Breasts in North America are a taboo: going topless on beaches is not generally accepted, breastfeeding in public is often frowned on or seen as 'indecent exposure', women going topfree is considered shameful and immodest behavior.On
other hand, entertainment industry and media constantly show women wearing very scant clothing that barely covers nipples and just draws more attention to breasts. Fashion swimwear covers less and less of female body each year. Media and advertisements signal to people that breasts are sexual, and only beautiful when big and protruding. But we know big breasts is a fallacy since women in ads and movies use push- up bras and breast enlargement to artificially 'enhance' way their breasts look like.
Just think what young girls learn about breasts if they continually see this 'propaganda' without a balancing view of real purpose of breasts! Breasts are to be hidden, they are sexual, forbidden. Parents teach their children same way, and many times children don't see a single pair of naturally nude breasts apart from their own (if they are girls) while growing up. It is totally possible that a child grows up in North America and never sees a baby breastfeeding!
How many pairs of real breasts have you ever seen? For many young women, most of their knowledge about breasts comes from movies and magazines, so it is no wonder that even teenagers talk about getting breast implants, and that most American women seem to be unhappy with their breasts.
If women are obsessed about their breast size and shape to extent of surgery, men aren't doing any better. For many men female breasts are a source of sexual inspiration, fascination and fantasy. They get inspired from looking at pictures where they see some cleavage, where breasts are enticingly almost visible, yet hidden. The pornographic industry gets much good about taboo-ism of female breasts by letting men see these taboo items for good money.
It is not so in Europe or in many other parts of world. European women commonly go topless on beaches, and many European countries also have nudist beaches where people sunbath naked, yet atmosphere is decent and non-sexual and people are at ease. The sauna culture in some European countries makes people used to seeing nakedness, and they don't view breasts as any special thing or taboo. Primitive tribes in hot climates wear very little clothing and it's no big deal to them. It seems that North American culture is almost alone erotizicing breasts to such an extreme.
Carolyn Latteier, author of Breasts, The Women's Perspective on an American Obsession, said in a TV program "All about breasts, "In many cultures, breasts aren't sexual at all. I interviewed a young anthropologist working with women in Mali, in a country in Africa where women go around with bare breasts. They're always feeding their babies. And when she told them that in our culture men are fascinated with breasts there was an instant of shock. The women burst out laughing. They laughed so hard, they fell on floor. They said, "You mean, men act like babies?"
She also said in same program that of women she interviewed, ones that were happiest with their breasts were breastfeeding women. They weren't thinking about, "Is it too small? Is it too big?" They were doing something wonderful - that which is REAL purpose of breasts. [1]
Breastfeeding in USA
An infant formula industry study found that only 31 percent of US infants are still being breastfed at 6 months, and even though experts recommend exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, one study found that only 13% of breastfeeding mothers at 3 months and a MERE 1% at 6 months were doing so. [2]
Why do women fail to breastfeed or wean too early? There are many reasons. Some mothers think breastfeeding is 'yucky'. The husband or partner might think woman's breasts are for sexual purposes and become jealous over nursing mom's breasts, or start thinking that baby is doing something indecent and pervert when it feeds.
The numerous women who have negative experiences about breastfeeding pass them on to their friends. Doctors know very little about breastfeeding and about dangers of bottlefeeding. Actually, a study found that majority of pediatricians believe breastfeeding and formula-feeding are equally acceptable methods for feeding infants. [3]
