Eru aya, Oshodi-Oke, maami, ki leleyi?, aunty se n’ tomo lowo ni” (heavily breasted, what’s this?, are you breast feeding?) were the words that assailed the ears of a chubby and light-skinned 30-year-old Wunmi, as she alighted from a commercial bus at the popular Oshodi bus stop in Lagos.

The lady was trying to locate the Mafoluku part of the area that day. She has become used to manly taunts every time she walks Lagos streets with her mountainous boobs harassing eyes of sex-starved men and perverts.

That evening, the lady, who preferred to be identified only as Wunmi, said she took a commercial motorcycle plying an inner street she was heading for. She told our correspondent that some of the men who initially gathered under a tree followed her, shouting “o ma jabo (the breasts will fall)’ as the rider entered a bump in a dusty terrain.

She, however, said she was unperturbed as the scene had become normal for her.

A study, published in The Journal of Socio-Economics, found that men with fewer financial resources gravitate toward larger breasts.

Besides, a German study noted that looking at boobs for 10 minutes a day would improve a man’s cardiovascular health. These findings could have further impressed men who find large breasts irresistible.

Wunmi said, “It is what I face daily; bus conductors, okada riders, bus drivers, louts and others scream anytime they see me. Some men will stare at as if they want to enter inside me. I am used to it but it’s not right. They embarrass me all the time because I am busty. It is not that I did anything to my breasts to make them big. It is the way I am created. At first, I used to be shy about it but over time, I have come to accept it that that is the way I was created and I love my breasts.”

However, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), noted that sexual harassment didn’t have to be ‘sexual.’ It could also be teasing, intimidating or offensive comments based on stereotypes (e.g., about how certain people ‘are’ or should act), or bullying someone or a group of people based on their sex. It further defined nature and circumstances which sexual harassment was unlawful. They include unwelcome touching; staring or leering; suggestive comments or jokes; sexually explicit pictures or posters; requests for sex; intrusive questions about a person’s private life or body; unnecessary familiarity, such as deliberately brushing up against a person; insults or taunts based on sex and others.

Nasty experiences from raunchy men

Wunmi isn’t the only one caught in the web of constant sexual harassment by men both literate and illiterate, in private and public. Yomi, an administrative officer, is also one.

She has faced several sexual harassment from when she was young and it seems not to be ending soon especially from touts, commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders at bus stops.

The ladies who spoke with Saturday PUNCH gave only their first names and requested the covering of their faces to avoid undue publicity.

Yomi said, “When I found out that I have started growing big breasts back then, I did everything to hide them. I would wear a double bra so they wouldn’t show in my school uniform that my breasts were big.”

She added that like some others, some men usually harassed her with lewd comments whenever she went out as they hungrily feasted on her big breasts.’

The lady who spoke in a gentle manner said it was usually worse at bus stops while waiting buses as miscreants would take turns to embarrass her.

She said, “Whenever I got to a new place, I would hear things like; See boobiii, milk factory, busy body, Make e no burst oh, Eru and so on. It is embarrassing really.’’

She disclosed that she faced humiliation from secondary school till she became an adult, adding, “While I was in secondary school, one day, I was late for a class and immediately I entered the class, a youth corps member teaching physics, shouted ‘see boobii.’ The entire class roared with laughter. He said he wasn’t expecting a secondary school girl with such huge boobs. I felt humiliated that day. That event made me change from Science to Art class.’’

But now, Yomi noted that she had developed a thick skin against such comments to the extent that she smiles hearing such taunts.

A 20012 study by Fyrnham et all, said that females with large breasts were perceived as being more promiscuous and sexually open than females with smaller breasts. This may be the one of the reasons some men inconsiderately sneer busty ladies with bawdy remarks.

Taiwo, who just completed the National Youth Service Corps programme, expressed anger that when people looked at her, they usually first noticed her big breasts.

Her case is however different from Wunmi and Yomi’s as females always complimented her to ‘dash’ them her breasts.

She said, “Most women I meet every day want me to dash them my breast. They say if they could get my breasts, they would do a lot with them. I wish we could exchange.”

Taiwo also said many men usually embarrassed her on the streets with vulgar comments at bus parks.

“I’m used to comments like opor, maami, ha! kileleyi? They say a lot, but I don’t listen to them because if I do, I may end up having a bad day. I hear all sorts daily. But the day I can’t forget was a man came to me to say he would squeeze my breasts for N15, 000. He said he needed to be sure that they were real,” she added.

She told our correspondent that she was too shocked that day to know what to say and all she did was to walk away.

Faith is also endowed with full, big breasts. But like her peers, she always at the mercy of raunchy street men shaming busty women. She told Saturday PUNCH that she had become used to nicknames like “milk factory, eru aya (heavily ‘chested’) among others.

Some married women are not left out of breast- shaming narrative as a wife and mother of two, Mrs Cecilia, said she was paying a price for being a big breasted-woman.

