A book for boys, entitled Growing Up For Boys and published by Usborne Publishing, has sparked outrage among parents over its explanation about why girls develop breasts.
The book explains, “Girls have breasts for two reasons. One is to make milk for babies. The other is to make the girl look grown-up and attractive. Virtually all breasts, no matter what size or shape they end up when a girl finishes puberty, can do both things.”
Writer, blogger, campaigner and influencer Man vs Pink, who writes about “being a dad in a mum’s world”, highlighted the book and its claims on his Facebook page in a post with the comment “Wtf?” – parents were quick to respond:
“how awful for early developer girls if this is what their male schoolmates are being taught”, commented Nadia Elhaggagi.
“Wtf, it’s true unfortunately that boobs are sexualised and seen as a point of attraction, but to teach this is horrendous! Move our kids away from the status quo…,” says Vanessa Heelis.
“It took me a bit to see what all the fuss was about, but now I see where the problem is. It’s telling/implying to boys that the purpose of breasts is to be attractive. I understand that the book is meant to be simple and easy to understand, but this really isn’t something that boys SHOULD be taught about breasts,” comments Laci Harrison.
“Hmmmm… and we wonder why men victimize and oogle women so much. Maybe because they are taught to do that at a young age thinking its acceptable,” commented Claudia Weidman
“And we wonder why there’s a “rape culture”….it’s not not just programming girls, ” states Julie Faylor.
“I just got this for my wee boy (Age 10) who’s been asking a lot of questions. A bit peeved at this now though,” says Sarah-Jane Kinnaird.
However, others haven’t seen what the fuss is about:
“Those are the two reasons for having breasts! What’s the fuss? To attract a mate and feed a child!,” says Julia Jamieson.
“Not really seeing the problem. I’d be fine with my boys reading this. I’m pretty sure breasts are attractive to most men,” says Brooke Antario.
Others could see the writer’s intention, but felt it had been poorly worded.
“BASICALLY true, but wording is very poor.. not giving boys much credit by explaining in such simplistic terms, and girls even less…” says Grace Wright.
This could definitely be worded better. I think it’s important to remember that this book is a tool for parents to use to inform. So parents could choose to leave this part out when discussing sex or choose a different source. The book doesn’t specify who finds breasts attractive (boys or girls). Another point is that boys and girls may find breasts attractive, and this addresses that it’s a normal part of puberty. There is no perfect book for discussing something so personal. We all have different opinions about what and how to share this information. I will say, this book does a good job of explaining things in an age appropriate way for the most part. This is also not the US version, so if you’re in the US it does not say this!,” says Kayleigh Loucks Nelson.
What do you think?
