What do your breasts mean to you? Seriously.

[CynthiaAnn]

Come on ladies. I mean I know they're pretty and all, but what's the point of them really?
I mean I like to look at them (even at my own) and they're gorgeous and all.
But is there really any point to them (other than the obvious breast feeding aspect)?

Another classic post, my answer

It's all in the silhouette my breasts help to create, and the sensations they produce. I am grateful for my boobage today, they are a blessing that took years in the making, and such a beautiful part of being a woman.

Cynthia -

[Michelle_P]

My appearance is correct, my clothing fits better, and there is one more feminine cue to help others in this culture gender me correctly.

Internally, they feel right, my sensation of my form and balance feels more correct, and the tactile sensations after almost three years of HRT feel right.

[F_P_M]

their point I suppose is to look nice in clothing. I mean certainly when i look at an attractive woman the soft curve of her bust is aesthetically pleasing.
However, I find my own breasts to be mostly just really dang annoying.
They hurt a lot, they're just like.. deflated sacks of flesh. I don't like them, they make me uncomfortable and always have. I'd rather like them either really small (like an a cup) or gone completely.

From a "what is their purpose" perspective I assume the perminant breasts are some sort of mating thing. You know, looking attractive to perspective mates or whatever.
Because most mammels only have swollen breasts when lactating.

For women, breasts really do hammer home "i am female" and for a pre op transman, they really do prevent us passing if they can't be bound totally flat. People see breasts and immediately assume "female".
so I guess that's their purpose. A secondary sex characteristic to shunt us into narrow boxes. Boo.

I've got my use outta mine, dang, if I could donate em I would lol. Not sure anyone would want these saggy things though. They're pretty unattractive to my eye, but perhaps i'm just overcritical because they're MINE and not on some hot woman.

[Julia1996]

They mean a great deal to me.  They indicate to everyone that I am female. And before I had SRS my breasts were one part of my body that was absolutely female and a part of me my boyfriend could see and touch.

[SeptagonScars]

So I had top surgery 5 years ago but instantly regretted it. I swept that regret under the carpet until I detransitioned 10 months ago. So now I want new breasts, aka reconstruction. When it comes to the dysphoria aspect for me, I differ from both the mtf and the ftm experiences. Cause I want (specific) traits of both sexes, and because of that passing as my female gender is of low priority for me.

But other than that, I don't think my reasons differ much from others who replied/commented in this thread. Although I have a slew of reasons, most of them can be lumped up into these 4 different categories:

1. Looks
Basically for my body to look as I'd call it "harmonically female" from neck down. I feel like my chest doesn't fit the rest of my body which is otherwise very curvy, that most feminine clothes don't fit right with a flat chest, etc. As for size, I feel very right and comfortable with the size of my breast forms that fit nicely in a 34D and if I could get my reconstructed boobs to roughly that size (C-DD), that would be great, but I'm not too picky. My pre-op size was 32B.

2. Sensation
This one's hard to explain but touching my flat chest, feeling tight fabric on it, etc, just feels wrong and icky. And I miss the senation of boobs, soft, squishy, warm boobs. I've never had erotic sensation in that area of my body (also pre-op), but it's still an important aspect for me to be able to have boobs again to include in my sex life.

3. Sexuality
This category overlaps both points 2 and 4, but too separate to put into either. About me being a lesbian, that I want for my body to look and feel (more) similar to a partner's body. That's not really sexual, but has more to do with a deeper kind of intimate mental/romantic connection to another female cause of both being female and loving each other. Not having the boob aspect of femaleness to connect with an intimate/romantic partner does feel painful for me.

4. Dysphoria
Put simply: Most other women have breasts while I don't. It makes me jealous, and it hurts, that I don't have that very female thing on my body anymore. Cause now that I finally love being a woman, my body feels wrong without boobs to go with all the other female parts that I got from nature and still have.

And in my complicated detrans case:
I really do like having my male secondary sex traits such as beard and deep voice, that I got from my years on T, but only as additions to my otherwise female body. I don't want to lose any of my fem bits and I want what's lost back. But I feel the same about my male traits, that I don't want to lose them either. Male or female; they're all parts of what's simply me.

