1)  For that fast-food restaurant that seems to need an awakening, perhaps a
t-shirt that says "Mom's Milk is Nature's Happiest Meal" would get the
message out :)   I'm still leary about the public "informational
breastfeeding rally" only because I worry for the moms and babies that might
be compromised when certain situations become volitile, but I think the
t-shirt would get the point out there (I just couldn't resist!).

2)  I took a class called psychology of human sexuality last year.  I have to
say that the breasts were addressed as primary sexual traits in the text but
my instructor said he believed them to be secondary.  His reasoning was that
primary traits such as the uterus, ovaries, vagina, etc., are used directly
for reproduction purposes (as in fetal development and birthing) while the
breasts were used for sustaining life after delivery and were not necessary
for reproduction to occur.  He also said that the tissue that the nipple is
made of is erectile tissue and just like the tissue that makes up the penis.
Now, granted, this class's focus was on the sexuality side of the human
anatomy.  My other class on human development, focused much more on the
breasts as providers of milk for human infants.  Both classes were excellent
in my opinion and 2 that I would highly recommend every adult try to take.
Of course, seeing the breasts as having a dual purpose as *I* do, and being a
breastfeeding advocate as I am, I was always trying to point out the
breastfeeding function of the breasts in my sexuality class whenever an
opportunity presented itself :)  One time, I managed to bring up the practice
of "nipple toughening" which I said is no longer practiced.  My instructor
said, you would no more want to rub a towel over the head of the penis since
they are made of the same type of tissue (which made a lot of students
cringe...all of which were women :)  I thought that helped to educate the
class about 1 small misconception of breastfeeding.  I was very surprised to
find out how much women and men are alike, not only in physiological make up
of the different kinds of skin that make up the sexual organs, but also in
the ways men and women described their assessment of the feelings related to
the act of intercourse.  Considering the stimulation of the nipples can also
cause uterine contractions, I believe this may also be the reason why they
are valued by some people for their sexual side, but I also know many men
enjoy having their nipples stimulated during intercourse and I do not believe
oxytocin is at work here, though I could be wrong.  (Does anyone know if
stimulating any other body part has a direct influence in the stimulation of
oxytocin in women?)  As for the media, I'm sure many of us have read that men
may be able to produce milk, but I don't think we'll see much in the media
about that topic... I think the media only promotes what sells, and sex
sells, and that only shows (in my opinion) the one side of the nature and
wonder that is the female breast.  I am still thrilled when I see a positive
breastfeeding scene on television, but I'm not shocked at all when I see a
scene promoting the breasts as sexual body parts.  I'm used to it.  Cultural?
YOU BET!

I believe our culture (in the US) always tends to go from one extreme to the
other before finding a middle ground.  We have to keep educating people to
the fact that the female breast has another role so as to help balance the
perceptions that are running rampant.  I think it's important to remember
that for some, the breast can also be a part that is used for more than just
breastfeeding and that doesn't mean it is lowering the breasts' value or
their motherly uses (such as feeding and even as a pillow for a tired little
head).  I know many men, women, and children who would grieve if the breasts'
importance in their favorite setting were lost, but we also have to remember
that women are a lot more than just breasts.  It is the woman who offers the
comfort...the breast is just one of the means by which she can accomplish
this task, but there are many others.

I also learned in the sexuality class that people can learn to enjoy having
many different parts of their body stimulated (those erogenous zones we've
heard of) and they can be different for each person.  Some may get aroused by
having their ear blown into while for others it might be their neck tickled,
etc.  I also learned that many times, a person who becomes paralyzed and is
unable to feel anything below the waist, may develop erogenous zones in other
areas of the body that may not have "done anything" for them prior to their
injury.  This course taught me that all people, from the time they're born
until the time they die are sexual beings in nature.  Of course, how we
express that sexuality has a huge basis in culture, biology, and psychology
(I'm sure there are other things as well... such as environment...the list
goes on).  In a social psychology class I took, we were shown that men prefer
women with a .7 waist to hip ratio (don't have the paperwork available right
this minute, but I also saw this on an educational tv show the other night).
Even men from a culture that had NO television still chose the picture of the
woman with this same waist to hip proportion.  There is something to be said
for the woman's body as sexually appealing... this also played into facial
features.  Women, of course, also have their preferences.  Evolution is
supposedly responsible for this according to both my class instructor as well
as the TV show narrator.

While we may disagree as to the biological/cultural significance of how the
breasts got to be all of these different things, I think one thing we can all
agree on (and I hope I don't offend anyone by speaking as a group) is that
the breasts produce the best form of nutrition for nurturing our species (no
matter what culture they are exposed to and no matter which views they
support).  Public and open, or private and discreet, Mom's Milk is Nature's
Happiest Meal! :)

Veronica Scott

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