Edited by Merril D. Smith

What better time is there to talk about breasts than breast cancer awareness month?

"Boobs. Boobies. Tits. Hooters. Knockers. Jugs. Breasts. 
We celebrate them; we revile them.
They nourish us; they kill us.
They have fascinated us since prehistoric times."
                                                                                                                          - Merril D. Smith

I got this book from my local library. I was tickled pink that Merril, a 5 aces poet IMHO, whose blog I follow, put this encyclopedia together. As well as the Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction and Chronology of Selected Breast Events, she wrote 17 of the entries.

Renewed thrice, I approached it a few pages at a time whenever I lounged in my favourite chaise.

I learned a lot of big medical words, and the physiological and the psychological lessons on the breast that comes with that. I also gleaned a lot about breasts in terms of cultural history from: Art to Wonderbra, Barbie Dolls to Slaves as Wet Nurses, Eating Disorders to Hollywood, Flappers to Mythology and 137 other entries.

This book enlightens with a societal purview, that runs through the ages. As encyclopedic entries give only a general overview, each entry is followed by extra and more detailed reading available on each topic.

This is not a picture book, so don’t run out and get it because you want to see lots of images of breasts. If that’s the aim, you might as well just grab an issue of Playboy (an entry in the book & reviewed by said magazine), or visit any online site of breast repute.

However, every so often there is a photo insert that helps make a point. One such picture is a black & white detail of Jean Fouquet’s (circa b.1420 – d.1481) painting Virgin and Child from the Melun Diptych.

I’m wondering – Did Mr. Fouquet actually ever look at Agnes’ breasts, or was one of them growing out of an armpit?

It wasn’t always about big boobs

Breasts actually have a purpose. They were not always culturalized primarily as sexual objects, as they are in modern western culture. Here, much money is to be made in the plastic surgery realm, and the trend has spread to non western cultures. Other times and societies have looked at them differently from practical, to fertility symbols and with different eyes on beauty.

Pink Ribbon Campaigns

.. is one of the entries in the encyclopedia. I found this entry eye opening in a way I hadn’t envisioned.

Two things that stood out, in terms of Breast Cancer awareness, are that:

The Pink campaign began with The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, with the ubiquitous Pink Ribbon becoming the official symbol in 1992. Since then support, awareness and survivorship has increased many fold.

Over the last 2 decades, “Pink Ribbon” products have become big business with little oversight, engaging in “Pink Washing”. So please make sure to investigate where your money is going if donating.

AI

Published in 2014, everything still holds true to today. However, due to rapid changes in technology there is one topic not covered in this encyclopedia. That would be AI’s cultural influence on breasts. I’d love to read what Merril would write about that!

An Equal Opportunity Breasts Rock Video?

All photos except Virgin and Child © Resa McConaghy