amy, I agree, I do not think that breasts are for one thing *OR* the other, and should have clarified that this is an example of breasts being seen ONLY as sexual (i.e. too much cleavage is too sexy for children). But a lot of people seem to forget that they are mammary glands whose biological function is to feed our children, and if more people were used to seeing them, by being exposed :-) to mothers breastfeeding their children, then cleavage might not be such a big deal.
It's funny that right after I posted this, my 3 sons and I were watching an episode of "Hannah Montana" on which Dolly Parton was a guest (wearing a tight shirt across her ample bosom), and my oldest (10) said "mom, who is the lady with the big hair?" I thought for sure he was going to say "big breasts" and laughed to myself that he didn't even notice her large breasts, just her BIG hair ☺. breasts are just so normal to my boys (between seeing their younger brothers nursing, hanging out with me when I'm hanging out with moms and babies nursing, and seeing plenty of cleavage -and bare breasts on the beaches- here in spain).
Not being all too familiar with katy perry, I think that if I saw that episode of sesame street with my youngest son, we wouldn't have notice or been bothered by the amount of her cleavage. To me this incident exemplifies the double standard, that breasts (tight shirts, cleavage, skimpy tops) are used to market/advertise, but on the other hand women get harassed for breastfeeding (even "discretely") in public places, and children learn that breasts must be hidden. I know the episode had nothing to do with breastfeeding or anything related to mother/child, but in general if breastfeeding was the cultural norm everywhere, and breasts were just normal, maybe parents and children wouldn't be so upset about a woman's low cut dress.
Vicki hayes
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
|
