Looking to invest in breasts? The website that encourages men to buy your boob job for you isn't all that liberating

It’s the ultimate irony that men are paying to objectify women so they can fund them to gain the privilege of being further objectified

Silicone breast implants (Getty Images)

The internet is a space where you’re often only one click away from female objectification. Rarely, however, is it posed as a charitable act. But myfreeimplants.com does just that; every day it ‘helps’ over 4,000 women get “the curves they’ve always dreamed of” thanks to generous “benefactors”, who receive pictures and messages in return for their cash donations.

The website, which began in 2005, is for women who want breast augmentation and the men who want to help them get there. Presented as a social networking site it promises “FREE” cosmetic surgery – however, in reality this is no more “free” than “Netflix and chill” is a chance to catch up on Making a Murderer.

The site comprises three groups: the ‘ladies’ who are seeking surgery, ‘benefactors’ - typically men - who pay money to chat and see photos of the women, and surgeons who are paid directly by the site and perform the surgery once women’s targets have been reached.

These surgeons now face being banned from practising as the General Medical Council has introduced new guidelines to curb crowd-funding websites like myfreeimplants.com.

The sexual commodification of women’s bodies is a tale as old as time, but that doesn’t make this website any less unsettling. In a world where women are constantly judged on their looks, this reinforces the notion that her worth is dependent on her cup size. And it’s the ultimate irony that men are paying to objectify women so they can fund them to gain the privilege of being further objectified.

In the end, what myfreeimplants.com does is encourages a disconcerting power dynamic that takes agency away from women and puts power firmly in the hands of the men paying them.

It creepily describes “networking with benefactors”, a sentence which conjures up images of bad wine and achingly desperate small talk, instead of one-to-one video chats and sexual pictures. Women are encouraged to write blogs “to let your personality shine” while benefactors are told “keep abreast” of them. Where women are spoken to in the language of friendship and mutual reward, the contributors are spoken to as if they are customers browsing through a shop window.

A testimonial on the site by “Steve”, apparently one of the benefactors, provides some insight into the mindset of the men ‘helping’ these women: “It feels great to apart of such a life changing experience .” Steve, I hate to break it to you it’s boobs, not Barnardos, and this facade of charity is a dangerous one. It’s not an exercise in goodwill but exploitation. This is a website that quite simply capitalises off the body insecurities of women.

Where’s the male equivalent? The penis enlarger email that goes straight to the junk folder? It certainly wouldn’t gain the daily 8 million page views that myfreeimplants.com claims to have. At the end of the day, I don’t see anyone crowd-funding for a dick pic.

Worryingly, the platitudes seen on the website mimic the language seen in everyday life; the invigorating words promising that you too can “achieve the body of your dreams” could easily be seen on the cover of Cosmo instead of on this brainchild of a couple of guys on a stag do. Meanwhile, women’s profiles show cleavage-bearing selfies that would suit top-shelf mags rather than a fundraising website.

Lastly, there appears to be no advice for these young women. All surgery carries risks, and shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. Psychologically, it’s not always the transformative, insecurity-smashing “prize” you’ve always dreamed of.

It is easy to dismiss this website with a simple eye-roll, but what it says about the reality of living as a woman in a man’s world deserves a lot of our attention.