The way I view myself is as a masculinised woman, and my masculinity feels just as right and comforting to me as my femininity does, and I simply need and love both. But basically I feel a strong need to look totally female from neck down, which is, after all, some 90% of my body, no matter how much I want for my whole head to appear male.

And then I just have to bite the bullet that my reality is: I won't pass as female no matter how real and how big my tiddies are.

So in that aspect, my dysphoria is different, and even I don't know what it really means, cause I don't see myself as nonbinary. I'm just a different kind of woman. A bit more spicy and gnc. Because I see my gender as aligned with my bio sex I don't see myself as completely trans, but because I am still happy with most of my ftm transition, I also don't see myself as completely cis. But then I also see detrans as kind of a sub-category of trans.

[Aurorasky]

It means a lot to me. Breasts are a marker of femininity, sensuality and sexuality and at the same time a marker of motherhood. The latter is impossible for most of us, unless we go on a certain regímen, but I don't see the point of it as I will not be able to conceive my own child.

[Kylo]

They don't have much meaning in and of themselves, it's generally what they mean to others. When people say it indicates I'm a woman - that means others see them and process mentally that person is female. After all if you know what you are you shouldn't need a placard or a sign on you saying what you are. But breasts are apparently rather like that. A lot of women want people to see they are women through them. A lot of men like them and want to see them on a woman.

It's like having a nose, to me. I mean it's there, and it would look strange if it wasn't there, but it hasn't much meaning as a body part. Not having one would probably be weird and strange to the average person. But there's no great meaning in having a nose.

To me they were (when I had them) in the way. I don't miss them, and don't really think about them much. But that - I suppose - is because I do not really identify as female, or wanted people to pay attention to me as one. I also didn't much dwell on the connection between them and having kids. Obviously for anyone who does, they're important. Not having them when you want them probably feels a bit like having a deformity. Luckily for MTF, they can be grown.

I don't think they really figure in my personal psychology. Not having them feels like a return to a state like when I was a child as was much happier with my body. I do actually remember that pre-pubescent phase before things started growing and liking my body as it was. After surgery, that's how I felt. Like I'd got back to normality. These things were not in the way or weighing me down like I remember before them. The reason I feel that way, I think, is because in the brain somewhere, I haven't much "female programming". There are things women like about themselves that go way over my head. I just don't have it. I think the breasts annoyed me only because they got in the way. If they didn't and were largely invisible, I probably would not have cared all that much.

The feeling of a flat chest is great. I can do athletic stuff without them jumping around. I am more hydrodynamic without them. I can sleep on my stomach. I don't have to buy items of clothing to keep them in good shape. All in all they never meant much to me, but I can fully appreciate now how women do feel about them in a sense. A strange side effect of the HRT giving me access to my "whole brain". But I'm quite happy without them. 

[Nightfall]

The only thing I thought when they started to grow was,"It's about time." Not holding back, they are more a pain than they are worth. Not because of what they are, how I feel about them, size or anything but because of other women. They are a good size and perky if I think about them at all, but I don't really and why should I? I never think about my knees, seriously not ever unless they hurt, or my elbows, ears, feet. I  will  not  be  bullied though. Not again, not ever. I will not wear a bra because I am tired of women telling me how much I should. I don't wear anything sheer and I try to never wear anything that makes my nipples really pop out but that is as much a concession as I am willing to give. No, not entirely true, I would never wear anything sheer no matter what so that is not a concession. Breasts happen, to approximately 50% of the population of the planet they happen, but somehow we are supposed to put extra security on them? For what? Who made that decision and when? The bullied becomes the bullies, it's a brave new world. Porn has made breasts irrelevant but idiotic behavior has made them something special if someone chooses to not double hide them. That is what breasts mean to me. My friend that winters in Florida was at breakfast for the first time this year today, my boyfriend was there after having surgery this week for his heart, I hadn't slept or eaten all week, but I wore a gorgeous, pinstriped buttoned up, kinda uber feminine, gloriously soft top and as I sat down she didn't say hi or anything, just stared at my boobs. I don't look old, I don't look bad, from all I can tell I look only like a girl but people judge me. Wanna know what they mean to me, seriously...

Just another reason for someone to judge me. I am so tired of feeling bad for who I am, I am finally where I want to be, I could dress like a nun and someone would judge me. Okay, go ahead, I am used to it. I never think about my breasts other than that.

