>"I like to talk about breasts at work and breasts at play.   We love play,
we think play is vital to life, and >I wouldn't want to have breasts that
never had a chance to play erotically.

I understand the sentiment expressed here, but since the breasts are not
intrinsically erotic, we have to teach this set of beliefs and values to
our children.  How does one teach that breasts are erotic without
undermining their primary biological function as working units?  In the US
we certainly don't seem to have done a very good job of it.  Remember that
*any* part of the body can learn to "play" erotically -- why don't we pick
some other part, like elbows or shoulders or ear lobes?

Or, to look at it another way, why are we not all mourning the fact that
our elbows/shoulders/ear lobes "never have a chance to play erotically"?
If we didn't define breasts as sex objects or use them for erotic pleasure,
it would never OCCUR to us to miss that experience.

Our (US) cultural choices of using breasts for sexual pleasure causes harm
to mothers and children's health worldwide, as US beliefs and values and
practices are spreading around the world.  How many dead children is sexual
pleasure worth?




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email:
[log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html

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