Breast What?!?

In American society, women often will undergo plastic surgery to make themselves fit into the unrealistic ideal of beauty that has been created. Hearing about breast implants is no longer shocking. Many women in American society feel that bigger breasts make them more attractive and will gain more options for a husband. Of course, this is not necessarily so, but it is an option that is now available. So, when I heard about breast ironing I had no idea of what to think. Breast ironing is a practice done in Cameroon, Africa. According to the BBC article, “Cameroon Girls Battle ‘Breast Ironing’” by Randy Joe Sa’ah, “statistics show that 26% of Cameroonian girls at puberty undergo it, as many mothers believe it protects their daughters from sexual advances of boys and men who think children are ripe for sex once their breasts begin to grow” (1). So, by “removing signs of puberty, these girls are thought to no-longer appear sexually attractive to men” (Varza, Roxy 1). Mothers do this as a protection for their daughters to preserve their innocence and to keep them out of harm’s way as well as keeping them from getting forced into an early marriage. Mothers do not iron their daughter’s breasts to be mean, they are just trying to keep them out of harm. In addition, breast ironing gives girls the opportunity to go to school and get an education. For example, a girl named Emilia, interviewed by the BBC said, “I want to go to school like other girls who had no breasts” (Sa’ah, Randy 1). Girls with flattened breasts are able to go to school because they do not appear sexually attractive to men, making it safe for them to travel to school. There are different ways that the breasts can be flattened. “The most widely used instruments to flatten the breasts are a wooden pestle, used for pounding tubers in the kitchen. Heated bananas and coconut shells are also used.” (Sa’ah, Randy 1). Even though it is a painful process, girls and mothers are willing to do it because it is helpful for their own well-being. In addition, breast ironing is more common in urban areas compared to more rural areas; this happens because more sexual advances occur in urban areas (Varza, Roxy1). I think breast ironing can be seen as a form of symbolic violence. Mothers are looking out for their daughters from unwanted attention that can bring them harm. Society has caused this practice to occur. This may seem like a strange practice to us, but it makes sense for their culture. It is a violence that they inflict upon themselves, to make themselves less desirable to men, so that they can have a better future. It is unfortunate that they have to go to this extreme to protect their bodies, but the women have found a way to stand up for themselves. It is quite ironic that in the westernized civilizations, women choose to have their breasts enlarged for their self esteem and the women in Cameroon iron their breasts for their future self esteem. But for the African women, it is also done as self preservation to keep them safe from the harm presented to them.
Works cited
Sa’ah, Randy. “Cameroon Girls Battle ‘Breast Ironing’”. BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5107360.stm
Varza, Roxy. “Breast Ironing in Cameroon Women in Africa bear a Painful Tradition”
http://www.theworldly.org/ArticlesPages/Articles2006/September06Articles/Cameroon-Ironing.html