Introduction
In these days of generally liberated attitudes toward sex, it is rather astonishing to re-examine some of the pronouncements of Sigmund Freud, who is often thought of as the father of modern sexology, and to realize how comparatively narrow-minded and straitlaced the old gentleman was. In one of his early psychoanalytical studies, for instance, he wrote:
"Probably there is no healthy person in whom there does not exist, at some time or other, some kind of supplement to his normal sexual activity, to which we should be justified in giving the name of 'perversity.' "
Freud went on in considerable detail about the activities he would include in this category, and one of them on which he frowned severely was the age-old male habit of admiring well-formed female breasts. This, as we say, comes as quite a shock when we consider how universal this practice is, and how accepted it has become in a society where brassiere ads are an important part of our way of life.
It's true that Freud did soften somewhat by the time he recorded his later studies, when he wrote:
"A preoccupation with thoughts of the female breast would tend to indicate a state of sexual immaturity and emotional insecurity in which the subconscious regresses towards infancy or a return to the womb."
One wonders how Freud would react to a generation brought up on Marilyn Monroe movies and "Little Annie Fanny" comic strips! With his innate conservatism, it's almost certain he would conclude that we have allowed breast fetishism (or breast partialism, to use a more accurate phrase) to be carried to an extreme of breast worship, and highly probable that he would condemn this trend as totally unhealthy.
While it's safe to argue that there are hundreds of thousands of "tit men" in our civilization who are completely sane and healthy in every way, there are other factors that should be considered before we reach a final conclusion. A love of female bosoms has probably never harmed any significant number of human males, but what is the effect of all this mammary popularity and publicity on the females themselves? It is impossible to estimate the number of cases in which it has been detrimental, but there is no doubt that there have been more than a few.
In a new book entitled The Female Breast, marriage counselor Thomas N. Hilton describes the case of a woman who was painfully shy and sensitive because of her overly large breasts, whose problem was compounded because she could only enjoy sexual intercourse when her breasts were being fondled and kissed. Hilton first had to convince this woman that there was "not the slightest stigma of perversion or abnormality" in her condition. Then, he went on, "I suggested that her intended husband was doubly fortunate in that she had a superbly beautiful pair of breasts and that she appreciated having them fondled and caressed. Consider the sad plight of the man who adores his bride's lovely breasts, only to find that she cannot bear to have them touched, kissed or played with."
The woman in this case was of marriageable age, old enough to understand and cope with her problem. Some time after the wedding, when Hilton asked her if she was happy, she replied, "Divinely so, thanks to your practical advice and our having common sense enough to apply it!" Consider, however, the case of a young girl whose mammary development is overabundant at a very early age. Having this thrust upon her along with all the other problems of early puberty, how will she bear up under her own confusion, the jealousy and taunts of her friends, the attempted passes by males of all ages, and other inevitable unpleasant results?
This is exactly the question Sterling Harkins tackles -with noteworthy success-in his latest novel, The Wayward Teenager. This is the story of Maxine Lester, a girl who is continually embarrassed by something it's impossible to escape-the precociously large breasts nature has bestowed upon her. Down deep she's proud of them and preens every night in front of her mirror, but in public things are quite different. The boys continually tease her and the girls are jealous. She feels men's eyes on her bosom whenever she goes out. Finally, in order to ease her guilt at being "different" from other girls her own age and to avoid other obvious difficulties, she starts changing clothes when she comes home from school and trying to pass herself off as being older than she really is.
This is obviously dangerous, because while Maxine can pass pretty well physically for an older girl, she lacks the emotional maturity which would enable her to live up to the promise of her prominent chest development. Therein lies the story . . . another which we at Dansk Blue Books are proud to publish.
-The Publishers
North Hollywood, Calif.
September, 1971