Curious, do you consider your boobs sexual? (free the nipple [grin])

[AgeingArtemis]

Maybe this should be in general chat, but I thought I'd try feminist chat first

I genuinely don't consider my breasts at all sexual or embarrassing, however I am a total english prude about "full" nudity. To me a chest is a chest, regardless of whether it has lumps or not, the only thing stopping me walking around shirtless are that I'd be the only one and I'd probably get cold!

Do you consider you breasts a private part of your body, or a "standard" part like a belly or back (ie not usually in view, but not intrinsically private or sexual)?

I used to bathe topless before I entered puberty - which some girls apparently don't. (Which is stupid. Try to go to the loo in a one piece bathing suit ... why should you subject a kid to that?)

Well now that's a fascinating point, that I hadn't really thought of before.. I definitely wore a one-piece bathing suit long before I developed breasts, and I think you generally see the gendered division (just bottoms for boys and one-piece or top covered up for girls) from tiny tots onwards at beaches and swimming pools etc. Which is sort of saying that even the potential for breasts necessitates covering up...

I feel turned on by my boobs, every time I look at them and feel them. I enjoy their company!

However, they felt dislocated somehow when I was breastfeeding (it bloody hurts in the beginning!). When I finished breastfeeding, I was ever so pleased to get them back

I don't find them sexual unless they are put in a way that is supposed to be sexual - like in a leather push up bra. (I don't own one of those). I like the idea of free the nipple. I see that, and banning page 3 and being supporting of breastfeeding, all as working towards desexualizing the breast in everyday situations. Normalising the female nipples.

I think the whole body and individual parts of it can be sexy in sexual situations but I don't think a woman on the beach topless should get any more reaction than a man would get. There might be a really ripped toned man on the beach who loads of women and men find attractive but you wouldn't expect him to wear aa bikini top! I find some men's eyes very attractive but I don't expect them to wear blackout lenses all year round. And I know that some people have a fetish for feet, yet no-one gives a second glance at seeing a naked pair of those at the beach.

I did before I had children. But even then it was only things like page 3 that made me uncomfortable, seeing boobs on topless beaches, or whilst breastfeeding never did.

Yes until before breastfeeding. 25 years on I still can't stand anyone touching my droopy, shapeless breasts.

I used to, pre DD. Then BF for 2 years and haven't thought of them in the same way since. Honestly now just view them as a pair of functional body parts. Which just serves to make me feel even more annoyed about the sexualisation of women's bodies than I used to.

Like much else finding breasts and nipples sexual is supposed to be learned behaviour.
I must have been asleep during the lesson.
Before breastfeeding they were just a PITA, uncomfortable and in the way. After breastfeeding (and during, when they became the focus for the touched out feeling) even the thought of having my breasts touched makes me feel rage.
So whatever the opposite of sexual is, in an angry way.

And no I don't want them loose, ffs, I need them strapped down so they can't flap about and annoy me.

It depends on context .

When I'm doing sport, they are just annoying as they have to be strapped down

When I'm buying clothes , they can be a problem as women's fashion is often designed for small breasts, not big ones

When I'm BF or my children cuddle into them, I feel maternal

When they are sore , because of hormones ,again they are just annoying

In an intimate context, with the right person, they feel sexual .

Much like a penis .

I don't see it as sexual when its attached to my small child who is running around the house .

If a man has his penis out on the subway, I find it threatening .

If I was a naturist and naked with other naturists , or a Swede in a sauna I'm sure I wouldn't even notice one

If I Received a photo of one of my phone , I'd find It a bit yucky , even if it was from my partner . If it was from a causal Date, I'd be angry .

However in an intimate context, when I'm happily participating in mutual touching with someone I love, It can be sexy .

Sorry, I mentioned a penis because I was thinking about my reaction to other people's sexual parts as well as to my own ( and I'm not sexually attracted to women ) . I didn't mean it it a " what about the menz " way .

I also found it interesting that a penis, erect or flaccid, isn't usually see on page three or used in mainstream advertising , in the way that breasts are .

