HI All,
Maureen said :

There is no mention to date of female-female sex, to some Netters no doubt
abhorrent and to others a valid form of sexual experience.I wouldn't expect
any lesbians to be brave/foolish enough to come out on Lactnet, given
prevailing attitudes, but I have to say that being incorrigibly curious, I
have wondered how that orientation might have shaped their experience of
the breasts and breastfeeding.



I have a comment on this:  Why would one assume (not saying anyone is
assuming here!) that being a lesbian would mean that you have a fixation on
breasts?  Being a lesbian is no different than being heterosexual when it
comes to BF or breasts.  Some lesbians refuse to BF for the same reasons
Heteros do (work, distaste, abuse, ignorance, etc.).  Some BF because of the
same reasons heteros do (desire to give the best to baby, information, it
feels right, etc...).  Lesbians are different in their sexual orientation,
only.   I asked my husband what he thought of this question, and his comment
was that a lesbian is more likely to be very liberal.  Well, does that mean
that all hetero women who BF are liberal??  No.  I know some
ULTRA-conservative BF women.  Then he said that lesbians must be more into
the "alternative" lifestyle simply because they are lesbian (you know health
food, lots of exercise etc).  Wrong again!  I know plenty of hetero women who
are into an "alternative" lifestyle, and I know Lesbian women who are so
stuck in the 90's lifestyle of materialism it isn't funny.  (Let me say very
quickly that my hubby and I could care less if someone is homosexual or not.
 We are very upset, in fact at the treatment the gay population recieves, and
have several friends who are gay/lesbian, and they are some of the nicest
folks we know, and NOT because they are gay, but because they are nice!)
Then he raised a concern about a lesbian BF longterm, especially a little
girl, and what would happen if the little girl turned out to be lesbian.
 "WHAT???!!!" I said.  I asked him to equate that to me BF a little girl (get
a hint there baby!) long term and her turning out to be a lesbian.  WHat is
the difference?  There is NO difference.  Long term BF is long term BF,
regardless of the sexual orientation of the mother or the sex of the baby.  A
real fear I have about trying to find links between lesbians, BF, long term
BF, and children growing up homosexual is that some idiot out there will
start accusing lesbians of sexual abuse by BF or for BF only for sexual
gratification.  Next some idiot will start saying that s/he has found a link
between BF lesbians and the children turning out homosexual themselves, then
that will steamroll into if you BF your girls they will turn out lesbian or
if oyu long term BF your son he will end up Gay, etc, etc.
I think I got a bit off point here, which is typical of me!  My main point
is, that while it would be interesting to do a formal study, or informal, of
how being a lesbian affects the perceptions of breasts and BF, I don't think
we would find anything that we haven't found in the hetero world. Let's not
forget the many Bi-sexual women out there who also BF.  We can ask the same
questions of them, but I can guarantee that just because you have an interest
in the same sex, doesn't mean that you will feel any differently about BF
than a hetero woman.  Why can I guarantee this one?  I'll let you think about
it!  ;)

Jay Simpson
Who likes to get people thinking now and again!