I have always been fascinated with breasts. You could say they provide me a sense of comfort. Though some may not share my enthusiasm, it is important to evaluate how we feel about them. Since I arrived in the valley two years ago, I have noticed so many fake breasts I don’t know whether I should feel perplexed or extremely grateful.

Dr. June Reinisch did research in sexual development and found that men liking large breasts is a myth. Just 50 percent of men polled thought breast size is important when it comes to sexual attraction, and only half of those men preferred large breasts.

Men are not only bad liars, but they are not embracing their nature.

Sigmund Freud provided insight as to why men find breasts so appealing. He argued an infant’s desire for oral sensation spurs an obsession with breasts. It is supposed to end by the phallic stage (3 to 6 years old) when the fixation shifts to the boy’s own penis. I am still waiting to be freed from these two complexes.

Some evolutionary biologists argue humans (with the exception of the bonobo) are the only primates who have sex face to face; all other primates choose the front-to-back position and breasts, which non-humans do not have, can resemble a buttocks.

The fascination with fuller breasts has seeped into the female psyche. Three weeks ago, 3,000 women in Britain were surveyed and 63 percent confessed to suffer from “breast envy” and wanted bigger breasts.

More women are opting for surgery to accomplish this.

In America, according to Cosmetic Plastic Surgery’s research Web site, 355,671 women underwent breast augmentation in 2008, compared to 101, 176 in 1997.

This has spawned a demand for evaluating how the sexes feel about this trendy development.

The Orange County Register polled the question: “Do men find the results of breast implants attractive?” Forty percent of men answered “no,” and 33 percent answered “yes” to the question. According to the same poll, 35 percent of women believe men are attracted to fake breasts.

I have found some men that view women who “artificially” enhance their body image as an indication of being superficial, lacking self-esteem, or being intellectually and emotionally hollow. I have been guilty of this contradiction in the past, which has impelled me to seek reconciliation.

Men who play the “I don’t like artificial women” card need to wake up and acknowledge their hypocrisy. All women wear makeup; their faces don’t naturally look like that. Lots of women dye their hair; their hair isn’t that color. Some women wear padded bras; their breasts aren’t that big. We do not criticize these women for misrepresenting themselves. It is an accepted societal norm for women to alter their aesthetic appeal in these ways.

A man’s delicate ego and sensibility may lend itself to making snap judgments in vain at fake breasted women that reflect the inconsistencies we all tend to hold regarding the idea of natural beauty. Upon deeper inspection, men should find no good reason to do so.

I still prefer them large and natural, but I cannot in good conscious claim to be appalled by the exaggerated cleavage I see on campus and all over the valley; neither should you.