awesome possum Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 This is very similar to what I, and many others have said. It is an organ that is sexualised by society, but you blame individuals for not being able to rise above the culture that made them? That's right. Just like how teenagers are "sexualized by society." As a 34-year-old male, it's not my fault if I get busted trying to sleep with a 16-year-old. It's society's fault for playing Hit Me Baby One More Time or making a movie like Spring Breakers. Not my fault at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awesome possum Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I'm assuming it's illegal to sleep with a 16 year old in your country? Is it also illegal to be attracted to breasts? Talk about bad comparisons. Are you saying that it's not society which is responsible for the sexualisation of breasts? Yeah, I guess it would be a bad comparison if you didn't understand how comparisons work and decided to focus on the whole legality part of the comparison instead of the crude attempt at blaming culture for an individual's personal actions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ankou Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Yeah but at that point their discomfort is their problem and they ought to keep it to themselves. I happen to dislike crowds, but I manage to not freak out when I'm in one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elder Sister Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I'd be happy with, ''To Leap, sorry for being a hypocrite, but'' If you did that, what you'd actually find is one person who said *she* would be uncomfortable if someone breastfed in public, and another who felt uncomfortable with public nudity. The rest, well that would just be your personal prejudices on anyone who disagrees with you, right? That's a great point. Perhaps one day as a society, breasts will no longer be considered sexual as they are now. But for now, I would say that it is understandable that people be uncomfortable in such a situation. I'm assuming it's illegal to sleep with a 16 year old in your country? Is it also illegal to be attracted to breasts? Talk about bad comparisons. Are you saying that it's not society which is responsible for the sexualisation of breasts?Leap:I'm sorry I offended you by not naming you in my message. Honestly, it makes me a bit sad. I would have hoped that a woman would have a more enlightened viewpoint, honestly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smegma Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I guess that's part of the question - is it okay to not feel comfortable with public breastfeeding, but accept that it is a good and natural thing and should be allowed despite one's personal hang-ups on it? Or is that not enough and truly our mentality about breasts, nudity, and social hang-ups need to change? And does it matter how old the child is? Does a six-year old breastfeeding child get the same approval as a newborn? I'm not asking to be snarky, I really don't know the answers to these questions except that for me personally, I know that even if I'm not thrilled when my friend pops her breasts out at the dinner table in a restaurant to feed her toddler, she damn well has the right to do so and that if anyone was to act outwardly hostile or disapproving, that's completely unacceptable behavior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mother of Mini Dragons Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Really, our society is so strange-acting about breasts - when they are a on a woman. Men walk around with shirts off all of the time and half of them have bigger breasts than me, but somehow if I had a baby's head covering mine sucking milk out of it in public - suddenly it's offensive. I just wish people would get over these hang-ups. I don't think breasts are all that interesting and people freak out about them - when they are on a woman. Look at the reaction to Rhianna (I have no idea how to spell her name) in that dress last week. People act like they've never seen nipples before - yet 100% of human beings have them. But when that nipple is attached to some rounded-out fat - on a woman - it becomes something else altogether. I get it that our society has these hang-ups, but I'm over it. It's really interesting though to see those hang-ups on a forum where I'm pretty sure most of the people here watch Game of Thrones and there are naked breasts on that show every single week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mlle. Zabzie Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I think it is ok to be uncomfortable as long as the right is acknowledged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiDisaster Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I guess that's part of the question - is it okay to not feel comfortable with public breastfeeding, but accept that it is a good and natural thing and should be allowed despite one's personal hang-ups on it? Or is that not enough and truly our mentality about breasts, nudity, and social hang-ups need to change? And does it matter how old the child is? Does a six-year old breastfeeding child get the same approval as a newborn? I'm not asking to be snarky, I really don't know the answers to these questions except that for me personally, I know that even if I'm not thrilled when my friend pops her breasts out at the dinner table in a restaurant to feed her toddler, she damn well has the right to do so and that if anyone was to act outwardly hostile or disapproving, that's completely unacceptable behavior. Regarding older children, as far as I've ever been aware it's unhealthy physically for a child to continue breastfeeding to that age. If that is the case I'd say it does matter how old the child is, but I might have been misinformed. If it could be shown that it is not unhealthy, physically or mentally, for a child to continue breastfeeding to that age then I would give it the same respect as a mother breastfeeding her infant child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ro Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 http://blog.imperfectparent.