"A Few Words About Breasts" is an essay by the American writer Nora Ephron that appeared in the May 1972 issue of ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

''. Written at the height of the

second-wave feminist Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. W ...

movement, the essay humorously explores

body image Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...

and the psychological effects of being small-breasted. Numerous writers have suggested that "A Few Words About Breasts" functions as a sort of origin story for Ephron's career as a humorist.

Publication history

"A Few Words About Breasts" was originally published in ''

'' on May 1, 1972. It later appeared in Ephron's 1975 essay collection ''

Crazy Salad Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

'' and was reprinted in ''The 50 Funniest American Writers'', a 2011 anthology published by the

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors rangi ...

.Bosman, Julie
"Two Out-of-Print Nora Ephron Books to Be Published as Single Volume,"
''The New York Times'' September 19, 2012.Fallon, Kevin
"Life, Death, and Everything Is Copy: Nora Ephron’s Final, Most Revealing Lessons,"
''The Daily Beast'' March 21, 2016.

Reception

In a 2012 interview, Ephron referred to the essay as a turning point in her career, noting that "you could look at the careers of many women writers and see that moment where they did 'the shocking thing'," offering Lillian Hellman's 1934 play '' The Children's Hour'' and

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in ...

's 1963 article " A Bunny's Tale" as examples.Borel, Kathryn
"An Interview with Nora Ephron"
''The Believer'' March 1, 2012. One of the shocking elements of Ephron's essay was its use of the word "

shit ''Shit'' is a word considered to be vulgar and profane in Modern English. As a noun, it refers to fecal matter, and as a verb it means to defecate; in the plural ("the shits"), it means diarrhea. ''Shite'' is a common variant in British an ...

"; the editors of ''Esquire'' asked Ephron to alter the phrase, citing the magazine's policy of banning four-letter words but Ephron threatened to withdraw the piece and the editors relented.Cohen, Richard. ''She Made Me Laugh: My Friend Nora Ephron''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016. pp. 90–95. Ephron was unsure whether the essay would "be a huge success or be judged as a kind of 'Who needs to know any of this?' kind of thing", and upon publication it prompted an enormous amount of reader response, making Ephron "both famous and infamous". The prominent Conservative rabbi

Arthur Hertzberg Arthur Hertzberg (June 9, 1921 – April 17, 2006) was a Conservative rabbi and prominent Jewish-American scholar and activist. Biography Avraham Hertzberg was born in Lubaczów, Poland, the eldest of five children, and left Europe in 1926 with ...

wrote to ''Esquire'' suggesting that Ephron return "to Beverly Hills High School where you will write on the blackboard one hundred times 'It is better to be a lady than to kiss and tell'," and in 1975 Ephron said, "I still get these endless letters saying, 'You're wrong, you're wrong. In 2012 ''The New York Times'' referred to it as "one of Ms. Ephron's most memorable essays". In 2016 ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' declared it "the perfect personal essay". Ephron's friend and biographer Richard Cohen wrote that the essay "has been widely misread since 1972 as a self-deprecating trifle....But as in ''

Heartburn Heartburn, also known as pyrosis, cardialgia or acid indigestion, is a burning sensation in the central chest or upper central abdomen. Heartburn is usually due to regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux) into the esophagus. It is the ma ...

'', her novel that was to follow, the humor camouflaged considerable anger." In 2012, the critic

Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for ''The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with Jenna Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing.'' Previously, Morr ...

framed "A Few Words About Breasts" as a feminist cultural critique disguised as a comic essay, praising Ephron's use of observation, self-deprecation, and hyperbole. "Ephron was often struggling to reconcile a woman's body being this intersection of personal, public, and political space," Morris wrote, adding, "Small breasts forced Ephron to think about what her other options were as a woman". Numerous writers have suggested that "A Few Words About Breasts" functions as a sort of origin story for Ephron's career as a humorist. In ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', Ariel Levy speculated that "If Nora Ephron had been born buxom.... Harry might never have met Sally," and the comedian

Jessi Klein Jessi Ruth Klein (born August 18, 1975) is an American writer, actress and stand-up comedian from New York City. Klein has regularly appeared on shows such as ''The Showbiz Show with David Spade'' and VH1's ''Best Week Ever'' and has performed ...

has said, "I relate to pretty much every word of he essay...There is something about the struggle of having to get male attention without breasts that I think made me funnier".Brancaccio, David, and Jessi Klein
"A Few Words About Breasts"
''Esquire Classic'' podcast August 15, 2016.

References

External links

"A Few Words About Breasts"
at Esquire.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Few Words About Breasts 1972 essays American essays Works by Nora Ephron