It seems to me that along with evil villains being gay in romance books, (I’m looking at you Anne Stuart) women with implants are often portrayed as the slutty other woman. Why?
The message seems to be that having a boob job makes one a Slutty McSlut, and I have to say, it irritates me no end.
This obviously doesn’t count if you only read historicals, seeing as there probably weren’t too many heroines with silicone implants floating round prior to the 1960s.
I’m guessing that the romance heroine who decides to have breast implants out of vanity hasn’t been written yet?
Chicklit really doesn’t count.
katieM
June 8
11:02 am
Is it just implants that make others think a woman is slutty or large breasts in general that make people think that?
Karen Scott
June 8
11:12 am
That’s an interesting question Katie, I don’t know the answer so I’ll have to think about it some more.
Myra Willingham
June 8
1:33 pm
I don’t think it’s the size of the breasts but the size of the implant. The bigger the implant, the sluttier the image. That photo of Betty Big Boobs made me gag. I’m sure there are men out there who would go hubba-hubba seeing that and want to motorboat between those ginormous air bags but come on! A normal man would cringe just like my hubby did. His comment: “Good God! How does she turn over in bed? How does she bath her hoo-haw?? (Yes, that’s what his mother taught him a vagina is called.)
Tuscan Capo
June 8
2:28 pm
Hmm. Not that I’m a fan of fake tits big enough to smother me in, but if this is a trend, no it doesn’t sound fair or realistic. Imagine a similar trend among male writers whereas the male villains are always the ones in the story who use dick pumps. I think most readers would shake their heads and dismiss such writers as having insecurity issues – and probably rightly so.
And I’m sorry if I came across callous to the pretty lady in the photo. Some men might love tits that large but even for me, those puppies are just a little daunting.
Anon76
June 8
3:03 pm
OMG. First off I have to comment on that photo…OUCH! Why in the world would you do that to yourself?
As to the topic of conversation…I don’t think women with implants are slutty and shouldn’t be typecast as such. Slutty is based on the woman’s attitude or actions, not on a physical attribute (even if it is an enhanced one.) And the link between “gay” and “evil” doesn’t make any sense to me either for the same reasons.
FD
June 8
3:08 pm
I dunno really, I haven’t come across enough romances dealing with the subject of cosmetic surgery to have spotted a trend. There is of course still the trend to make the female villain Slutty-McSlut in general, because everyone knows *eyerolling* that having had multiple / short term sexual partners / being sexually aggressive means you have no ethical standards whatsoever. Ick.
There’s the LaVryle Spencer, but that’s a reduction and it’s a heroine.
I have read a contemp recently with a heroine who has implants. One of the blue cover harlequins, not a Presents. Will dig around till I remember.
She has as the heroine puts it, fake nails, fake hair, fake tan and fake boobs, and is fairly unapologetic about it, being in her thirties and willing to own herself.
The book acknowledges the image that implants have of being low-rent, and goes on to subvert it and the assumptions that go with that.
I think there might be a Rachel Gibson with a heroine with silicone? Not sure.
Dealing with the subject of large boobs and sluttiness in general, a friend of mine who had a reduction noted that people treated her differently after.
Before people often had a sort of entitled attitude, (not just men) in that they felt freer to make comments about her body / figure, give her advice, touch in general and made more assumptions about her. Sort of like how a pregnancy bump can turn into an invisible please touch here sign.
She felt there was a definite correlation between the size of her boobs and the level of hostility that she felt from strange women. Like she was less trustworthy because she was stacked, y’know? It’s hard to say whether that says more about men or women, but I do wonder if the popular assumptions about the level of sexual attractiveness of large breasts might have something to do with the stereotyping of women who have implants – in that people assume that the only reason a women can have had them to increase her sexual attractiveness / availability. Sort of a negative correlation predicated upon the assumed intended purpose?
Eh, that’s kinda wordy, hope it makes sense.
FD
June 8
4:09 pm
Ok, the book I was thinking of was a Karen Templeton, SSE#1821, Pride and Pregnancy. Some of the assumptions characters made about the heroine, as well as expectations she had of herself made me a little uncomfortable, but in a ‘yeah, this happens’ kinda way, not an ‘ick, wrong’ kind of way. I gave it a thumbs up and I’m not a big kids/babies book reader.
MB (Leah)
June 8
4:12 pm
I’ve never read a romance in which the heroine had implants. I guess the slut factor would depend on how the author writes the character.
I don’t think having implants by itself is a determiner of sluttienss. I have two friends who’ve had breast cancer and had reconstructive surgery after and got a larger set than they had before their mastectomies. Why not? They deserve to look good and feel good after what they went through. Doesn’t make them sluts. I’d probably do the same.
Slutty is behavior and not a body part or type because I know lots of women with large breasts who don’t like the attention it brings and cover them up.
It would piss me off though to read that in a book. I dislike perpetuation of any negative stereotype of women. Especially by women.
And for the record. Those puppies in that pic are hideous.
Shiloh Walker
June 8
5:02 pm
I can’t even get around the shock that hit my brain when i saw the picture, so I can’t answer. I don’t think fake boobs equate evil.
But if reference to the pic, if somebody had THAT much silicone put into their bodies, I would question their sanity.
joanne
June 8
6:11 pm
Why just pick out fake boobs? How many heroines have had nose jobs, face lifts, or tummy tucks? The heroine in “Issue of Trust” by Lorie O’Clare had a boob job. But she did so in order to disguise her identity and also had other plastic surgery.
IMO – and it’s just that – when they’re not necessary, such as after mastectomy, breast implants just scream poor self-esteem. It reinforces the American stereotype that women must be both thin and busty in order to be considered beautiful. I have a similar aversion toward romances where the heroine used to be overweight, but couldn’t find love until she got skinny.
