FREUD WOULD BE SO PROUD.
Thanks to our burgeoning pair bond, we were married in the spring.
I am so fucking sick of hearing about oxytocin.
“Ooh, it’s the love hormone!” I can just imagine some CBS studio exec saying in the next few years or so. “Let’s build a show around a hot, stressed-out lady lawyer who’s an oxytocin addict!” Cue all the accidental bonding and evolutionarily-made-for-each-other shenanigans. Barf.
Seriously, though. It seems like I’d only been having sex for about a minute before I started hearing about oxytocin release like it was this patch of quicksand you had to dodge before the one-night-stand finish line. All the science-lite magazines of 2008 were reprinting stories that said things like, “Oxytocin’s released when you orgasm, so you must not cuddle, lest you risk pair bonding for-ev-errrr.”
I have literally never been able to have a mutually pleasurable encounter since without thinking of the oxytocin-dopamine cocktail flooding my brain-space. In case you’re wondering, this doesn’t make for the sexiest pillow talk.
Now, oxytocin release is being used to justify why many men are attracted to large breasts. According to the authors of a new book entitled “The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction,” cis women’s brains release a flood of oxytocin when their babies suckle, which in turn enables them to form the kinds of super-intense psychic mother-infant bond that leads them to vow hypothetical murder on their children's behalf.
Men, on the other hand, experience no such hormone release. However, the dudes of our ancient history apparently figured out that stimulating a women’s breast tissue, even if she’s not nursing, will release a similar flood of hormones. Then all he has to do is stare lovingly into his mate’s eyes, and wham! Mother…child…partner-bond.
Does anyone else feel super creepy about this?
I mean, for one thing, it’s just kind of incorrect. Sure, oxytocin is released when children nurse. But it’s also released when mothers give birth. When dudes pet their poodles (not a euphemism). When anyone looks at the color blue. It’s not as if men have developed an evolutionary mechanism for wearing blue condoms just in case women might feel more inclined to pair bond with them that way.
For another, pair bonding is not the only effect that oxytocin has on people. It can also send people into fits of jealous rage, heal their wounds more quickly, and inhibit their cognitive function. If convincing a woman to agree to a monogamous future is a man’s only subconscious motivation for pre-coffee second base, he’d better make damn sure she’s not taking any standardized tests after breakfast.
Plus, you know when else oxytocin is released and people are facing each other? The missionary position. I don’t know why breasts even had to come into it.
As Heather Corinna brilliantly writes on Scarleteen, “If we're going to give credence to one of the ways oxytocin has been shown it does or may work, we have to give equal weight to all the other ways it has been shown to or may work.” In other words, focusing on the lovey-dovey shit to suggest that big breasts are a heterosexuality-driven shoo-in for the ring-and-the-kids is just lazy, junky science.
On top of that, I have to wonder: why bother asking? It seems like our dedicated researching brethren have been trying in increasingly creepy ways to nail down why men love breasts for years. Most, like the recent one about breast stimulation releasing nursing hormones, seem to reach the conclusion that it’s because they’re symbolic of fertility. Which, okay. Trailing your menses everywhere once a month seems like the most obvious indicator of fertility there is, but I don’t see anybody dragging themselves around like a blood-slug in an effort to attract a mate.
Other studies have suggested that the curvature of breasts developed to echo the roundness of our asses, which in turn are supposedly reminiscent of the way monkeys have sex from behind. I am not kidding. Honestly, all of these make me want to wear one of those rainbow gym class parachutes as a casual smock, lest anyone mistake my armpit fat or knee creases for the enticing plushness of a primate ass in disguise.
Ultimately, these studies rob everyone involved of their agency. They portray cis women as uterus-clogged baby machines, carefully bred over years of evolutionary tweakage to present their best, most genetically viable selves to potential mates. They also tend to give the impression that men are helpless in the thrall of a perceptibly fertile woman, like an hourglass figure is a black hole where conscious decisions go to die.
They’re also incredibly generalizing: I know plenty of men, for example, who just aren’t that into boobs. According to this study, that probably makes them doomed to be non-monogamous forever. And as for we small-titted women, well, I guess I’ll say goodbye to those three-kids-and-a-Jack-Russell dreams I’ve been hiding away in the corner of my heart-box.
And, of course, they’re almost always limited to cisgendered, heterosexual couples. I myself have a marked appreciation for large boobs. Am I secretly monogamous underneath this hard-shelled polyamorous exterior? Or does it not count, since I’ve got a pair of my own?
At the end of the day, it probably won’t keep the world from turning if we stopped conducting studies getting to the root cause of attraction to certain body parts. The crotch wants what the crotch wants, no matter what science says. And unless you’re planning on opening up a Hooter’s franchise soon, who the fuck cares, right?
Hot sauce can also cause oxytocin release, which is why Kate wants everyone on Twitter to be her boyfriend RIGHT NOW. Follow her @katchatters.
http://www.xojane.com/sex/men-like-big-breasts-because-women-like-feeling-maternal
Study Shows Breastfeeding Has Anti-Aging Effect on Breast Appearance
POSTED BY CERIDWEN
Who cares about reduced ear infections and handful of IQ points? It turns out breastfeeding has another, far more superficial perk: an anti-aging effect on your breasts.
