What Medically, Anatomically Is Happening In This NSFW Skydiving Photograph?

August 3, 2009 8:59 AM

Something that's always had me a bit curious: how is what's happening to the breasts of the female skydivers in this image that's circulated around the 'Net (NSFW) even anatomically possible?

I obviously know what's causing this – the force of the air from their freefall – but I suppose I'm just a little stumped on why the physiological result is that.

And why, if there's such a wind force, does there remain extruding "sides" of the breasts? If you were to flip the picture upside down, the effect on their breasts is sort of like a cup – a cylindrical "side" of the cup with a depression formed in the middle. If there's such a wind force as to push a female breast into the shape of that depression in the middle, why do those "sides" still stay up? Wouldn't the whole thing be a depression pushed inward?

(And, as a side note, speaking as a guy, how can that be happening to the female skydivers' breasts without his own, ahem, extrusion suffering from a similar condition?)

I'm not sure if this was originally put on the 'Net to be arousing, but I didn't find it the least bit so – my main reaction to it was a curious "How the hell does that happen to the human body?"

So, those with medical knowhow, mind enlightening me?

posted by WCityMike to science & nature (10 comments total)

I think it has to do with minimizing surface area and elastic tension. If the breasts were stretched flat and convex the skin would have to stretch much further, resulting more elastic forces trying to pull them back into their natural shape.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:19 AM on August 3

And why, if there's such a wind force, does there remain extruding "sides" of the breasts? If you were to flip the picture upside down, the effect on their breasts is sort of like a cup – a cylindrical "side" of the cup with a depression formed in the middle. If there's such a wind force as to push a female breast into the shape of that depression in the middle, why do those "sides" still stay up? Wouldn't the whole thing be a depression pushed inward?

Are you imagining that, minus the wind, her breasts would look the same except with the depression "filled in" to normal breast shape?

I doubt that they would. the "sides" are not "staying up"; they are being pushed outwards by the displacement of the interior.

Imagine a ball of clay. Stick your thumb in it. Yes, a depression gets made. No, the shape of the clay ignoring the depression does not remain the same shape. It gets pushed out.

(And, as a side note, speaking as a guy, how can that be happening to the female skydivers' breasts without his own, ahem, extrusion suffering from a similar condition?)

Because they're different sizes, shapes, consistencies, and attached to the main mass of the body in different ways.
posted by Flunkie at 9:40 AM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

It's called Ptosis. It's part of the aging process, because of breast feeding or, weight gain > weight loss. As the girls fail to defy gravity over time, the fat tissue starts to seperate from the chest wall and the skin stretches.
posted by squeak at 9:48 AM on August 3

If you look at their arms, the same thing effect is occurring on a smaller scale. It's not as pronounced because of the shape of arms and the rigidity of muscle compared to fat, which is what breasts are composed of. This also explains why the guy's penis isn't doing the same thing, smaller mass, different shape etc.

You can see the same effect with just about any air dryers in a public restroom, though I wouldn't recommend anyone try it on their breasts.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:17 AM on August 3

I think part of what you have to consider here is that this image reflects the state of the breast at a very specific moment in time (when there is likely to be a lot of movement).

My guess is that the shape you see there is in fact a snapshot of a ripple. Only a video would prove this, but I am pretty confident that it _would_ show the ripple, or a ripple-like effect. People's cheeks do the same thing because they are not firmly supported by lean tissue or bone.
posted by milqman at 10:23 AM on August 3

Kinda like this, this, or this.

The edges of the ripple give it away (I think). It would be sweet to see bewbs ripple like that. I bet it was epic!
posted by milqman at 11:01 AM on August 3

Page of video with people skydiving nude. The last one has a woman and it shows the rippling effect milqman mentions.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:11 AM on August 3

If there's such a wind force as to push a female breast into the shape of that depression in the middle, why do those "sides" still stay up? Wouldn't the whole thing be a depression pushed inward?

Are you imagining that the breasts should get pushed inside the body cavity? Or be completely and uniformly flattened?

To compare the breasts I will call them 1, 2, 3 and 4 (L-R). I think the source of your confusion is that the photographer caught 3 and 4 at a weird moment of being shaped in perfect semi-spheres. Live, I'd bet they would look more like 2 (kind of all over the place and ripply as others have said).
posted by cranberrymonger at 12:54 PM on August 3

(And, as a side note, speaking as a guy, how can that be happening to the female skydivers' breasts without his own, ahem, extrusion suffering from a similar condition?)

Also because the male, ahem, extension is a lot more variable from moment to moment in density and elasticity. Less obliquely, I suspect the guy in the middle has a hard-on and the two guys flanking him who are less visible are flapping in he breeze.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:56 PM on August 3

for comparison - (nsfw)here is a woman with fake boobs sky diving. you can also see the ripple effect on her nether region as she spins around. in the picture you posted, like others have said, the boobs are rippling. a still image just doesn't show the full movement.
posted by nadawi at 1:39 PM on August 3