She said, “The different looks I get every day for being busty are not what I can describe. Even in my office, some bosses who know you are married stare at your boobs as if you have committed an offence. Any conversation you have with them is an opportunity to stare at you. I remember a time I was working with a colleague and all he kept staring at my breasts. He would stare long until I tapped him. I confronted him someday and ensured we didn’t handle any assignments together.”

While some only stared that Cecelia’s big boobs, she recalled that when she was young, a lout embarrassingly tapped one of her breasts and ran away.

Buying bras, a tough task

Getting perfect bra sizes is a major task for people with big boobs. Their sizes are readily available but in recent times, they seem to be less scarce.

Some busty, aged grandmothers regaled their children and grandchildren stories of how they had to get tailors to sew their bras for them.

Bra sellers in new and secondhand markets try to include in their stocks sizes for women with boobs.

Wunmi said, “It might take a while to locate them but once you get the sellers, you make them your customer. I wear a 50K size and it’s not the regular bra you get everywhere. I used to go from one place to the other. You will get some they won’t size you. It was a friend of mine who took me to Balogun market on Lagos Island where she buys from.

“Since then, I have been patronising the seller who I call Alhaja. I also have a customer where I buy okrika from in Yaba. I buy from those two places. My bra size costs N3, 500 and above. Sometimes, it costs N5, 000. I once got one for N7, 000. They are expensive.”

Yomi said she uses size 48G but she has someone whom she contracts to help her get them.

She said, “I have someone who helps me get my bra size but I also get them from Lagos and the Republic of Benin. I buy it for N5, 000 upward. I have searched in times past till I met the lady who helps me to buy them.”

For Taiwo, she said she cannot afford the price for her perfect bra size but manages a 40K cup size.

She said, “I presently use a 40K and it’s not my actual size. I go to Yaba, Lagos Island, and Instagram to buy bras. I manage the size because that is what I can afford for now. The big sizes are usually expensive. The last one I got was from Yaba. But it took me one month to even get that particular size.”

Faith is also a lady endowed with big breasts. Beyond erotic comments from randy men and excess feasting on her breasts by others feigning gentleman looks, she wears a 42G.

According to her, she finds it hard to get her bra from nearby markets and usually travel to markets n Benin City Edo State to source for them.

She stated, “My bra size is in the market but I have to travel to the main market in the state to get my perfect size. I hardly find them in the neighbourhood market around my area.”

Cecelia said after failed attempts to get bras fitting her boobs, she embraced patronised secondhand markets.

She said, “Before now, I would buy new bras but they won’t size me. Some didn’t even last a month before the strap or plastic breaks. Because of that, I started to patronise secondhand market and it has been serving me. I get good ones between for N2, 500 and N4, 000.’’

Big breast, blessing or a curse?

Wunmi described having big boobs as both curse and blessing as far as she was concerned. She said she enjoyed the attention but didn’t like the discomfort associated with being busty.

She said, “I like the attention I get from having big breasts. My boyfriend likes them too. He enjoys playing with them as well. I like the way they speak in my clothes but they can be burdensome too.

“The back pain that comes with carrying the load from morning till night is not easy. Also, the peppering from the straps too can be tough especially in hot weather.”

For Yomi, it is a blessing seeing her breast as an asset. She stated that she enjoyed the attention they draw and proud of them.

She said, “I see my breasts as an asset. I don’t see them as burdensome. I have accepted them for what they are; a part of my body. I don’t have pain in my back at all. I think with a good bra size, one will be good. I don’t usually have a wardrobe malfunction because I wear stretchy clothes a lot.

“I don’t want them to be bigger than this. I exercise by jogging but I do my exercise early in the morning or evening because I don’t want to cause commotion.’’

On her part, Taiwo had yet to master arts of being confident with large boobs as she didn’t see blessing derivable from having big breasts. She neither enjoyed their public display nor the burden they had become.

She said, “I was and still shy. I don’t want them. The attention they attract isn’t the right one for me. I had small boobs until my second year at the university. I hopefully didn’t want them to be bigger. If I didn’t add more weight, they wouldn’t be bigger.

“Men usually don’t want anything serious with me. They are only attracted to the breasts. I do have a wardrobe malfunction a lot. I enjoy nothing about my big breasts. I usually have back pain. It’s like carrying a block on one’s chest. But I don’t have a choice. I have to keep enduring until I get to the house and unleash them.’’

Taiwo said if she had money, she would do breast reduction surgery, adding that she hadn’t got the energy to flaunt big boobs.

She stated, “I would want them to reduce to the level of wearing a 38C cup size. I would be fine with that.”

On her part, Faith said she fancied her big breast which her boyfriend also treasured. “I want to have such breasts over and over again. The only thing I usually have is heartburn but people with small breasts also have it.’’

Cecelia noted that her husband married her because of her breasts as he enjoyed playing with them.

She said, “It can cause back pain when one packs them always. If one packs them moderately; they won’t cause much pain. It’s not everybody that will have pointed breasts. How can one have huge breasts and expect them to be pointed.”