# Breasts are just for feeding babies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338 "2016-08-19T19:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/41 "2016-08-21T00:33:20Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I may be dense, but my brain just fails to compute how anyone can equate breastfeeding in public with sex to begin with. You know what is sexy? A naked boob. You know what is \*not \*sexy? A naked boob with an infant attached to it. > > Or, if someone finds that sexy, they probably actually do have some weird fetish. Which, I mean, is fine. Nothing wrong with that. Whatever rocks your boat, I don’t give a damn. I just don’t see why it’s my problem, particularly. > > Also, it doesn’t make any sense, when you think about it. “What you are doing appeals to my fetish! Stop doing it right now!” The hell? Just enjoy the view. Actually, this is something about prudishness that I’ve always profoundly failed to understand. “What you are doing titillates me! Stop doing it!” Wait, what now? > > Again, though, as I said, maybe I’m just dense. You seem pretty sensible to me, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/42 "2016-08-21T01:56:22Z")
In every species there are attributes that differentiate one sex from the other. Basically it’s so you don’t waste a lot of energy walking up a hill and when you get to the top discover that it’s a dude. The “sexualization” of such attributes is inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/43 "2016-08-22T01:38:03Z")
Of course they are sexual organs. Ask anyone, man or woman. Most men and women want them to be stimulated during foreplay, and some women report having orgasms from nothing other than breast stimulation. They also have that other purpose, feeding infants, which is not sexual. So what? Pretty much all of our sexual organs have dual purposes. We pee through our major sexual organs, the clitoris and penis. Very few people view peeing as a sexual act despite the fact that a sexual organ was used to perform it. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/44 "2016-08-22T01:38:58Z")
We do not pee through the clitoris. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/45 "2016-08-22T01:42:34Z")
On the other hand, men’s nipples can be lotsa fun to play with. “Useless” indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/46 "2016-08-22T01:42:51Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > We pee through our major sexual organs, the clitoris and penis. Hang on. You pee through your clitoris? _rereads anatomy textbook_ Edit: > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > We do not pee through the clitoris. Thanks. For a moment there I was feeling weirdly disoriented. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/47 "2016-08-22T18:11:37Z")
No, no, _men_ pee through their clitoris. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/48 "2016-08-22T18:22:51Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > We do not pee through the clitoris. Of course you don’t, the clitoris is a myth! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/49 "2016-08-22T18:24:54Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Of course you don’t, the clitoris is a myth! Nice lisp you got there. Wait- you weren’t saying that clitoris is for a miss? ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/50 "2016-08-22T18:43:40Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Nice lisp you got there. > > Wait- you weren’t saying that clitoris is for a miss? It’s usually missed. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/51 "2016-08-22T19:16:35Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Every time I would go there, I’d have to remind myself, “Talk to their face or look at their kids. Never look directly into the sun.” “But Mama…that’s where the fun is…” [sub]“…Blinded by the light…”[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/52 "2016-08-23T13:26:51Z")
The other thing to mention about breasts as sexual objects and breastfeeding is that sometimes the latter significantly changes the former. My wife went from a healthy B cup to a D and then when that was finished became an A. From what she says, that’s not uncommon over here. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/53 "2016-08-24T05:01:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The point feminists are trying to make-- sometimes with poor phrasing-- is that breasts shouldn’t be sexualized over and above their purpose of feeding babies, to the point that naked breasts are illegal in public even when they are being used to feed a baby. Which I agree with. > > However, I don’t think that’s really been the case since the 1970s. Almost every municipality has a statute permitting a woman to breastfeed any place she is legally allowed to be. It may not be illegal here, but it sure is socially unacceptable. To the point that my sister was shocked when she saw a woman feeding her kid in church of all places when she went to NYC. We have “family rooms” specifically for that purpose, with an intercom that pipes in the sermon or singing. Doing it here is basically considered trashy, not sexual, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/54 "2016-08-24T13:59:19Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Are you familiar with the cow? I gather you’ve met my first wife. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/55 "2016-08-24T14:03:24Z")
I’ve read a fair amount of radical feminist articles, blogs, and commentary and I’ve never seen that. The closest is the proposition that if men can go without shirts in public then so should women because breasts are not sex organs in the same way that genitals are. Another view is that breasts are excessively sexualized in Western cultures. One thing I find interesting about the evolution of human appearance is that in many animals it’s the case that the male is the one with ornaments to display their fitness to the choosy females. Males have big tails, colorful displays, they sing and dance and perform all sorts of other ritualized behaviors, whereas the female is drab. In humans, it seems both sexes have these sorts of ornaments to a certain degree, but men value physical appearance much more than women do. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/56 "2016-08-24T14:53:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Doing it here is basically considered trashy, not sexual, though. A view you agree with? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/57 "2016-08-24T15:19:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It may not be illegal here, but it sure is socially unacceptable. To the point that my sister was shocked when she saw a woman feeding her kid in church of all places when she went to NYC. We have “family rooms” specifically for that purpose, with an intercom that pipes in the sermon or singing. > > Doing it here is basically considered trashy, not sexual, though. I’m not sure where your “here” is, but I nursed my kids in a variety of restaurants, malls, airplane etc (all during the mid 1990s) and never got a look askance. This was in the midwest and both coasts. Definitely not socially unacceptable or trashy everywhere. In fact I’d argue, very few places indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338/58 "2016-08-24T17:13:08Z")
I’ve seen men with bigger breasts than mine go topless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breasts-are-just-for-feeding-babies/763338.md?page=2)