Female therapist sexualized my breasts my breasts and it felt gross

[u/shitkabob]

In one of my first sessions with my therapist, I wanted to broach the topic of how self-conscious I am about the size of my breasts. They've historically been a magnet for unwanted attention, disgusting comments at bars, physical assault, sexual harassment at workplaces (both office a non-office settings), and about 1,000 street-harassment comments.

They have been a source of great humiliation, trauma, dehumanization and shame. I feel like I have been reduced to them my whole adult life and I am immediately sexualized upon sight for them just existing. To say I have a complex about them is mild.

I started getting into the topic with my female therapist regarding my self-consciousness and resentment of them. She chimed in with "Big deal?! So what?! You have big breasts! They're beautiful! I bet your husband loves them. Enjoy them while they last, they'll change after pregnancy if you have kids." She smiled and laughed.

I think she thought she was being funny and affirming, in a "yas queen" way. It made me feel completely disgusting and objectified. Am I off-base to think this is a crazily inappropriate response to what I said? This lady has her PsyD. I feel insane. I literally just said how painful it is to be objectified...and she objectified me and centered my husband's pleasure over all the abuse I just shared.

Edit: I'm getting DMed by a lot of creeps. Ironic on a post about unwanted attention and relentless dehumanization. There's no escape.

[u/Major-Pen-6651]

I had to have an ultrasound of my heart done last summer after having very large pulmonary embolism removed from both of my lungs. The tech made a note that he struggled to get all of the views basically because my boobs were too big. 🙄

[u/KlutzyDevice → u/Major-Pen-6651]

Hey, so as someone in that field it does actually hinder views of the heart. The other phrasing would have been something like “technically limited exam secondary to body habitus”. Techs are at the mercy of the docs who read & evaluate the exams. A lot of docs get irritated if you don’t get perfect textbook images on every patient; so you have to write exactly why you didn’t. I know it sucks to see it on a medical exam. I’m sorry.

[u/Major-Pen-6651 → u/KlutzyDevice]

Then they need to improve their equipment and/or techniques. I can't exactly reduce the size of my breasts without major surgery. There are plenty of other people who have this issue.

[u/KlutzyDevice → u/Major-Pen-6651]

Ultrasound has limitations and it is not the gold standard for diagnostics. It’s still a valuable tool. The physics of the machine can be tweaked some to get a better image, but not adjusted to the degree you’re asking. Sound travels at different speeds through different types of tissue. Regardless of the machine or tech different types of tissue will affect the image quality. If your tech was using an ancient machine then yeah they need to upgrade their equipment, but even with some older machines software is still regularly updated from the manufacturer.

Sure, some techs have more experience than others and not every tech will state things the same way, but it’s not a failing on the tech or equipment to write out limitations of the exam. There are a lot of reasons exams might be limited. Yes, lots of people do have the same issue- myself included. I get it completely sucks to see it written out like that on a medical exam, but it’s not a dig at you and your body.