I'm one of those women who has absolutely no concept of why men (and a lot of women) find the appeal of oversized breasts so facinating. I was one of those who had been "blessed" (or in my mind cursed) with breasts that were not large. They were enormous. I was the only girl in my junior high class who had no choice but to wear an underwire. By the time I graduated high school, I was a 36 FFF. Oh, yeah - they brought me a lot of attention. I felt like a circus sideshow freak at times. The interest many boys seemed to have changed from admiration to mocking. I hated undressing in the gym locker room with my huge, ugly beige bra with five snaps in the back and thick straps.

Back then, there was no such thing as a sports bra that would provide such large breasts nearly enough support so physical exercise was never easy. An avid horseback rider, I kept a denim jacket that was several sizes too small to compress my breasts and limit bouncing. I was advised not to jog because of the risk of tearing tissue in my breasts. Finding a bathing suit was impossible (they just weren't made), and forget about buying a dress. I lived in seperates and tops had to be bought several sizes larger than I needed in order to fit over my breasts. I usually ended up looking like a poorly made bed.

As I got older, there were more serious issues for me to deal with. I have breast cancer on both sides of my family and my paternal grandmother (who also was extremely large breasted) died of breast cancer because she didn't discover the lump until it was the size of an orange. I was developing severe neck and back problems and grew physically tired easily. My shoulders had grooves dug into them from the thick bra straps and I had broken blood vessels in my shoulders. All in all, my breasts were making me utterly (no pun intended) miserable.

The decision to have a breast reduction was not made lightly or easily. I held off for several years after my parents first floated the idea to me and finally decided at the age of 21 that I needed to do something. The procedure was long and the recovery was uncomfortable at best. But I remember going into a store right before my surgery to buy my post-op bras - plain cotton in a C cup - and was amazed that in the not too distant future, they would actually fit me.

Years down the road, I know that I had made the right decision. I am physically comfortable and can run, jump and do all the activities that I had so much difficulty with. I can buy clothes that fit and look well on me. I am no longer embarassed about undressing in front of other people and show off my scars proudly. My breasts fit my body now.

Whenever I see a woman looking to get huge implants or complaining that her normal-sized breasts are too small, I just want to knock her in the head. It's had to explain to them the physical and emotional pain that I'd gone though, and how much better life is for me with a breast that just fills a C cup. I don't want to pass judgement on them, but I cannot help from thinking how foolish they are. Women who came by huge breasts naturally know that the appeal of them runs thin very quickly.

But that doesn't mean it didn't have a grain of truth in it. The judge did not seem to be excusing the rapist at all, but he was making a statement that this young woman made a very foolish mistake by accepting a ride from a man that she didn't know and putting herself in a vulnerable position. No woman who has ever seen an after-school television special about the dangers of hitchhiking would make the mistake of getting into a car with someone they didn't know.

I am not trying to blame the victim here in any way. But women have to be conscious of the fact that there are plenty of bad people out there who will look to hurt you if you put yourself in a vulnerable position. How many cases to we read about women who find themselves raped after getting drunk at a party, or women who go missing after leaving a bar with someone that they just met. The cold hard truth is that it is dangerous out there and while you can't protect yourself in every circumstance, you can certainly take some precaution so that you don't hold a neon sign over your head that reads "Potential Victim Here".

I am a woman. And I would rather leave a bar sober, or walk a mile to a destination that end up a statistic.