Reviewed by Ian Lipke
“Boobs are celebrated and scrutinised, fetishised and censored, worshipped and weaponised. As the saying goes: ‘Behind every great woman is a pair of boobs trying desperately to stay out of the conversation’.”
The mood of this cheeky book, written mostly by Lisa Portolan, is reflected in the quote I have selected above. As Lisa points out, she herself is an unconcernedly flat-chested academic who, when she is not occupied polishing her Ph D from Sydney University, is certainly devoting no thought to her diminished ta-tas. The comfortable world of academia lost its balance when Lisa met Samantha X , and the monolithic power of mammary glands became apparent. Out of this business relationship grew the question: why all the fuss about boobs?
What follows is a thoughtful study of women’s glories. The book could hardly be described as a treatise since its light tone hides the fact that in seeking to write for an unspecialised audience, the ladies have made no attempt to satisfy the requirements of academia. It comes down to a choice between supplying an audience seeking a serious discussion and one seeking a semi-serious but playful view of the topic. The result is an open-handed endorsement of the burb’s claim that “Boobs is a smart, irreverent, wide-ranging and often hilarious conversation about the human and social-historical journey of breasts, richly illustrated with personal anecdotes and perspectives…from opposite ends of the bust spectrum”.
The book consists of forty-four chapters of widely divergent material. Anecdotes fill many chapters and inputs enrich the content. The material supplied by the second author, Samantha, is perhaps the least interesting. Her knowledge of boob enlargements and adjustments could have provided much enlightenment. Instruction in the world of the breast was provided by the chapter ‘a history of breast augmentations’ and a chapter, a little bit different we feel, on Saint Agatha of Sicily, contributed to the diversification. Some chapters filled space but added little. Finally, some were just plain silly.
A Table of Contents appears near the beginning of the book. This is very detailed and is perhaps one of the most useful parts included for reader assistance. As there is no way to differentiate between chapters or to ascertain the content matter of each chapter, the ToC becomes even more important.
The titles given by the author when naming the chapters are humorous and appropriate. Titles like Big Boobs, Small Boobs and the Madonna Whore Complex, or A History of Breast Augmentations speak for themselves whereas Body Dysmorphic Disorder sends the reader scurrying for Google. What fun!
Overall, this was a balanced selection of very interesting chapters, making up a comprehensive collection. My education is now complete.
Boobs
(2025)
by Dr Lisa Portalan and Amanda Goff
Echo Publishing
ISBN: 978-1760689919
$32.99; 240 pp