To think of course women's breasts are sexual

[WhitePhantom]

Many many times I've seen people on here getting very indignant about people suggesting that women's breasts are sexual - "they're primarily for feeding babies", "they're purely functional", "they're no different to men's breasts", "women should be free to go topless just as much as men", etc.

I completely disagree! Women's breasts are a source of sexual pleasure from puberty till... I don't know, death?! I b/f all three of mine, which was a total time of 2 years, but for the other 30-odd years their only role has been sexual pleasure, for me and/or for whatever partner I've been with.

Am I completely deluded??

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Maybe it's just a personal preference thing. I am bf and madam will tweak/pinch/bite if she is distracted, they never were a sexual or appearance thing for me though. More an inconvenience quite often.

Xdh insisted you weren't a proper woman without boobs. Good job he is long gone seeing as a total mastectomy is in my near future. DP isn't fussed either way

It's like your bottom I suppose.

That can be used in sex but equally it has a primary purpose to release the poo.

As far as I understand it they are not regarded as sexual everywhere in the world, just as kissing is not a 'thing' in some places. Obviously in the UK, they are, but it's not the case everywhere in the world. There was some research on this floating around the other day but I can't remember where I saw it.

I think it's the wrong question. We are in the west and breasts are sexualised, no amount of ideological debate is going to change that any time soon and I don't believe it would be beneficial anyway. The message that needs to get out surely is that breasts may be sexual but it is the fundamental right of the owner of those breasts as to when and for who they are sexual.

As PPs have said, not all cultures see breast as sexual.
I've lived in Saudi Arabia and seen women breast feeding in public. Both breasts on full display, rest of body covered in black abeyah, face masked and veiled.

But male nipples can be quite sexual too yet it's quite acceptable for men to go topless. So why can't women go topless?

^^ this

Mine are not particularly sexually sensitive, but I've had a partner who's nipples were INCREDIBLY sexually sensitive for him, yet he could go topless and I couldn't!

Female breast enlargement is a secondary sexual characteristic. The fact that they contain erectile tissue suggest that physiologically they play a part in reproduction, rather than just nutrition.

I have a rather lovely pair myself

I used to work with a man from Africa ( can't remember which country) who told me that in his culture breasts were purely functional but buttocks were very sexy!!

Isn't that just from the man's perspective though?

Re. women's pleasure - as Bumps says, it can be like a bomb going off, because they're just so sensitive. In cultures where they're 'on view' all the time, aren't they just as sensitive? Or are they desensitised somehow?

I came on to say exactly what HerOtherHalf said. The issue is when breasts become so associated with sex that women are made to feel they should hide away when using them for feeding.

yet he could go topless and I couldn't!

Apparently this is perfectly legal in New York. Although the male relating this story to me struggled to understand "why more chicks don't do it".

Don't believe the Saudi comment btw. A stray strand of hair is culturally forbidden yet its acceptable to whip 'em out in public

So OP, is your argument that because breasts can be sexual all women should keep them hidden away... what, because sex is bad and women's bodies are something to be ashamed of?

They definitely are. Yes of course they're for feeding babies, but there's a reason so many men love sucking or playing with them and why so many women like them being touched.
Your fanny births a baby, doesn't mean it isn't sexual! No difference. Things can serve more than one purpose.

The strange thing is the instinctive appeal to very young children. Somehow they find them exciting.

DD aged 2 - who never took to BF - gets a michievous look in her eye and says "Nanny, I can see your boobies".

I think theyre definitely both sexual and functional, but I think it also depends on the person what they view theirs as. I've never been able to breastfeed so they haven't been very functional for me and I don't find them sexual as I don't get any pleasure from them and DH prefers a good bum so for me, my boobs are just kind of there 🤔

The issue is still with men getting their nipples out but there's an uproar if you can even see a woman's through her top. I never wear a bra, a lot of people point out my nipples. Yet no one ever points out DHs...

Just to throw something else into the debate, i have had breast cancer and had a double mastectomy when I was 30. I feel much less feminine and sexual as a result. However, I have had a baby and (while I would have loved to have been able to) I obviously couldn't breastfeed him. So I can still feed my baby, but I definitely feel less sexual without my breasts.

"....but not while doing the accounts in work at their computer."

:)

There's the "Free The Nipple" movement over in the USA isn't there; women in an Inequality Rage because men can go topless in public, and they aren't legally permitted to do the same. They are fighting for the right to also go topless.
Their justification is that breasts are not sexual, and have the sole function of feeding a baby.

Which makes me wonder, if a man touched one of their breasts without consent, whether they'd claim it as a "sexual assault"..since breasts by their own insistence aren't sexual?

They're both.

Clearly, it's not appropriate to touch a woman's breasts (or indeed any party of her body) without permission. That applies whether she regards them as sexual or not. I wish people wouldn't pretend it's confusing.

But it's like penises. Penises can be sexual but do women really get turned on seeing a flaccid penis if a man is walking around naked? Do men get turned on in the toilets watching each other pee? Breasts can be sexual but it should depend on the context.

There has been quite a lot of discussion, writing and and such that gives strong evidence that other cultures don't sexualize breasts that much, particularly compared to the West. I remember a documentary where women (I want to Kenya but may be wrong) found the entire idea baffling and thought Western men must be like babies with their focus on breasts.

And really, even if it was just one man's point of view, isn't the idea that they are just as likely an individual idea? I mean, even if we go by how much oxytocin is produced, it's similar for both sexes...and one can get a similar reaction from rubbing the ears. Shall we wear ear bras then? While they are quite different to other primates, the evidence that our breasts evolved that way purely for sexual reasons is limited and questionable.

Personally, I get far more sensation from my back and wrists than my chest and simple looking at them does very little for me even as someone primarily attracted to other women. I've had male partners who got far more pleasure from their nipples and chest than I ever get with mine. The whole body can be seen as sexual and there is no reason why a woman's chest should be seen as a more sexual than a man's (and the whole male topless thing is very recent, they did used to be considered indecent until the idea was pushed solely on females) and even if women as a whole got more sensation from their breasts than men, they still aren't sexual organs.

Definitely about feeding babies.
Definitely about sexual pleasure.
Dual purpose.

@AngeloMysterioso - no, I never said that! I'm just trying to get my head around the whole thing and understand other people's perspective.

Personally I find them primarily sexual, and as such wouldn't really be comfortable having them completely 'on show' - not because I think there's anything bad or dirty about sex, just... I don't know, it's hard to explain.

I wouldn't feel comfortable about having my flaps on show either, but people don't seem to find that baffling at all - there's no big to-do about 'Its primary function is for weeing, it's not sexual AT ALL!"

For some of us they're not for either.

Just like a person is sexual at certain times but not while doing the accounts in work at their computer

Dammit! That's why I can't seem to hold down a job

My husband seems to find my breasts very attractive, so I indulge him and let him do whatever floats his boat, but I have hardly any feeling in them and couldn't care less, to be honest.