<<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.>>

Whether breasts are viewed as almost exclusively sexual (e.g., in the
United States) or are viewed as for babies...or somewhere in between...is
culturally based. Breasts are stimulated before or during sexual
intercourse in only 13 societies out of 190; of these 13 societies, only 3
considered breasts to be sexually attractive. (Ford, C.S. and Beach, F. A.
1951. Patterns of Sexual Behavior. New York: Harper and Row.) For a great
discussion on how breasts are viewed in the US, see "Beauty and the Breast:
The Cultural Context of Breastfeeding in the United States" by Katherine
Dettwyler in "Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives."

The view of breasts as exclusively (or nearly exclusively sexual) poses
major problems for breastfeeding. However, a blend of sexual and functional
or a view of exclusively functional (i.e., for babies) does not.

Cynthia Good Mojab, MS Clinical Psychology
(Breastfeeding mother, advocate, independent [cross-cultural] researcher
and author; LLL Leader and Research Associate in the LLLI Publications
Department; and former psychotherapist currently busy nurturing her own
little one.)
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://ammawell.homepage.com

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