Barbara Wilson-Clay writes that many LCs work in the west (US, Canada, Australia, Germany, etc.) and therefore must deal with cultures where the breasts are viewed as sex objects. This is true, of course. However, the point that I thought was being made by this discussion, which started with Fiona's magazine article, is whether the perspective of breasts as sex objects -- which interferes with breastfeeding and causes untold problems and leads to the use of formula with all its attendant morbidity and mortality -- is normal/natural/part of human nature (and therefore unchangeable), or is cultural/learned (and therefore quite changeable). If it is part of 'human nature,' our genetic heritage, to view breasts as sex objects, then we may very well conclude that we can't teach people to view breasts otherwise, that it's perfectly OK for people to view breastfeeding as a sexual activity (and therefore it should be kept private) and that it is logical to conclude that women who breastfeed beyond infancy are 'having sex' with their children. If viewing breasts as sex objects is cultural, learned behavior, then we can decide, consciously, not to perpetuate this view. We can actively teach our sons and daughters that breasts are for feeding children. I will not repeat here the conlusions of my "Beauty and the Breast" which discusses this issue in some detail -- I recommend that anyone interested go read it. Culture is changeable. I think that in order to improve the health of children and their mothers through breastfeeding, we must change our culture's view of breasts. And the first step of doing so is to recognize that this is indeed cultural, and therefore changeable. Kathy Dettwyler _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html