The United States today probably has the largest population in history of men with breasts caused by voluntary choices.

There are other causes than voluntary choices as this Newsweek article says,

It can sometimes be hereditary but is more commonly spurred by conditions like obesity, chronic kidney disease or an overactive thyroid, as well as by certain medications like steroids that cause hormone levels to shift.

but many men choose behavior that causes their bodies to grow breasts.

I wrote the other day about people choosing behaviors that lead to consequences they don’t like but continue doing them. I’m only talking about them today.

For men who like being obese and having breasts, more power to them. It’s not my taste, but I support a man who acts on his values.

For those who don’t like being obese and having breasts, the numbers imply that that population must overlap with the people who support the overwhelming supermarket floor space devoted to salt, sugar, and fat and who support the huge profits of McDonald’s, Starbucks, and their salt-sugar-fat peers, and who buy diet books.

Among those who choose to buy and eat all the soda, chips, ice cream, and such, why behave in ways that conflict with your values? Changing behavior can be hard, as everyone knows, but people do it all the time.

The Newsweek article describes how gaining weight through choices spirals up estrogen production, which leads to more breast and so on.

One of the biggest culprits for adults—and one that’s easily avoidable—is weight gain. Braunstein, a hormone expert, explains that when men gain weight, they’re not just getting bigger; the extra weight is actually changing their hormone production—and not in a way that most men would like. By nature, fat tissue manufactures the female hormone estrogen, which in turn stimulates breast tissue—meaning that significant weight gain will always be associated with some sort of breast growth, even in men, according to experts. A person who’s overweight will be fatter all around, and maybe even develop the excessive breast fat that doctors call pseudogynecomastia—the appearance of male breasts caused by fat alone. But Dr. Elliot Jacobs, a New York plastic surgeon who specializes in gynecomastia treatment (and who suffers from the condition himself), says that most really overweight men are developing actual breast tissue, not just some extra padding. Doctors say that virtually all obese men (those who have a body mass index of 30 or greater, experience some degree of breast growth. And once that breast tissue is established, it doesn’t go away on its own—no matter how much you exercise or diet, warns Braunstein. Considering that 75 percent of Americans are likely to be overweight by 2015, according to a recent John Hopkins study, men may want to think twice about supersizing that cheeseburger.

Obviously, not only men choose to become obese and I suppose many men like the results, but as a man who wouldn’t want to be obese enough to develop breasts, I’m curious about them.

Why do so many men who don’t like the results of their choices still choose behaviors that cause them to develop breasts?

Of those who buy large amounts of Ben and Jerry’s, Coca-Cola, Twinkies, and so on, what do they think and how do they feel when they buy them?

Does American society like male breasts more than ever?

I feel I pointed out enough but I’ll point out again that I’m talking about men who don’t like having breasts but who chose behaviors that caused them, not ones who like them or developed them involuntarily.

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