How many times in a working day do you bemoan the size of your tits? Unless they’re so big that they’re hurting your back or physically getting in the way as you type, they’re probably not the first, or indeed last thing you think about.
But imagine if your day job was playing tennis, and you had to negotiate a 34DD every time you hit the court? This was exactly the problem 22-year-old Simona Halep faced.
Five years ago, she had a breast reduction, taking her down to a 34C, because the size of her chest was causing her pain, and was even reducing her reaction time. And since having the op? She’s become the fourth ranking female player in the world.
‘It’s the weight that troubles me. My ability to react quickly, my breasts make me uncomfortable when I play,’ Halep said at the time of her operation. She’s since said that the decision has paid off. ‘I would have gone for surgery even if I hadn’t been a sportswoman.’
In fact, since having the op, Halep has quickly risen up the world ranking – landing a spot in the world’s top 50 at the end of 2012, before being named both the WTA’s Most Improved Player and ESPN Center Court’s 2013 Most Improved Player.
It does raise some interesting questions around how we view plastic surgery. No-one would question the legitimacy of Halep’s decision – she’s a world-class athlete who was physically impaired from reaching her full potential, so why shouldn’t she do something about it?
But would we always applaud a woman for having plastic surgery to advance her career, which was exactly what Halep was doing? Of course not, the girl who gets a boob job to further her career as a glamour model is roundly vilified (not least because whereas a breast reduction is applauded as an empowering move, getting a boob job is roundly frowned upon – having big boobs out of choice isn’t empowering, apparently).
You can argue that Halep had her breast reduction for physiological, rather than aesthetic reasons, but how do we know that her desire to wear a button-down shirt without a gape wasn’t as important to her as her ability to return a backhand shot without her breasts getting in the way? We don’t, and it wouldn’t matter either way.
And if she did, in fact, do it for aesthetic reasons, then who can blame her? Halep’s coach admitted that before her operation she was known more for the size of her chest than for her (substantial) prowess on the court. Would that have changed if she’d moved up the world rankings, Double D cups still firmly in place?
Probably not. She’d still have been defined by the contents of her bra before the strength of her serve.
Follow Rebecca on Twitter @rebecca_hol
Pictures: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.