I know this thread is getting old, but please bear with me.  Warning: This
is in no way a refutation of the anthropological expertise of Kathy
Dettwyler on various world cultures and their perceptions of the breast.
Marilyn Yalom's book 'A History of the Breast' considers 'how the breast has
been perceived in the Western world from ancient days to the present' (from
jacket notes).  So, it admits not to consider the rest of the world, and it
is not an anthropological, but a historical work.  M. Yalom is a senior
scholar at the Institute for Women and Gender at Stanford (againg, from
jacket notes).  She shows how, through the ages in the west, the breast has
filled many roles, until recently determined by anyone but women or babies.
Her concluding paragraph: 'The breast that may be saved will not be the
breast that belonged to our ancestors, for women will have something to say
about its meaning and use.  Just as we have found ways to go braless or
topless, to promote more breast-cancer research, to fight for the right to
breast-feed in public, to counter the glamorous images of the mass media
with more realistic images, so too we shall find new ways of protecting and
validating our breasts.  For better or for worse, bigger or smaller, in
sickness and in health, breasts are wedded to our bodies and, in the best of
circumstances, can offer us both pleasure and power.'  Culturally limited?
Yes.  True in the confines of its limitations? Yes again.
Among the numerous citations in her index are none to Desmond Morris.
I hope I can restrain myself from sending any more posts on this thread.  In
order to accomplish that I must now reply to Kathy D that nipple skin is
like our oral and our inner genital lips, and also like the foreskin of the
penis (not the glans)-- thin and hairless.  Nipple erections are caused by
smooth muscle activity in response to touch, cold, and oxytocin.  But there
is one time in the life of each child when the mother's breasts change
contour dramatically, and that is after a sufficiently long period of
undisturbed skin contact with the newborn immediately after birth.  Instead
of just the nipple rising up, a couple of centimeters of areola also swell
up, making it easier for the baby to see and to attach correctly.
Anne-Marie Widstrøm showed this clearly in her film 'Breastfeeding: The
Baby's Choice'.  Sometimes this effect can be seen in active labor as well,
even to the point of leaking colostrum.
good night from Kristiansand
Rachel Myr

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html