It is a truth universally acknowledged that men, as a broad generalization, enjoy gazing upon the bosoms of fair maidens. Why is this so? One popular belief is that some cultures sexualize human breasts and thus impose lasvicious desire upon the breasts, whereas other cultures regard breasts as no more inherently sexual than any other part of the body.
Is this belief true? Michal Mikolaj Stefanczyk, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Wrocław, and his colleagues recently published an article in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior on the subject.
The scholars examined a tribe in Papua New Guinea for which female toplessness was the norm until recently. The found that men who grew up in times when most women were topless were as fascinated with breasts as men who grew up after toplessness became uncommon.
This evidence suggests that a male interest in breasts is innate and, The Times summarizes, not culturally driven. Yet it is also clear that further research of breasts is necessary and appropriate as a scientific endeavor.
-via Dave Barry | Image by Jimmy Johnson