A new study links preference for D-cups with sexist tendencies
BY LIZZIE PLAUGIC
A new study has discovered a correlation between what size boobs a man prefers and his predilection for sexist tendencies. Dr. Viren Swami surveyed 361 men, showing them videos women with varying cup sizes and then assessing their attitudes towards gender with a series of questions scaled to measure sexism. The men answered questions regarding hostility towards and objectification of women and “benevolent sexism,” i.e., the subscription to traditional gender roles, with women relegated to a subservient position.
It makes sense though—if when it comes to part of a woman’s body, you think “the bigger the better,” you’re probably guilty of standing with a media-driven commodification and objectification of the female form. The study found that “men’s preferences for larger female breasts were significantly associated with a greater tendency to be benevolently sexist, to objectify women, and to be hostile towards women.” The group of men who stated a preference for the largest of the large were the benevolent sexists—the ones who believed that it’s a man’s duty to protect women, and that a "lady should be a lady." Gross. As a proud small-boob-haver, I’m feeling like I really dodged a bullet here. Most men claimed to prefer “medium-sized” breasts, which, way to be average guys.
But it’s important to note that the link is tenuous, and the researchers only surveyed heterosexual white men in London, so we’re working with a very limited demographic here. This also doesn’t mean that if you have a thing for big boobs you’re an MRA who thinks giving women the vote was the worst thing to happen since instant coffee, but it could mean you have a tendency to objectify women and are a bit of a douche. Or maybe you’re just hungry: the survey found that men who were hungry were more inclined to show preference for larger boobs.
I wonder if the study had been reversed, with women scoping various penis sizes, would the women stocking up on Magnums also exhibit sexist tendencies? Probably not. I tend to think huge dicks are just kind of a burden, but if I’m have sex with someone I really like, I don’t really care about their penile aesthetics. So maybe the results would have been different if the men had been shown images of their first loves and big-time crushes rather than digitally-created models of random women. Beauty is in the eye, and all that.