Wednesday 28 November 2012

A to Z: Breasts

To start with I wrote this about breasts, however now it's more about body shape in general, with a heavy lean towards breasts.
There are many differences between men and women, both mentally and physically however one of the most obvious visual ones body shape, and a major element in feminine body shape are breasts.

Now, I am going to start this by saying that breasts cause some big issues for not trans women, including occasionally trying to kill their owners. They can be too big, too small, irregular, sagging or simply just not right for the woman in question as well as many other issues. I don't think I know many women who aren't that thrilled with the pair they were born with; and a few who have decided to seek a solution but with varying results.

All of these issues can have massive effects including mood, sexual identity, self confidence, and prejudice. I'm not going to go into great detail because as I mentioned before I'm not writing a feminist blog. But it's enough to say that women with larger breasts often get more male attention than they might want, and women with small breasts can often suffer from bigotry, being seen as somehow less female than their more endowed compatriots. There is a lot more to talk about on that topic but I'm not going to pretend that I have some deep insight into something that I don't.
What I'm trying to say is that there are a lot of different body shapes out there without staying into those between the genders. Having small (or no) breasts doesn't make you masculine; they are just one element in body shape. Body shape seems to have a greater effect how people perceive the genders compared to the abundance or lack of breasts. People often rely on breasts as a first pass test for gender; often to relatively success due to social norms breasts often equates to female. 

However, the rabbit hole goes deeper. The perception of gender is often binary since we are a biologically two distinct genders. There is a lot to go into about gender identity for the individual, but just from the viewers perspective it's a minefield of (often unconscious assessment and reassessment, and while societies are moving to remove prejudice I don't think that this subtle analysis of gender will disappear.

Effectively we are driven by our biological desire to procreate; knowing if something is either a potential mate, or is a potential competitor is kind of hard coded into us. There is no single element that makes a person appear either gender ... that said breast are often somewhat of a give away, but sometimes lead to misconceptions.  

Anyway; back to the breasts at hand, as it were.

Personally, breasts are an important part of the transition towards female. I have quite a male body shape; I'm effectively a rectangle with legs. Having breasts helps me see myself as female and thus makes me feel more feminine and therefore I tend to move and act so. However, looking back at photos they don't really seem to add to my form that much, obviously different outfits effect how they appear.
I've had 2 pairs of breast forms in my time (well technically 3 because of damage in transit). The first pair were approximately size C's with a sticky back, overall they were ok, over time the sticky backing became less sticky and kind of messy. They were also not a great size on me, being a touch small. The 2nd pair were a Christmas presents from Izzy, they are more like C to D and don't have a sticky backing; however they did come with some double sided tape, I am relatively happy with them but it's taking some time to get use to them and find the right bar size.

The other day at a party someone asked me if I was wearing them, then looked at my chest and went "oh! yes you are! I kind of forgot they were there since I'm so use to them being there" which was interesting because when I'm wearing them I find it very hard to get comfortable with them being there, both physically and mentally. I've never spent a lot of time wearing them in a normal environment so I've never really go use to them being there at all, they're also not the most comfortable things in the world.

Having fake breasts is really rather limiting in what I can wear, for example as much as I'd love to wear strapless dresses (even though they would make my shoulders look even bigger) I can't since fake breasts don't actually connect to the body and thus I wouldn't have anything to hold the dress in place. I also have the untidy join where the fake breasts meet my chest, which means I have to cover up that join. I have the same issue with corsets, however I can get away with it if I wear a top underneath, or have a halter-neck style corset. Cleavage however is right out of the question however.
With that said, high necklines and tops that cover my shoulders flatter my figure even though I'm not a massive fan of them. halter-necks are supposedly the worst thing to wear if you want to minimize your shoulders.

At the end of the day wearing breasts makes me feel and act move feminine, putting them on somewhat marks the transition from male to female for me, since they are really the only thing I have that reads as woman, rather than a man in a dress, at least that's how I feel about it. I should consider wearing them more casually to try and get use to them.

There are many questions regarding acquiring real breasts, for instance hormones and implants, but that's for later. What I will say now is that I really wish they would come up with some fake breasts you can feel though, partly so I can tell when people are having a feel me without me noticing ... which is somewhat strange but hey, I love my friends!

Also, have a gif because someone said they wanted to see animation.

1 comment:

  1. Hi! You may not remember me, I was president of the anime society before Izzy :) Followed the link to this from a mutual friend, and just wanted to say I'm enjoying the A-Z so far - it's interesting to see things through other perspectives.

    With regards to breasts, yeah, finding someone happy with their boobs is nigh on impossible. My Mum has a fake 'chicken fillet' to supplement the half boob she lost to cancer, and has similar problems with finding clothes that mask its fakeness. You can get high 'sweetheart' necklines that can work quite well - they cover the top of your boobs but are otherwise like regular halter/low-neck tops. It's really a knack finding things that suit though, and I'd imagine you'd have more trouble with that than she does. Alternatively there are bandau tops/bras that you could wear underneath halters or other tops that cover the chest but leave shoulders uncovered. Also, fistbump for broad shoulders. I can't wear halters without looking like a linebacker ><;;

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