Maya
June 8
6:31 pm
I’m for whatever makes a woman happy. But I’ve noticed that procedures that are deemed for correction of less desirable traits are generally more accepted than those for “vanity” but hell, what’s wrong with vanity?
I’ve know a few women who got implants and it was a boost to their self esteem. Whatever works.
Me? I’m gonna go the other way. Mark my words and don’t care who knows it *g* I think I could donate to at least three other women’s implants ๐
SarahT
June 8
7:56 pm
Ouch! Her poor back!
Jill Sorenson
June 8
8:08 pm
Karen Robards’ Whispers at Midnight features a sympathetic heroine with implants. I think she went from an A to a C cup, just to feel better about herself. The hero liked her both ways. : )
Fae Sutherland
June 8
8:09 pm
I’m all for a woman doing whatever she chooses with her body, but I find breast implants incredibly unattractive and would have a hard time *not* picturing them as ugly whenever the hero so much as mentioned them. And while I don’t necessarily think a heroine has to be attractive to be a heroine, I can’t relate to someone who, imo, purposely made themselves less attractive and paid for the privilege. *shrug* I just don’t get it.
DS
June 9
12:05 am
Breast implants come with a whole host of possible problems including simply a bad outcome from surgery– I’ve seen enough malpractice pictures to make me very uneasy about plastic surgery. I’m also not a big fan of any type of elective surgery right now due to the possibility of picking up an antibiotic resistant bug.
Throwmearope
June 9
1:13 am
From my point of view, the doctor who created that abomination in the photo is the one who ought to be shot. People have to see a psychiatrist to have potentially life saving obesity surgery. Yet some plastic guy can create that (er, those) monstrosities without clearance from the ethics committee? There’s something very wrong about that.
Shiloh Walker
June 9
1:26 am
Maya, you’re a giving soul. ๐
And throwmearope has a point-any doc that does THAT needs to have his license revoked. Something like that will only lead to health problems. I’m thinking back surgery at some point.
Las
June 9
1:31 am
It’s lazy characterization on the author’s part. If the writer makes it a point to mention that the other woman has breast implants (and is bottle blond/redhead, and is always dressed to kill, and enjoys sex with anyone other than her one true love), then it’s pretty much guaranteed that the book is going to suck. Because when that happens, you’ll also have a heroin who is just the most amazingly beautiful woman of all creation, with perfectly perky, naturally large breasts, lustrous hair, a tiny waist, and is just so modest that she’s completely unaware of how gorgeous she is.
Stereotypical Harlequin Presents, basically.
bookwormom
June 9
2:41 am
I’ve not come across a book with a character who has had cosmetic surgery, so I don’t know how I’d react. IRL, *shrug* don’t really care to know what people do with their bodies to improve their self esteem. lol:)
OT- I nominated you for an award at my blog,
here.
~Amanda
Jayne
June 10
10:30 am
If this is the woman I’m thinking it is, she had some of her surgeries in the US but the last couple in Brazil. No US doctor would continue adding to what she already had had done for the very reason Throwmearope mentioned. The article I read said she also intends to eventually have some of the implants removed. So my question is: why bother to go that large to begin with? Her answer was that she admires Dolly Parton and had always wanted to look like her. She also mentioned having to have daily back massages to deal with the weight and strain on her back.
Shiloh Walker
June 10
12:33 pm
She sorta failed.
Maybe instead of looking like Dolly, she should aspire to act like Dolly and from what I’ve read about her/heard about her, Dolly is very much down to earth.
That woman’s bosoms look like they are going float her right up into the stratosphere-down to earth, she is not.
Jayne
June 10
2:03 pm
LOL, yep, my thoughts exactly, Shiloh.
freshfun
June 27
7:56 pm
The lady in the pic has to be uncomfortable. She will also need a reductiom in skin if she reduces her implant size by much.
The truth is that many women get implants and you may know them well and have not noticed that they’ve had them done.
I have implants. I went from an A to a small C. I told no one and no one has noticed. This wasn’t for anyone else. I could easily have lived my life without having implants, but I wanted to know what it was like to have something in my bathing suit top. I could afford it and my health is excellent. I am 42 and athletic. I didn’t tell people because I didn’t feel like dealing with their issues and assumptions about why and how and who gets implants.
Look around, I bet you know someone who has had a boobjob and you never noticed.
Thanks for letting me add my 2 cents worth.
tom dooley
October 9
6:11 pm
With boobs that large, most persons would be interested in dropping their load on them once, maybe twice. You are like a carnival ride.
Concerned
May 3
10:41 pm
It’s the small breasted women insecurity that claim big breasted women are sluts. The idea that bigger is better got this started and some women look great with small breast, just like other women look great with large breast! It’s the body type and attitude that determines the over all effect of her sexiness. I prefer natural over enhanced they don’t feel the same when handling and their is the scarring after surgery. While the same can be said about large natural breast and the stretch marks, they do feel nice. It’s the over all excited state of her nipples that turn me on! Not the size of her breast! Puffy or perky nipples should be the real question! Perky nipples are a sign of fertility and puffy nipples look inflamed! Most large breast have puffiness to areola and mask the teat. While most normal size breast are perky with minimal puffiness around the areola unmasking the teat setting it free to be admired. Their are exceptions. Perky nipples tend to not be so inverted as puffy nipples! Big perky breast aren’t as firm and tend to sag. The fact is that what ever she feels comfortable with should be the over all determining factor and not what other people think! So don,t change your image just because it’s a passing fad you’ll be sorry in the long run! My sister found this out the hard way!
Squeaks
June 3
6:28 am
Shit I would titty fuck her and blow a load in that sexy mouth
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3:18 pm
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