Lisa Marasco writes:
>Okay, here's another thought, Kathy. The animal kingdom notwithstanding, is
>it possible that people in these other cultures block out arousing feelings
>and do not connect them to sex *because* breasts are not a part of sexuality
>in their culture?  The reverse of what you've been saying..........   I just
>am not convinced that the sensual feelings I experienced were culturally
>induced, because I did not have similar feelings or fixations BC.  Isn't a
>reversal of this logic possible?


Yes, Lisa, this is possible.  Just as it is possible that the elbows are an
intrinsically erogenous zone, and we learn to block out arousing feelings
from people touching our elbows and not connect them to sex *because* elbows
are not a part of sexuality in our culture.  Possible yes, likely no.  It
would be truly amazing if the vast majority of cultures in the world had
managed somehow to block out the sexual nature of breasts culturally.  Much
less likely than the reverse -- that a few cultures had managed to associate
breasts with sex.  If your perspective were correct, then non-human animals
don't have these feelings, all human animals do have these feelings, but
most humans have managed (for what reason?) to block them.  Not very likely.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
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