Cup Size in Stories

[TarnishedPenny]

Thinking back, I’ve written some which dwelt on size, but they are the exceptions. One (presumably well-endowed) woman wanted me to write a tale highlighting the problems that come with a big pair. Another person had a thing for big-chested mermaids; I did two of those. I wrote another for myself in which the heroine feels that her A-cups aren’t sexy and gets magically proved wrong. So, out of close to 100, I’ve written four which dwelt on breast size. The rest of the time, it’s been verbal descriptions, not cup sizes. It has worked out.

 

[yowser]

For me the sign of good writing is the perceptive detail, which is usually not size, color, etc. but the unique aspect of the subject at hand, as it were, and which lets me know the character/narrator is astute, alert and notices the right evocative qualities.

 

[Voboy]

I think I once invented the phrase, "she had those big-ass, racing-car hootenanny tits."

I don't think I've found a use for it yet.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I avoid numbers unless it's essential to the story. If I wrote that my FMC wore a 20D, I'd have so many comments that she was an unrealistic stick figure with huge tits. That is a normal size for an Australian woman and it equates to a US/UK 42D.

Don't worry about them crack smokers. A 20 D is pretty much a large C cup on some women, not that big at all. Bra size is a wizardry I have a simple grasp on.

For what it is worth, from a new (heterosexual male) Lit author that is not familiar with all the unspoken codes and mores of Lit, but have published enough to find out there are plenty, for me breast size is important, and have mentioned with regard to every FMC. Using descriptive language, US numbers, or both. I am ok with it since I write to what I like, not to "sell" to the broadest possible audience, since we are not really selling here. I think of it as a fetish, and that is that. I have zero ability to estimate when it is not of my preferred size. But I recognize my prefered size when I see it. Plus or minus one letter or 2 number increment (by that I mean 34 vs 36, say). It is not unreasonable for me to assume my MMCs do to. And that it is part of what hooks them to my FMCs.

If you wanna profile your characters go ahead. We're just saying, sometimes less is more. Sometimes I know exactly what my characters look like, I just keep it to myself.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I'm a woman who's done more than a little bra shopping. And a fair amount of cosying up to other women and their breasts...

Yes, I understand bra sizes, but it's a very flat unemotional way to describe a figure. You're basically saying your wife used to be slim and flat-chested and now she's fatter with small-to-medium tits. I'm sure she's lovely, but it's hardly an erotic description!

Mention a slim, lithe lass needing only a flimsy bra to cover up adorable nipples, or a woman benefitting from pregnancy by acquiring bigger breasts that fill your hands perfectly... that's starting to be interesting.

Also you may understand bra sizes but many authors don't. A D cup isn't big, unless you're somewhere like Japan. Where's the GG cups? (on my chest, actually, and no, they're not huge, just a bit above average). K, L or M - that's large breasts that you'd notice, but even people writing stories about big breasts don't get into those letters.

Several American brands start using triple letters after DD so get through the alphabet slower than European brands which only use letters and double letters. Add non-recognition of metric vs inch band sizes, and whatever that Australian number comes from, and you're going to confuse a large chunk of readers by using bra sizes. Don't get me started on sizes varying between bra brands...

Not too mention that two cup sizes can be practically the same size, and the bust size can change the cup size... wizardry I say!

Yes, even in clothing sizing- a size 12 in the UK is different in different shops, and is nothing to do with the US measurements? Size 0 anyone?

In a novel they are either going to say small or large chested if they say anything at all?

In erotica you might describe the areola as a large purple dinner plate with a cherry on top if you wanted to avoid saying they had 36DD chest?

It's like that here in the US with womens clothing sizes, one might try on three different pants from three different stores, that are three "different" sizes. Then there's the underwear. I found out, because I like wearing pedal pushers, that a size 12 is pretty much a mens 36, now I'm in a 38, so I can fit 16s and some 14s. I have worn womens panties here and there, and when I was a 36, or 12, they were an 8 or 10. Wut?

Also large areola and Rollo nipples aren't mutually exclusive to big, or "big" titties.

Even the word “big” is open to individual interpretation! Breasts that fit a 34D look big to me.

Referring back to my comment about Playboy using measurements, most Playmates were in the 34C to 36D range.

They really aren't that big, my guy, I promise you. You want big, then look up Alicia 32JJ. Also the number is the bust size, the only way a D cup would look big, was if they were on Kate Moss back in the 90s.

 

[LucieLou007]

I prefer stories with a good description of the people in the story to be honest.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Cup sizes are meant for the kitchen... Men love numbers and comparisons... Write a sex scene in the kitchen...

