Salon.com > R. Jan Gurley http://www.salon.com Wed, 30 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Honey, I shrunk my breasts! http://www.salon.com/2007/09/18/shrinking_breasts/ http://www.salon.com/2007/09/18/shrinking_breasts/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/life//feature/2007/09/18/shrinking_breasts My friends with daughters are comparing notes on what's happening on the puberty front in each of our houses. All the discussions proceed in the most genteel, discreet, kids-might-overhear, suburban mom code:

Mom 1: "Anything? You guys got anything at your house?"

Mom 2: "Nah."

Mom 3: "Well," significant pause, "we've got buds -- maybe even a Tanner II."

Mom 4: "Buds?" Choking snort of coffee, "we're way beyond buds. Tanner III or IV at least."

See, for moms of adolescent girls, "Tanner" is a useful code for covertly talking about breasts. Named after a pediatrician, Tanner refers to the stages of breast development. Breast growth starts with something called breast buds; then, based on a timeline, breast growth expands (pardon the pun) to several stages of development (I-V). The cynical among us might say that Dr. Tanner is famous for describing the obvious: Breasts start small, get bigger.

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