Breasts

[Whereartthouname]

Was just reading a thread about breastfeeding while im sitting here pumping and it got me thinking... why are boobs sexualized? They are just lumps of skin? With a nipple on them. I dont get it..

Ha, been having this discussion with 11yo DD.
I suppose because breasts are a symbol of sexual maturity?

Supposedly, since most primates (and a few other mammals) look at/sniff arses, us standing upright means we needed front-arses to look at. Hence larger breasts. Because you don't need the excess tissue. So the theory is that anything that 'costs' you physically (and boy do heavy breasts cost) must have a function.

That's the theory anyway.

Every body part is sexualised. Think what can be done with a hand... And then there are foot fetishes. And ears. EARs !

Hetero Blokes don't need to be told that breasts are sexy. It's innate.
You'll have to ask some lesbians how they feel about boobs, but boobs are a secondary characteristic, so we're probably hard-wired to respond a lot to them.

Their function is obviously not just to produce milk or we’d only have them when lactating, like other mammals.

I love my nipples being played with- it's very sexual and a major turn on- so yes while they are definitely functional (have breastfed my 2) they are also sexual.

Why is anything sexualised? You can break any body part down into its constituent blood, bone and muscle and ask what there is to be aroused by, but that isn’t how desire works. I’m bisexual and I think breasts are beautiful, just like arses and necks and stomachs and lower backs are all beautiful.

I also think it’s bullshit when people say ‘breasts are just for feeding children’. That is one function of breasts, and for some people it’s the most important and vital thing they will ever do. That’s absolutely great. But it doesn’t invalidate another person’s relationship with their body if the primary function of their breasts is sexual enjoyment or arousal.

We definitely have an issue in this county where people are ok with seeing breasts in public if it’s sexy but not if it’s for breastfeeding, and we really need to challenge that. But not by pretending that breasts aren’t or shouldn’t ever be seen as sexual. It’s absolutely fine for people to view them as either, or both.

They can be both can't they?

When it becomes a problem is when people are fine with page 3, but are disgusted at a woman breastfeeding in public.

Lovelygiraffe totally agree

Hetero Blokes don't need to be told that breasts are sexy. It's innate.

I don't think it's innate, I think it's cultural. There are cultures where the women rarely cover their breasts, yet both men and women often cover their genitals. (I'm sure I've read somewhere that some cultures find kissing a turn-off, something only babies do when eating, totally inappropriate in an adult sexual relationship.)

Yet OTOH the baby's suckling stimulates oxytocin, which is also secreted during good sex, so it's easy to see how breasts can be sexual. Other parts of the body might be touched sensually, but they're not necessarily sexual. Ears, for example. You might find it a total turn-on if your partner plays with your ears, but playing with them yourself isn't going to turn you on, whereas playing with your boobs yourself may well do so.