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Both [[men]] and [[women]] develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. However, at [[puberty]], [[female]] sex hormones, mainly estrogen, promote breast [[development]] which does not occur in men. As a result, women's' breasts become far more prominent than those of men.
Both [[men]] and [[women]] develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. However, at [[puberty]], [[female]] sex hormones, mainly estrogen, promote breast [[development]] which does not occur in men. As a result, women's' breasts become far more prominent than those of men.
*History
In European pre-historic [[societies]], [[sculptures]] of [[female]] figures with pronounced or highly exaggerated breasts were common. A typical example is the so-called [[Venus of Willendorf]], one of many [[Paleolithic]] Venus figurines with ample hips and bosom. [[Artifacts]] such as bowls, rock carvings and [[sacred]] statues with breasts have been recorded from [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/15,000_BC 15,000 BC] up to late [[antiquity]] all across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Many [[female]] [[deities]] [[representing]] [[love]] and [[fertility]] were [[associated]] with breasts and breast milk. Figures of the Phoenician goddess [[Astarte]] were represented as pillars studded with breasts. [[Isis]], an Egyptian goddess who [[represented]], among many other [[things]], [[ideal]] [[motherhood]], was often portrayed as suckling pharaohs, thereby confirming their [[divine]] [[status]] as rulers. Even certain [[male]] [[deities]] representing [[Reproduction|regeneration]] and fertility were occasionally depicted with breast-like appendices, such as the river god [[Hapy]] who was considered to be [[responsible]] for the annual overflowing of the [[Nile]]. Female breasts were also prominent in the [[Minoan]] civilization in the [[form]] of the famous Snake Goddess statuettes. In [[Ancient Greece]] there were several [[cults]] [[worshipping]] the "Kourotrophos", the suckling mother, represented by goddesses such as [[Gaia]], [[Hera]] and [[Artemis]]. The [[worship]] of [[deities]] [[symbolized]] by the female breast in Greece became less common during the first millennium. The popular [[adoration]] of female goddesses decreased significantly during the rise of the [[Greek city states]], a [[legacy]] which was passed on to the later [[Roman empire]].
During the middle of the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/1000_BC first millennium BC], [[Greek]] [[culture]] [[experienced]] a [[gradual]] [[change]] in the [[perception]] of female breasts. Women in [[art]] were covered in [[Dress|clothing]] from the neck down, including female goddesses like [[Athena]], the patron of [[Athens]] who represented heroic endeavor. There were exceptions: [[Aphrodite]], the goddess of [[love]], was more frequently portrayed fully [[nude]], though in [[postures]] that were intended to portray shyness or [[modesty]], a portrayal that has been compared to modern pin ups by historian Marilyn Yalom. Although [[nude]] men were depicted standing upright, most depictions of [[female]] [[nudity]] in Greek art occurred "usually with drapery near at hand and with a forward-bending, self-protecting posture". A popular [[legend]] at the time was of the [[Amazons]], a tribe of fierce [[female]] warriors who socialized with men only for [[procreation]] and even removed one breast to become better warriors. The legend was a popular motif in [[art]] during [[Greek]] and [[Roman]] antiquity and served as an antithetical cautionary tale.
[[Category: The Arts]]
[[Category: Biology]]
[[Category: Biology]]