breasts are seen, for some reason, as sexual by westerners, is that why public breastfeeding is dirty & taboo?

Question

this question comes from reading http://writ.news.findlaw.com/colb/20040714.html

quote...

Breastfeeding and "Public Indecency"

Women's breasts today are viewed presumptively as sexual and accordingly as dirty and taboo. Breasts cannot appear on television during the Superbowl, for example, without resulting in a firestorm of protest, an investigation, and a debate about just how offensive one might have a right to be, as a matter of free expression.

But breastfeeding is different from Janet Jackson's infamous performance, some would maintain. Even if it is "indecent" to bear one's breast in a sexual way, it is pure and beautiful to do so to feed a hungry baby.

Inhibiting nursing, moreover, forces mothers to choose between staying home and thus abandoning the public sphere, on the one hand, and giving up breastfeeding, on the other. That choice has far greater implications than does the decision about whether to expose one's nipples for entertainment value.

continued...

Yet the difference between the two has a decidedly mixed pedigree - it is the distinction between the Madonna and the whore.

Answer 1

has more to do with our puritan roots.
and Protestant values as a nation.

both views taught the body was dirty and shameful.
that was past down from parent to child through out the 200+ years.
you look further south. Mexico on down and further you go the less it's an issue.
My wife would tell you she believes girls should be able to walk around topless just like men do.
but she doesn't due to all the attention she would get.

Answer 2

Breasts are sexual in Europe, where I currently live, but bottle feeding a baby is not as accepted here as it is in America. Europeans are also more open about the human body. The feeling I get from most is that it is normal, why hide it?
I think it's a hold over from the Victorian age when all the sudden everything that was good and natural became foul and taboo. Just like the word sh**. It was in common usage right up to the Victorian era, then when all those tight waisted lilies decided it was indecent, we lost a perfectly good word.
I stopped viewing my own breasts as sexual when I had my child. And I am teaching that it is just another body part with a job to do, nothing to get uptight over. After all, don't you usually only hide things that you are ashamed of?

Answer 3

It is an ongoing issue in Western culture; sad, but true.

Here's the Page for the La Leche League International about breastfeeding and the law:
http://lalecheleague.org/LawMain.html

I was fortunate to be working in healthcare when I was breastfeeding my son, so no one could argue when I spent my lunch break pumping milk. Our local shopping mall was relatively new then, so most of the restrooms had lounges and there was a breastfeeding room near the main restrooms - so again, I was fortunate.

I have seen women just walking very casually with the baby at their breast, and most people don't really notice. I wasn't able to do that, because my breasts would have suffocated my son if I didn't hold it, so I wasn't able to be so discreet.

I am a bit curious about what your infatuation is with this topic, since you've asked about it twice now...

Answer 4

Men and MEDIA open the doors to look at women's breast as sex objects.
What came first the perverted MALE or the magazines that they so love?
IF all MEN stopped looking at the magazines and stopped LOOKING at breasts like toys and gave some support to all women by using some form of control then maybe things would change.
But as long as there is a larger group of perverted males buying the magazines and other things that are available then it will forever be on the market.
It is crazy that we live in a society that allows breast to be ogled at by nasty men yet women cannot breast feed because of dirty minds!
A woman's body is sensual and sexual but not to be exploited.
I have seen magazines like this from Japan and the woman's personal parts are blacked over!
I think it has to change with-in the media, they just need to make LOOKING at Boobs unfashionable and RUDE...
So mothers can breast feed babies like the rest of the world!
It is really sick that mothers cannot use their breasts as they where meant for and have to worry if they will get caught or punished for exposure!

Answer 5

People have perverted the human body and view breast feeding as disgusting. I breast feed all three of my children and covered their faces when I was in public so they could have privacy while nursing. People are so quick to run down breast feeding mothers but will laugh at a streaking adult run across a football field. How sick is society?

Answer 6

There is nothing indecent about nursing a hungry baby or toddler. There are plenty of nursing tops and even nursing swimwear and tank tops that allow a mother to nurse her child with little to no exposure. People who just 'lift the shirt and bare it all' are doing the rest of us a disservice because they create issues like this.

Answer 7

BREAST FEEDING is a beautiful thing.

It shows the love a mother has for her young and should touch the heart of anyone viewing it. IN NO WAY SHOULD IT EVER BE CONSIDERED DIRTY unless your a 12-17 year old boy, then hey, your hormones rule and its understanable (sad, but understandable). For anyone else, its SIMPLY PATHETIC.

As an American I simply can't IMAGINE why anyone would consider such an HONEST exchange to be anything but God Given. Seriously. She's doing it for her child.

Grow up already.

Answer 8

I think this is exactly why so many people frown upon breastfeeding in public. I always become sad when I see women nursing their children in the restroom at the mall or a restaurant. I don't eat *my* dinner in the toilet...why should a baby??

Answer 9

well, I don't think they should be shown in public. But mothers can nurse their babies under a baby blanket or shawl. I recognize the fact of having to feed the baby, but not everyone has to witness it. There are plenty of small children who don't need to see that.

I say yes to breastfeeding in public, but in a modest, covered way.

Answer 10

You know I admire a woman's breasts! I also admire a women's figure that I find pleasing to me.

I do live in the west. I think someone who flaunts themselves in a sexy or as a prostitute is not very moral and wants to show off. Fine by me!

I live in a Central American country where it is fashionable to show cleavage. It is also okay to breastfeed your baby when the child gets hungry where ever that may be.

Young girls who show their titties in public need to be somewhat careful as there are young boys and young men who might want to take advantage of them. A lot of rapes occur when they think it is okay to show to much just because it is fashionable. They need to be careful!