A study of identical twins suggests that breastfeeding, daily moisturizing and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) enhance the appearance of a woman’s breasts while smoking, drinking, high BMI, large cup size and multiple pregnancies can do the opposite.
The study, called “”Determinants of Breast Appearance and Aging in Twins,” was published this week in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
Researchers studied the breast appearance and lifestyles of 161 sets of female twins between the ages of 25-74.
“It’s very rare that both twins have been through the same exact environmental factors throughout life,”said study author, plastic surgeon Hooman T. Soltanian “The idea was that they have the same [breasts] from a genetic standpoint. If we see a difference, it’s more likely to be environmental factors.”
Women were interviewed about pregnancies, HRT, beauty routines, sun exposure, bras and other pertinent issues. Then their breasts were photographed and evaluated by “independent reviewers” for attractiveness. (Though breast attractiveness is obviously subjective, generally speaking they were looking at perkiness, shape, skin tone and areola size.) Then they looked at the data and tried to figure out what was helping and what wasn’t. Moisturizing seemed to come up pretty quickly as a good thing. HRT after menopause seemed to help.
But the big surprise was the positive effect of nursing. The word on the street is that breastfeeding is the kiss of death when it comes to breasts’ perkiness. In this study, however, the skin quality of breasts was better and firmer in the women who had nursed.
“All these twins did not breast-feed without being pregnant and pregnancy has a negative effect on breast appearance,” he said. “My explanation is that women who breast fed have a different hormonal milieu — sort of like internal hormone replacement. So even though those were disadvantages, they gained some benefit.”
This supports what I’ve always read– though what many women are not told– which is that pregnancy causes breasts to lose elasticity, not breastfeeding. Breastfeeding also helps reduce the risk of breast cancer and other reproductive cancers. I’m always happy to read about how the benefits of breastfeeding go in both directions.
So, here’s to nursing your boobs back to health!
http://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2012/09/05/study-shows-breastfeeding-has-anti-aging-effect-on-breast-appearance/
A study of identical twins suggests that breastfeeding, daily moisturizing and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) enhance the appearance of a woman’s breasts while smoking, drinking, high BMI, large cup size and multiple pregnancies can do the opposite.
The study, called “”Determinants of Breast Appearance and Aging in Twins,” was published this week in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
Researchers studied the breast appearance and lifestyles of 161 sets of female twins between the ages of 25-74.
“It’s very rare that both twins have been through the same exact environmental factors throughout life,”said study author, plastic surgeon Hooman T. Soltanian “The idea was that they have the same [breasts] from a genetic standpoint. If we see a difference, it’s more likely to be environmental factors.”
Women were interviewed about pregnancies, HRT, beauty routines, sun exposure, bras and other pertinent issues. Then their breasts were photographed and evaluated by “independent reviewers” for attractiveness. (Though breast attractiveness is obviously subjective, generally speaking they were looking at perkiness, shape, skin tone and areola size.) Then they looked at the data and tried to figure out what was helping and what wasn’t. Moisturizing seemed to come up pretty quickly as a good thing. HRT after menopause seemed to help.
But the big surprise was the positive effect of nursing. The word on the street is that breastfeeding is the kiss of death when it comes to breasts’ perkiness. In this study, however, the skin quality of breasts was better and firmer in the women who had nursed.
“All these twins did not breast-feed without being pregnant and pregnancy has a negative effect on breast appearance,” he said. “My explanation is that women who breast fed have a different hormonal milieu — sort of like internal hormone replacement. So even though those were disadvantages, they gained some benefit.”
This supports what I’ve always read– though what many women are not told– which is that pregnancy causes breasts to lose elasticity, not breastfeeding. Breastfeeding also helps reduce the risk of breast cancer and other reproductive cancers. I’m always happy to read about how the benefits of breastfeeding go in both directions.
So, here’s to nursing your boobs back to health!
http://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2012/09/05/study-shows-breastfeeding-has-anti-aging-effect-on-breast-appearance/
Breastfeeding Week: breastfeeding facts
Breastfeeding has many proven benefits for both you and your baby, but this doesn’t mean you’ll get the hang of it as soon as your baby is born. In fact it can be quite tricky to master at first, however with a bit of perseverance breastfeeding can become second nature to you both and you’ll never want to stop! It’s National Breastfeeding Week this week (24th-30th June) so we’ve compiled a few breastfeeding facts for you…
-Across the world, less than 40 per cent of babies under the age of six months are exclusively breastfed
-Breastfeeding burns approximately 500 calories a day
-It reduces risks of breast and ovarian cancer later in life, helps women return to their pre-pregnancy weight faster, and lowers rates of obesity.
-Adults who were breastfed as babies often have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol, as well as lower rates of overweight, obesity and type-2 diabetes.
-Breastfeeding aids the uterus returning to original size after birth.
-An average breastfeed last 16 minutes.
-Babies instinctively know how to get your milk quickly and efficiently.
-Your baby controls your breastmilk flow with an instinctive action that includes sucking, swallowing and breathing.
-82% of mothers use a breastpump.
-Breastfeeding exposes your baby to many different tastes and smells.
-In countries were breastfeeding rates are higher, the most common female cancers, ovarian, uterine and breast, are reduced.
-There are more than 4,000 species of mammal, and all breastfeed their young.
-Breastfeeding delays the return of menstrual periods and may aid in spacing pregnancies.
-Breastfeeding creates a strong bond between mother and child.
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