Breasts as ancestral status signal

The visible, permanent enlargement of female breasts evolved not only to feed infants but also as a social-looking signal of access to continuous lactation and resource security; males preferentially paired with women who could sustain breastfeeding, so breasts became a marker of socioeconomic worth in ancestral mating markets. This reframes breasts as both a childcare adaptation and a status/sexual signal shaped by prehistoric social economies. — If true, the idea changes how we talk about sexual signalling, gendered body politics, and the cultural meanings attached to breastfeeding and female bodies.