I'm not sexually active now, but when I was I certainly thought of my breasts as sexual. They were my top erogenous zone.
I only breastfed one child for a few weeks, but not for that reason. It just didn't work out, but I was happy to give it a go. I wouldn't have breastfed in public though, in those days there were breastfeeding rooms. I wouldn't have sunbathed topless either or wore very revealing low cut tops.
Nowadays I don't really think of them much. I would prefer them to be smaller, which would probably happen if I lost some weight.

I mostly don't think about them at all. They don't feel sexual by default, only when I am already sexually aroused. On bf, I really enjoyed it, was a marvellous time of my life, where I felt not just not uncomfortable but actually happy with my body.

As for nakedness and my breasts, they're probably the body part I feel least comfortable about displaying, after my stomach, not because of them being sexual but because of fear/irritation with them being judged in comparison to teenaged, enhanced, Caucasian breasts.

I would say I see mine as sexual but then again I wouldn't let anyone see my stomach or back as I really don't like my body and I even find wearing a swimming costume an embarrassing act (I've never worn a bikini. Sadly it's the reason I just couldn't bf my children which I know is very selfish but the idea of getting my boob out in the company of anyone makes me feel physically sick.

Actually since writing that I've realised I'm the opposite it's not that I see myself or my boob as sexual but as I've been told most of my life I'm ugly and so therefore not someone desirable for sex I feel I should cover myself. I'm not sure if this makes sense but thinking about it that's pretty messed up.

Noeffing, do you mind me asking what you mean by 'sexually active'?

I find boobs über sexual. I used to steal the page 3s from my friend's dad's Sun when I was about 11/12. I love boobs. There is a context though, like other sexual 'bits'. I work in healthcare and see a lot of nudity and have never once been even close to feeling sexual about boobs at work.

I think media censoring of boobs (FB springs to mind) is ridiculous but I can't help feel that the free the nipple campaign is a handy way for men to encourage teenage girls to tweet nude selfies in the name of 'empowerment' while they wank off and sneer about 'prudes' who don't understand feminism.

Elendon sexually active means having sex. I don't, and don't intend to again.

I do see boobs as sexual in context - ie they're a part of the body you can emphasise to heighten your sexual appeal if you choose to - but I could say the same about muscular forearms or that little soft patch of skin under a man's ear, just behind the line of his facial hair. It's down to me to control my reaction to those things and not insist that any man not wearing a shapeless long sleeved turtleneck is asking me to climb him like a cat up a scratching post though

I've never looked at an MRA forum, but do you think they make male-equivalent threads of the ones on here?

Do you think this thread is out there somewhere:
"Curious, do you consider your penis sexual? (free the penis )"
?

The only time I think of my boobs as sexual is when Mr. Magpie is having a feel of them, the rest of the time they are more like my belly as in not for viewing but not sexual. In fact I had rather an embarrassing moment recently when my brother was staying and I accidentally forgot that boobs are sexual/private and walked out of my room topless into his view.

I think the sexualisation of breasts is socially constructed.

They don't have a role in reproduction so aren't sexual in my book.

I'm still shy about BF in public though.

"Do you think this thread is out there somewhere:
"Curious, do you consider your penis sexual? (free the penis grin)"

No, because women generally don't go around fetishising men's willies, groping them on New Years Eve and men don't need to use them to perform basic functions such as feeding one's childo thereby causing confusion over the meaning of their existence - are they for peeing or for sending women into frenzies of excitement?

Maybe if there were a hundred different types of banana-hammock it would be different. Maybe a frilly banana hammock with extra padding

Not while I was bf'ing, but then I didn't find any part of myself sexual then! I did bf anywhere but generally tried to use a light scarf or the two tops trick, as it still felt quite personal.

At other times, yes, I suppose so. I've got nice boobs (even aged nearly 40 and after breastfeeding) and they've had a lot of attention throughout my life. I don't particularly wear low cut tops but DH loves them and that is fine by me.