Writer and presenter Jackie Adedeji has embarked on a mission to ensure the society respects women with large boobs.
According to her, there have been times in her life where she wanted to hide just because she was a size 36k.
She told BBC Newsbeat, “From about 11 years old I was super sexualised, I remember vivid experiences of walking to school and having grown men walking past me licking their lips.
“I’ve also been in meetings, where you have colleagues staring at you, making you feel like you’re here to be a sexual object.”
Mrs Adedeji is exploring these issues in a new Channel 4 documentary Untold: My Big Boobs.
While many are unable to contain the pressure they face and eventually go under the knife, Adedeji said she has learnt to embrace her body with age.
She added that people in the UK, for instance, see women with big boobs as “funny and silly”.
Breast reductions are the second most popular aesthetic procedure, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
The association said there were 5,270 breast reductions in 2022, up 120% from the year before and higher than pre-Covid.
Adedeji revealed she grew up in a religious home where there was an expectation of modesty.
“You’re supposed to be classy and additionally, as a black woman, you always want to come across in the most positive way possible and I often felt that my boobs weren’t seen as a positive thing,” she said.
Asked when she discovered her confidence, she told the British Black List:
“Probably 18 years old. I have always been very tuned into who I am at my core, maybe it’s because I’m Nigerian and we’re taught to be proud of who you are from an early age. However, I always knew I wanted to do something great, It’s just a God-given feeling.”
Adedeji met a lot of women who are suffering with big boobs when making her Channel 4 documentary.
She said she doesn’t think people get “how mentally taxing it is” having bigger breasts.
“They feel shameful, because a lot of people feel ownership towards your boobs, when they’re big, they are seen as public property,” she said.