'She scooped a cup of lard, massaging it into his 300gms of self-raising flour and soon they were making 8-inch sausage rolls together.'

Barks in Tim Allen

Anything more than a mouthful is a waste.

Lies, fucking lies.

 

[Zootonius]

I prefer stories with a good description of the people in the story to be honest.

But should the descriptions be objective or subjective? That is, their dimensions, hair color, etc. Or how they are perceived by other characters?

 

[KeithD]

But should the descriptions be objective or subjective? That is, their dimensions, hair color, etc. Or how they are perceived by other characters?

The problem is there in the second word. Fiction isn't limited by "should."

 

[LucieLou007]

But should the descriptions be objective or subjective? That is, their dimensions, hair color, etc. Or how they are perceived by other

For me its objective, I don't read stories that have no description of them who is in it, whether its hair color, age, bust size, etc, I cancel them and find something else

 

[stickygirl]

For me its objective, I don't read stories that have no description of them who is in it, whether its hair color, age, bust size, etc, I cancel them and find something else

Forgive me, but do you mean objectionable, rather than objective?

 

[Comshaw]

So, I’ve now received a few negative comments about using “cup size” to describe women’s breasts in stories. (Yes, all anonymous!!!) They claim that nobody would describe womens breasts like that (or using inches for men.)

I beg to differ. I know my wife is a 38C. She used to be a 34A before kids. I knew the bra sizes of past girlfriends, too. I sometimes used them to give imagery of size in my stories. What are other authors’ thoughts?

Do these readers want me to use fruit comparisons? Tangerines? Grapefruits? Glass size! Champagne glass? Gallon jugs? Sports metaphors? Softballs? Badminton shuttlecock?

I jest … but am curious for thoughts.

I use both cup size and analogical comparisons. And like you I've had gripes about using the former. To me though at times, in particular stories it's called for. And since I write by the seat of my pants, if it feels like it fits, it goes in and fuck a bunch of "this isn't how it should be done". My use of cup size hasn't seemed to affect the popularity of any particular story.

Do it how you want and write it how you want it to be received. Don't care about votes and favorites? Then fuck 'em! You do? Looking for votes and favorites and trying to keep that score up? Then write it to appease the largest audience. It's all up to you.

More than a mouthful IS NOT a waste. I'm a aficionado of the female body. And breasts are a BIG attraction for me, as I suspect it is for 99.9999999% of hetero men.

I don't have a favorite size. From itty bitty to great biguns I like 'em all. That said the itty bitty mouthfuls are fabulous but have difficulty doing a proper titty fuck, whereas the great biguns are fantastic for that. A woman should be appreciated for who she is not what I want her to be.

Comshaw

 

[Athalia]

When you consider the range of shapes and sizes of women's breasts, where the nipple is on it and how it's colored and how big it is, and whether the breasts have visible sag or not ("the pencil test"), you'll see that cup size per se is the least informative of all the descriptions. That's why I seldom refer to one.

(FWIW, my cup size is either AA or A depending on where I buy my bras from. That's another thing: US sizes for cups are hardly the rigid standard that men seem to take them for. As I think I mentioned a long time ago, the best fitting ones were the ones I found in a Super Kmart... in the juniors section.)

 

[Rustyoznail]

I think I once invented the phrase, "she had those big-ass, racing-car hootenanny tits."

I don't think I've found a use for it yet.

Hmm, how about a story with woman who's brothers roar around the countryside in an orange Dodge Challenger and the shenanigans she gets up to keeping them out of jail.

 

[Bazzle]

I've not yet got around to having a girl with natural enough tits that one is bigger/misshapen than the other...maybe I should.

 

[LovesDancing]

I've only begun to write stories but I didn't do anything to describe how the woman looks, except blonde hair and beautiful. What I did, and will continue to do, is tell the reader in the beginning of the story (multiple chapters) to look at the pictures of a woman (in this case Laura Cover) and imagine her in the story.

 

[jehoram]

More than a mouthful IS NOT a waste. I'm a aficionado of the female body. And breasts are a BIG attraction for me, as I suspect it is for 99.9999999% of hetero men.

I'm proud to say that I'm a member of that small fraction of one percent who isn't. I do love the occasional rack that dangles invitingly when the woman is astride me, but I'm generally in the A-cup to B-cup range.

That's another thing: US sizes for cups are hardly the rigid standard that men seem to take them for.