Yeah, the sweat under them can be a bit annoying as well.

[MeTony]

I don't like them. They are in the way and I don't like being touched there. They are my biggest source of dysphoria. I still pass pretty often as male. Even in T-shirt. Without binder. I have a G-cup.

I hate the attention my chest gets from guys and girls. I am also often read as butch.

I'm a dude with huge chest. I wish I could donate them to you girls. A quickfix to a large chest. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

Also I need to lose 17 kg to get surgery. Stupid easter and candy and food made me gain 5 kg.


Tony

[F_P_M]

I have to ask, do any of you get like.. electic sensation across the teeth when you have your nipples touched and played with? I HATE IT, it's like i'm chewing on an electrical cable. ARGHHHH.
And i don't get it, why the hell does it give me sensation in my TEETH!??? wth body? wth?

Interestingly, my other half isn't actually that interested in my chest. I dunno if that's because he knows i'm not always keen on having it touched becuase of the teeth thing or he just isn't that into it, but I find I have to kinda remind him they're there hahaha.

I don't think either of us will miss em really.

[Maid Marion]

They are just the right size for woman's clothing to fit perfectly and balance out my hips.

[Bea1968]

To me, the point is that my body made them.  Yea, it needed some HRT help but what I have is all mine.  My body did that.  That thought alone does a lot for my self esteem.  It validates my internal feminine feelings with something tangible.  Plus, they are fun to look at .

Best regards,

Bea

[DebbySoufflage]

To me my breasts mean a lot.
They have balanced my shoulders out.
They have made my waist look way more feminine and proportioned.
My behind looks more feminine because of my large breasts when I look at my side profile.

If anything, I wish they were bigger.

I would love to have breast implants.

I'm saving up for gummy bear cohesive gel implants.

I'm 85B-cup and would like to augment to 85E-cups.

I'm going with 500CC implants most likely.

[SeptagonScars]

I have to ask, do any of you get like.. electic sensation across the teeth when you have your nipples touched and played with? I HATE IT, it's like i'm chewing on an electrical cable. ARGHHHH.
And i don't get it, why the hell does it give me sensation in my TEETH!??? wth body? wth?

Interestingly, my other half isn't actually that interested in my chest. I dunno if that's because he knows i'm not always keen on having it touched becuase of the teeth thing or he just isn't that into it, but I find I have to kinda remind him they're there hahaha.

I don't think either of us will miss em really.

I recognise that sensation you describe, but unsure if it's the same thing. Before my top surgery I hated having my nipples touched cause it felt exactly like "teeth pain" but in my nipples, and was intensely uncomfortable. I mean that painful feeling like when you eat ice cream way too fast. I got that exact same feeling in my nipples when touched, but I didn't feel it in my teeth then. Not sure if that makes sense to you or if it's what you're asking.

Since my surgery I barely have any sensation at all in my nipples (at 5 years post-op), except if I squeeze them really hard I still get that "teeth pain" feeling in them. My best guess/explanation is that somehow the nerves in them may have gotten wonky when my breasts grew during puberty.

[freebird]

To me they are everything and they express my femininity. I wish they were bigger but in time they will be. I don't know how i could be a women without them.

[Linde]

They are just part of my body.  If I don't watch part of my movements, they painfully remind me that they are there.  The only sensation I feel if I manipulate my nipples is some kind of pain, and I prefer to not have this, and i leave my nipples alone because of this.
My boobs did grow by themselves without HRT, and i am pretty much used to them by now.  Yes, they are part of my feminine presentation, but I don't think much about them, they are just there and hurt if I don't watch it!

[Allie Jayne]

Breasts are the stereotypical female feature, so desirable for those who identify as female, and not for those who identify as male. My dysphoria caused me to gain weight, and develop almost b cup man boobs. My many attempts to lose weight were often derailed as I hated that my breasts seemed to be the first place I would lose from. I also get a lot of stimulation from having my nipples played with, so they are a sensual hotspot. Now I'm on HRT, I'm hoping for breast development, but my priority is bigger hips and smaller shoulders as that is where my dysphoria is strongest. At my age it is unlikely that I will ever achieve proportionate breast development, and I'm not sold on augmentation. I wear a bra and forms every day as I need them to feel more feminine, but they are secondary to my body shape.

Allie