Little Girls in Women's Bodies: Social Interaction and the Strategizing of Early Breast Development

The purpose of this study was to analyze early breast developers' narratives of their experience of early development to understand the patterns of social interaction and resulting emotion that generated the meaning of their breasts and their bodies. Thirteen women were interviewed, and three of their stories were selected to tell in detail to demonstrate the various strategies of interaction that these women developed as girls in response to the social context of their early breast development. These results suggest that whether early breast developers rely on proactive or defensive strategies for managing their breasts has implications for their ways of thinking and feeling about their sexuality and their bodies. This research also helps to illuminate the significance of social interaction in generating the meaning of breasts and of femininity more generally.