Other Issues Involved in Implant Controversy

There is a fundamental issue underlying the entire controversy about silicone breast implants that is being overlooked (“I Did It Just for Me,” Jan. 9). I would like to ask, what are the basic values of a society in which a woman’s self-worth, self-image and the responses to that woman are determined by the size and shape of her breasts?

Twenty-two years ago when I was a stripper, I had silicone injections (long since banned). I, like the three women reported on in your article, would do it again. I not only do not regret having the injections, but I feel it was one of the better things I did for myself in my younger days.

Why is this the case for so many women? We get a response not from just the “jackasses (who) will dance around you if you fill out a sweater.” We get more notice and response from each other. We get more attention and are more clearly acknowledged as being female and noteworthy. . . .

Those of us who have lived as flat-chested women and as full-busted “beauties” have experienced a fundamental hypocrisy. We are the products of our socialization, and as such we have not been able to avoid the internalization of our society’s value judgments. . . . The truth is that major judgment rests on physical appearance, and, vividly experienced by us, an appalling number and variety of responses are based on bust size and shape.

It is time to stop denying our society’s judgment of an individual based on secondary sexual characteristics. We are superficial. Once we commonly accept this fact, we can begin to ask if it’s worth the health of so many to continue to place such worth on round, full breasts. If it is, let’s invest in research and development of perfect implants and give every girl by the age of 15 or so a perfect bust. Then maybe in a few generations, since all women’s chests will be “perfect,” we would finally be able to begin to look past our breasts and seek to see what’s really in our hearts.

KRISTEN K.A. NORRIS

Redondo Beach