Is Joanne Peh for real?

Singapore actress Joanne Peh claims her bust size increase is natural. Experts comment.

Source: The Sunday Times, 22/3/9, p.10
Headline: Busted

Quote1:
Local actress Joanne Peh has caused a storm in a D-cup after claiming that her breasts always swell up by one whole cup size at that time of the month, ... claiming that her mammaries usually become bigger when she is having her period due to hormones.

Comment1:
This is the claim: Menstrual hormones cause cup-size increase.

Quote2:
Dr Beh Suan Tiong, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Thomson Medical Centre, said: "There is usually some fluid retention when a woman has her period due to hromonal changes. This fluid retention will make her breasts bigger."

Comment2:
One expert confirms that the claimed cause can indeed lead to swollen breasts.

Quote3:
But he was adamant when he said: "Having their breasts increase by a cup size during their period does not happen for most women. The change would not be so drastic.

Comment3:
The problem is the degree of swelling. Here is the argument.

Argument #1
Reason: For most women, no cup-size swelling
Conclusion: Hence, for Ms Peh, no cup-size swelling

This argument is inductive, which means the conclusion is less than certain. From (most women), we can conclude only (likely also Ms Peh) -- but not (certainly Ms Peh). She could be the exception to the rule. Ms Peh's claim is not ruled out as impossible.

Quote4:
"Otherwise, they [most women] would need to have two different sets of bras with different cup sizes."

Comment4:
Now a deductive argument is offered.

Argument #2
Premiss1: If (cup-size increase), then (two bra sets)
Premiss2: Not-(two bra sets)
Conclusion: Hence, not-(cup-size increase)

This argument has the valid Modus Tollens structure (If P then Q, not-Q, hence not-P). Premiss1 can be accepted as intuitively true. It is intended that the consequent (two bra sets) be rejected as absurd in Premiss2. This would make the argument the special case of Modus Tollens known as Reductio ad Absurdum (reduce to absurdity). But the consequent (two bra sets) is not absurd. A lazy dieter, for example, will also have a wardrobe of various size clothes. Since Premiss2 cannot be taken as true, Argument #2 must be rejected. Ms Peh's claim is again not ruled out as impossible.

Quote5:
Dr Christopher Chong, who owns Chris Chong Women and Urogynae Clinic at Gleneagles Hospital, agreed: "For a woman's breasts to be significantly enlarged during her period is very unusual.

Comment5:
This is Argument #1 repeated -- with the same evaluation.

Quote6:
"My patients have not complained of their breasts increasing by one cup size before."

Comment6:
This is also Argument #1, but this time the inference is from a smaller group -- his patients. Is this a representative sample of women in general? Is a cup-size increase something that would drive a woman to consult her gynaecologist? The great number of advertisements offering cup-size increase treatments would suggest not.

Conclusion:
Ms Peh's claim is not rebutted.


The prose version of this post
Ms Joanne Peh claims that her breasts enlarge due to hormonal changes during menstruation. Dr Beh says that while menstrual hormonal changes do cause fluid retention and thereby enlarge breasts, in most women this enlargement does not occur to the extent of a cup-size increase. Well, "most women" does not mean "all women". Ms Peh could be the exception to the general rule. Dr Beh also says that a woman who has a cup-size breast enlargement will need two sets of bras, and implies that this is an absurd situation, thereby refuting the claim of a cup-size increase. But, in the same way as a lazy dieter has a wardrobe of various sized clothes, it is not absurd for a woman to have two sets of bras. Dr Chong repeats the "most women are not like this" argument. The same objection applies. Secondly, Dr Chong says his patients don't complain of cup-size increases. We wonder if a woman with a cup-size increase will see it as a problem, and consult a gynaecologist. The great number of advertisement offering precisely such treatments suggest that women do not see this as a problem requiring medical attention.