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Fadzayi Maposah Correspondent
When we were small and our chests were bare, we longed for a fully developed bosom that would show how grown up we had become.
We looked at the breasts and prayed that they would grow at the appropriate time.
When one is young time seems never to move for body parts growth.
Time moves a lot faster when you have playtime. There was a time though that I actually thought my mother, Ma Ncube would say the wrong time just so that she could get us into the house.
So, imagine walking into the house and looking up at the clock just to check if we had been told the actual time.
It was always correct. Playtime was never enough and it ended quickly. Playtime moved much faster than developmental time .
While we waited for menstruation and puberty to start, the time did not come. For some of us it was a very long wait but when it did come, it came with a big bang that in some instances was overwhelming.
While we waited for the real breasts to grow, we assisted nature, we had breasts’ development companies!
The companies developed sizes of breasts that were enormous. The companies that we ran never produced small breasts, we always went all out to produce the biggest breasts that we could.
Breasts were made with t-shirts, dresses, pieces of mutton cloth or even medium sized towels. The identified items would be rolled nicely into a firm ball and then carefully the ball would be placed on the chest as a newly grown breast.
Next ball would be placed the other side and one would be endowed with two breasts of a size that they really wanted.
When we walked we would be walking with our chests out so that all others present could see how well-endowed we were!
Even as young girls when we played there was always that one girl who had the engineering tact and skill. She was able to develop firm breasts that were close to perfect.
Looking back now, all the things that we went through as children served as lessons important in adult life.
There is always someone who can do something better than you or who is better than you…
Knowing that is good self-care and great for your mental health wellbeing. One does not compare themselves to others.
One sets own personal goals and then works towards achieving them.
When we were young and we had “manufactured” breasts that were maybe smaller or faulty in comparison with the others’ , it did not stop us from enjoying our playtime and walking with our chests out.
Now since we all sought to “manufacture” big breasts, each attempt was aimed at making them bigger and better.
The obsession with big breasts was not our own, it was passed down from the ones older than us.
When we heard those closer to us commenting on those who had small breasts, our hearts were disturbed and hoped that ours when their time to grow came would be a lot bigger. The words, big, small are relative because it generally depends on what you are comparing with.
Also we heard some older women’s conversation on how a relative who had just had a baby was struggling with breastfeeding.
There was always that one person who asked or commented on the size of the breasts. If they had “small” breasts, it was quickly concluded that was the cause.
“Seriously with such small breasts, where is the milk to be manufactured?” they would ask one another.
As I grew up and became one with a relatively big bust, I was the subject of ridicule .
At Advanced Level, there were a few of us who had big busts and we were labelled.
Was it because those with small breasts could not understand how others could have bigger ones?
By then we had not fully learnt that there will always be someone better than you or with what you really want and do not have!
It is actually strange that the girls and I who had bigger breasts wished many a time that we had smaller ones so that we would not stand out and be the focus of unsolicited attention.
It is painful that one can be ridiculed for something they have no control over and cannot change.
When we were in Upper Six one girl had to go home because she had some discomfort in her breast. She had a small bust and we were all confused.
We all wondered what it could be and young as we were we thought such issues were for older women. She shared on her return that she had been referred for tests, which she did not divulge to all sundry .
My eldest daughter Tadiwanashe told me that when they were in high school one girl said there was no need for all girls with big breasts to show off because their risk of cancer was high.
Talk about causing trauma with no information
A friend shared less than three years ago when her adolescent daughter had to have a lump removed from her breast. I gave her the necessary support understanding that she had many unanswered questions.
I had questions too.
Since then I have heard of and even met young women who have had lumps removed. So it is not about the age.
It is not about the bust size. Many times ill-informed people perpetuate myths and misconceptions. Getting information is important. Be part of initiatives and meetings that provide vital information.
Next time you look at someone’s breasts do not wonder why they are that size, rather wonder if they have had a breast examination, wonder if they know how to do the breast examination, wonder too if they know who and where they can be capacitated to self-examine their breasts.
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