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/lysa.jpg Is that kid too old for that or no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awesome possum Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Just like peeing in a bottle and breastfeeding would be a bad example if you ignored the fact that both breast and penis are perceived as sexual, and therefore the cause of discomfort. Holy shit, this still? It's not just a bad example it's a horrendous example. Breastmilk is not a bodily waste. That you don't seem to understand this says everything about your argument that you're too scared to just come out and say. Regarding older children, as far as I've ever been aware it's unhealthy physically for a child to continue breastfeeding to that age. Pretty much this except I'd add it can be unhealthy mentally as well. A woman who used to be in my wife's social circle breastfed her son until he was 5 and Robert Arryn isn't that far off of a descriptor. He was a spoiled rotten budding sociopath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smegma Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Really, our society is so strange-acting about breasts - when they are a on a woman. Men walk around with shirts off all of the time and half of them have bigger breasts than me, but somehow if I had a baby's head covering mine sucking milk out of it in public - suddenly it's offensive. I just wish people would get over these hang-ups. I don't think breasts are all that interesting and people freak out about them - when they are on a woman. Look at the reaction to Rhianna (I have no idea how to spell her name) in that dress last week. People act like they've never seen nipples before - yet 100% of human beings have them. But when that nipple is attached to some rounded-out fat - on a woman - it becomes something else altogether. I get it that our society has these hang-ups, but I'm over it. It's really interesting though to see those hang-ups on a forum where I'm pretty sure most of the people here watch Game of Thrones and there are naked breasts on that show every single week. Frankly I'd love it if all guys kept their shirts on, too. But that's my personal preference and not how I think it should be treated socially or legally, if that makes sense. In other words, I think we should all have the right to bare our tops if it's okay for a man to do it (i.e., the beach) and not a safety or health hazard, but it's not that I particularly care to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ro Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I put on a shirt just for this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ankou Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I knew I'd coax you into making a point eventually Although, you appear to have missed mine. Why does the purpose of the liquid matter? They're both necessary, natural functions. Why is anyone who feels uncomfortable at both ostracised? As I, and others, have said - it is the nudity that could make people uncomfortable. Not the baby or the bottle. While urine is sterile, it smells bad and you wouldn't want to be splashed with it. You can breastfeed in any room in your house, there is no way you don't pee in the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ankou Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Though you could ask, why does the fact something serves a sexual purpose make it shameful? Lips are used quite extensively, some Muslim cultures therefore believe women need to cover their faces. At some point you don't have much of a logical consistency, you either cover it all or cover none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 Leap,The child is drinking a liquid that allows the child to survive. The person urinating in public is excreeting a substance that can make other's ill. Isn't that a distincitve difference between the two activities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 For some, armpits and knees may well be heavily sexual. Who knows? Best bet is to rock your furry costume 24/7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ankou Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 For some, armpits and knees may well be heavily sexual. Who knows? Best bet is to rock your furry costume 24/7. Well I mean that's the thing. People can go barefoot, Quentin Tarantino hasn't died yet from over-stimulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awesome possum Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I knew I'd coax you into making a point eventually Although, you appear to have missed mine. Why does the purpose of the liquid matter? They're both necessary, natural functions. Why is anyone who feels uncomfortable at both ostracised? As I, and others, have said - it is the nudity that could make people uncomfortable. Not the baby or the bottle. *yawn* I put on a shirt just for this thread. Yeah, a wife beater! You monster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elder Sister Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Don't worry about it. Perhaps in the light of having a woman disagree with you, you might reconsider that feeling uncomfortable around breastfeeding is not worthy of societal isolation? I definitely don't think it's worthy of that. And I know in many ways, it's a generational thing. My mother and her generation would be horrified by the link that Scot posted in the OP. I might have felt differently myself if I hadn't gone through a cancer diagnosis and realized that people were more freaked out about me getting my breasts amputated than they were by my having cancer. And observing and interacting with people during my experience really opened my eyes to the roles that women have in our society, and how we are so often complicit in continuing them. That will make you think hard about the objectification of breasts and the hyper-vigilance people have towards them; both men and women. You have every right to your opinion - I know, based on your posts in other threads, that you're an intelligent person. I would just ask you to reconsider your stance on this - that's all. Maybe you're uncomfortable for reasons that are not really good reasons? The funny thing is that I'm not pro-nudity at all - I'm like smegma - cover that stuff up and don't make me look at it! But feeding a baby is an entirely different set of circumstances. Babies have to eat - and they're on their own schedule, whether you're graduating college, sitting in your living room, or waiting at the DMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balefont Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I think it is ok to be uncomfortable as long as the right is acknowledged Exactly. And I'd add that the person finding it uncomfortable needs to be honest with themself in that the issue is *their* problem and not the mother feeding her child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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