easier to tell apart male from female.

Ben Kenobi · June 22, 2003, 04:31

Quote:

So my question is, what rule would I be breaking?

The enlightened, 'no hands over naked breasts' rule.

However, the post above is not to titillate, so I don't see Ming intervening.

Though I've been wrong before.

Dis · June 22, 2003, 04:33

ahh but those aren't hands over her breasts are there?

I've always wanted to test that no hands rule

. I have a good picture with a chick with large breasts with just her hair hanging down covering the nipple portion of her breast. But I know better than to post that

MRT144 · June 22, 2003, 04:40

Quote:

Originally posted by Gatekeeper

Ha! You'd best be careful what you say when on 'Poly in regards to stuff like that. I wouldn't be surprised if someone attempts to take up a collection for you, MRT, and then you'd have to go through with your promise!

Gatekeeper

everyone here is a miserly ***** who get their jollies from arguing, not through human emberassement.

Gatekeeper · June 22, 2003, 04:59

Quote:

Originally posted by MRT144
everyone here is a miserly ***** who get their jollies from arguing, not through human emberassement.

Heh. True ... in my three years, four months here I haven't seen anything like that yet. But there's always a first time for everything!

Gatekeeper

(P.S.: Dissident — I'm sure you're safe from Mingapulco. You've got stature here, man, stature!

)

The Mad Monk · June 22, 2003, 05:04

I pledge ten dollars to this noble cause!

Q Classic · June 22, 2003, 05:36

the reason why guys like breasts is the same reason girls like flowers.

they're pretty and they smell nice.

MikeH · June 22, 2003, 05:41

Whoever said "For men to oggle" is right. It's to make them more attractive to men, so more likely to attract a mate.

Solly · June 22, 2003, 08:38

Quote:

Originally posted by Gatekeeper

Heh. I agree, and yet, year in and year out, there are more males choosing to turn into females than females turning male. The female form is nature's "standard" blueprint; the male form is the "aberration," so to speak. Necessary, yes, but an aberration nevertheless.

Gatekeeper

Explain this.

Dr Strangelove · June 22, 2003, 08:48

Actually a portion of the fat that makes up milk does indeed come from the fatty tissue in which the milk glands are embedded. There is however a theory that the breasts are a replacement of the fleshy buttocks sported by female apes during estrus. In apes the buttocks of the female swell during the ovulatory portion of the estrus cycle, and serve to give males notice that the female is ready to breed. Apes mate from the rear. Humans mate from the front, so it is thought that human females lost the swelling buttocks because they're not very prominent in erect walking humans, but then evolved larger frontal breasts to attract mates.

Velociryx · June 22, 2003, 11:23

Doc Strangelove nailed it. For an excellent, exploration into that, read Desmon Morris' "The Naked Ape." (he goes on to say that the same line of thinking is why, even today, there is an almost primal fascination with women painting their lips bright, vibrant shades of red, and why pouty lips are considered "sexy." (I'm sure it won't take most of you but half a second to draw your own conclusions there).

Both this, and the development of fleshy brests were designed to "draw the male's attention 'round to the front" as Morris put it.

As a milk-providing apparatus, the human female breast is actually quite poorly designed, requiring substantial work and risk to human infants (as compared to say, female chimpanzee breasts....thus, they (the breast of the human female) must have evolved with some other purpose in mind.

-=Vel=-

Ecthy · June 22, 2003, 12:35

Quote:

Originally posted by MRT144
for men to oggle!

2nd that. They're there to make them attractive!

Vandal-1 · June 22, 2003, 12:37

They are manippulative are n't they

these females.