Yeah, that thing about "sizes" in women's clothing. We men have it easy: when I buy a pair of jeans with a 30" inseam and a 36" waist, I know they'll fit me. Of course, we're still stuck with small, medium, and large in things like underwear.

What I did, and will continue to do, is tell the reader in the beginning of the story (multiple chapters) to look at the pictures of a woman (in this case Laura Cover) and imagine her in the story.

I've done that. In one of my earliest stories, I wrote:

"She was a dark-haired, deep-bosomed lady with fair skin and deep brown eyes -- think a shorter, slightly stouter Marina Sirtis and you'd be close."

And I got a comment from somebody (not a Star Trek: Next Gen fan, obviously) who said "Who the hell is Marina Sirtis?" He couldn't be bothered with Googling it, and I guess I really couldn't expect him to. (BTW: who the hell is Laura Cover. Never mind... I'll Google her.)

 

[Bdm20]

Started to read a story the other day, supposedly written from a woman’s perspective, describing one woman as having 36” breasts, another having 34” breasts, and a third having “only 32” breasts”. Uh, cup size? What’s that? Sigh.

 

[Euphony]

And I got a comment from somebody (not a Star Trek: Next Gen fan, obviously) who said "Who the hell is Marina Sirtis?" He couldn't be bothered with Googling it, and I guess I really couldn't expect him to.

You can so long as you recognize the readers autonomy to not go along with the exercise.

I almost always avoid real life references for the real life baggage that comes along with them. Even outside of "he/she's not my type" there is a real inability for media consumers to seperate the work (the characters portrayed, the media persona in interview, the on stage musician/challenging lyrics, etc.) from the person.

I've my own biases and have little clue where some of them came from even when I am more conscious about them.

For me it's as much about avoiding any disruptive negativities as it is leaving a mostly blank canvas for the reader.

(and when I'm really writing well, I'm writing the character to sensically appeal to the love interest, not the reader. I really want the paramour to make sense FOR THEM and write the other lover/protag well enough the reader empathizes/champions them even if they are divergent from who the reader is. I fail often but prefer that to excessive readership tailoring.)

 

[TarnishedPenny]

The funny thing is that people fixate on the letter, thinking higher letters mean bigger breasts. In some cases, that’s simply wrong.

‘Sister size’ bras are garments which have the same cup volume (actual breast size, ie) but different sized bands (the part that goes horizontally around the torso).

Keeping in mind that while not every company keeps to the same sizing standards, the general letter explanation is that it is an indication of the difference between the size of the rib age and the breasts. If one uses a tape measure and finds a one-inch difference, it’s an A-cup, a two-inch difference is a B-cup and so forth.

That might seem simple enough, but it means that the cup volume (actual boob size) can be the same although the band size and letter size vary. For instance, 34DD cups are essentially the same size as both 30F and 38C cups. Ms Average, Ms Slender and Ms Plump in this case all wear different size bras but all have the same size breasts.

For somebody to drool over C or D cups makes little sense without more information. I guess it’s a cultural statement or something, but it’s not related to much.

 

[KeithD]

The funny thing is that people fixate on the letter, thinking higher letters mean bigger breasts. In some cases, that’s simply wrong.

‘

Still in the weeds on this. For most writing/reading cup sizes, the details mean nothing. They are thinking "small," "big," and "humma, humma humongous." They aren't thinking anything more refined than this. But, for them, this is the arousal spectrum. All of the manufacturers' specs anyone wants to throw at them is irrelevant to them and is a wasted and unrequested push lecture.

 

[onehitwanda]

Started to read a story the other day, supposedly written from a woman’s perspective, describing one woman as having 36” breasts, another having 34” breasts, and a third having “only 32” breasts”. Uh, cup size? What’s that? Sigh.

Isn't it obvious?

One of them has thirty six identical one-inch tall breasts. The second, mammarially-inferior has only thirty four. The sad, deprived back-of-the-rack Bertha has only thirty two of them.

I guess the author ate the rest of them.

 

[Euphony]

Isn't it obvious?

One of them has thirty six identical one-inch tall breasts. The second, mammarially-inferior has only thirty four. The sad, deprived back-of-the-rack Bertha has only thirty two of them.

I guess the author ate the rest of them.

 

[onehitwanda]

View attachment 2218808

Or as I like to call it... Amuse-bouche.

 

[Zootonius]

Isn't it obvious?

One of them has thirty six identical one-inch tall breasts. The second, mammarially-inferior has only thirty four. The sad, deprived back-of-the-rack Bertha has only thirty two of them.

I guess the author ate the rest of them.

Kinda like the "Millennium Falcon making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs."