fear of boobs

I'm glad to see there are others that think there should be an end to the fear of boobs

(found this on facebook)

Looks like they might like sailors also!

And don't forget to buy baby his very own Boobie Beanie - the very best hat for a breast-feeding baby.

Rodney Dangerfield said that he was so old that he remembered a time when a pair of boobs were two dumb guys.

Sometimes for holloween, I offer free breast exams.

My brother put a headache rack on his truck. People regularly compliment him on his nice rack.

The steam room and sauna at the Oak Bay recreation center contain enough hairy, sweaty MAN BOOBS to put even the serious connoisseur off boobs for a while.

That is priceless!!! I love the beanies! What a hoot.

My friend and I took our children to the lake to swim and EVERYONE was staring at us. Our kids begged us to let them take off their swim suits because all the other kids were naked and ours were getting pointed at.

We were in Germany and it was 1985. All the little kids were naked and all the adults were topless. So we let the kids ditch the suits and we took off our tops – and then we just blended in with everyone else.

Americans have an unhealthy obsession with the human body. We don’t want our kids to see a naked body part but we don’t mind them watching someone get cut up with a chainsaw. The first is natural; the second is most certainly not.

Oh, and BTW, my friend and I were both in agony for the next two weeks as our boobs had never seen sunlight and so were burnt to a crisp.

Jeanine Gurley wrote:My friend and I took our children to the lake to swim and EVERYONE was staring at us. Our kids begged us to let them take off their swim suits because all the other kids were naked and ours were getting pointed at.

We were in Germany and it was 1985. All the little kids were naked and all the adults were topless. So we let the kids ditch the suits and we took off our tops – and then we just blended in with everyone else.

Americans have an unhealthy obsession with the human body. We don’t want our kids to see a naked body part but we don’t mind them watching someone get cut up with a chainsaw. The first is natural; the second is most certainly not.

Oh, and BTW, my friend and I were both in agony for the next two weeks as our boobs had never seen sunlight and so were burnt to a crisp.

I whole-heartedly agree!!!

I don't know. Breastfeeding is so gross. Love the beanies, though.

The sailor tat reference must be for those "I love mom" tattoos!
The beanies are great--too funny!
I agree with Jeanine, too, that it's ridiculous what is acceptable and what isn't in American culture.
There's a new book out along these lines that sounds good: Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History.

Rion Mather wrote: Breastfeeding is so gross.

Mammal!

Rion, I gotta ask, what do you actually mean?

Rion Mather wrote:I don't know. Breastfeeding is so gross.

Gardening and boobs (or boob holders, anyway): http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=347341.0

know what's gross? "formula"

I'm not kidding, have you smelled that stuff? bleah.

I am a bit of a lactivist myself, I think the more people see breastfeeding, the
more comfortable they will be. also, I am.nursing twins, so itworks out to just do it wherever

I find it disgusting. I don't want to see it. I don't want to do it. Maybe I am scarred from having a coworker work the breast pump every day in the bathroom all those years ago. Lol.

Tyler Ludens wrote:Gardening and boobs (or boob holders, anyway): http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=347341.0

Hopefully no poison ivy.

Rion Mather wrote:I find it disgusting. I don't want to see it. I don't want to do it. Maybe I am scarred from having a coworker work the breast pump every day in the bathroom all those years ago. Lol.

Rion, feeling disgust your right, just as breastfeeding is a mother's
Thankfully (from my perspective) I think breastfeeding is allowed everywhere in the USA, although some states are more actively protective/promotional of it in permies. Is that correct, Americans?
I don't want to derail Paul's lighthearted thread, but if someone posts "Breastfeeding is so gross" on a permaculture forum, questions will be asked! Kudos to you for answering.

I don't think breastfeeding should be banned. I was only stating my personal opinion. Once you get to know me then you will know where the comments are coming from and take them with a grain of salt.

I assumed (hoped?) you weren't being all that serious
I had to get in there anyway, just in case!

I have washed a lot of dirty cloth diapers in my time, so I have ideas about what is gross that might be looser.

I think pointy toed high heels are gross, I don't want to see them or wear them. I wouldn't want to see them outlawed though. so I can picture how you feel, even if I don't agree.

actually, I think the grossest thing to me is getting pongy anaerobic bacteria water smell on my hands and not being able to wash it off.

it is true that breastfeeding is legal anywhere in my state, rhode island. I don't know for sure about all of the u.s.
still, some people are not used to it yet.

for the record, I think the pump is gross. I didn't use it at all with my twins, just the real deal.

curious, rion, would you use formula instead, or just not have kids? or feed them something else?

when I think about it hard enough, eating chicken eggs is sort of gross, but they are so yummy and nutritious and they appear so regularly in the coop...

Really, if you think breastfeeding is gross, you might want to think twice about having kids, as there's lot lot more grossness than that involved. Blood, poop, vomit, etc. Heck, all those can easily be involved just in the birth, and then there's still the rest of childhood to deal with.
On the other hand, it sounds like you recognize this as your own personal hangup, and don't expect the world to accommodate it. In that case, I can totally respect you for it. My husband is not comfortable seeing women breastfeeding (other than me when our kids were little), but he realizes it's his problem and not theirs and simply averts his gaze.

I find flippant remarks denigrating breastfeeding to be more than gross and while I acknowledge that I can't and couldn't in good conscience keep you from expressing such a thought, I would hope that you could recognized the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks in formula feeding, the difficulty women in America have from the social pressure to NOT breastfeed or to give it up prematurely and therefore make a judgement call on the supportive side of the women who find it worth their while, if not essential to their child's health.

But hey, I live with a man who doesn't want to read a single book about permaculture even though he's worked in horticulture for 20yrs. I should be used to the feelings of shock and dismay!

Formula feeding is like monocropping, only worse!

The same people who think breastfeeding is gross are usually the ones that can drive past calves or colts nursing on their mothers in the field and say, "Awwwwwwww....look at the baby!!!" without a second's thought for how gross it may or may not appear.

Boobs are beautiful...babies on boobs are a miracle to behold.

Ever notice how people in general don't like to think of themselves as animals? That we're superior and thus exempt from being part of the animal kingdom; instead we're lords of such kingdom!

There is a push for us not to breastfeed, that we don't "need" to do so since we have formula and bottles to replace what nature bestowed upon us. That to do what nature dictates means we give into our baser natures. We have machines that do so much for our species so we don't have to dirty our hands and do it ourselves. Boobs are viewed as "entertainment" by the media, not as nourishment, as intended by nature.

A friend of mine got a tank top which read, "My superpower is making milk... what's yours?"

I think our civilization is failing because we are moving away from nature and not embracing what Mother Nature gave us.

Jeanine Gurley is right; our civilization glorifies the unnatural, be it rampant violence or the nifty things technology can do. In the search to become more advanced, we lose what makes us human.

Just my two cents.

Seren Manda wrote:
A friend of mine got a tank top which read, "My superpower is making milk... what's yours?"

Love this! It is a truly awesome, irreplaceable thing.

Seren, Jeanine Gurley LIKES backyardgirlie -- wish I'd thought of that!

I agree most heartily that humans tend to be queasy about reminders of their animal nature. Myself, I love it, butsome not so much.

One thing- In other places it is different, but where I live, the push is for breastfeeding. Women are encouraged by their doctor, nurses, and hospitals to nurse their babies. When my twins were born three Lactation Consultants were dispatched to be sure all was well in milky land (it was, but they hung around anyway, alternately comanding and cooing)

This is wonderful, this acceptance of the biological imperative- it is not just a lovely nice thing to breastfeed, it is what we are built to do. The reasons are numerous beyond our knowing. It has been known for a long time that the baby receives immunity from disease from the mother through milk but it is only recently that they have found that the mother also receives antibodies from the baby. A complex system of nourishment, emotional support, physical closeness, pleasure hormone release, disease control, who knows? Something between symbiosis and parasitism.

The thing of it is, like many other things, the fact that "breast is best" has gotten caught up in modern society. Our DNA developed over millenia and our society changes as the world turns. We are, as has been previously noted, prudish about titties. Women go to work all day and leave their babies with others. Our homes are arranged with each person sleeping in a different room. We discuss these important issues with strangers on an internet forum instead of sitting around a fire or a cup of tea together.

Pumping milk with a machine in a bathroom is gross. Being hooked up to one of those machines, even the best of 'em, is not the pleasure release of a sweet infant face looking into the eyes of the archetype mother. If given the choice between the pump and "formula" the pump is a responsible choice of food, but that is all.

Side note, the pressure to breastfeed is strong and people can be judgemental without meaning to. A woman feeding her baby may have any of a number of reasons. She may have epilepsy drugs she needs to take, she may have been duped into a breast reduction surgery years ago and regrets it mightily, she may be an adoptive mother. I love boobs, my own and those of others, but I always try to keep an open mind. You never know.

In building a future, making a future possible, our compassion for others is priceless. How sad to be distanced from our animal nature. It was a long road of seperation, it takes what it takes to get us back. The shortest path is love.

This book was pointed out to me. Apparently it is a real book that you can buy. And, inside, all of the pages are blank.

I've read that book and agree with the author

paul wheaton wrote:This book was pointed out to me. Apparently it is a real book that you can buy. And, inside, all of the pages are blank.

I love the fact that the word BOOBS is spelled with two O's. Very appropriate. It's obviously pre-programmed into our brains that boobs are exciting to all of us! A survival response. Boobs=survival! I'm a survivalist

As the hereditary bearer of 8 lbs worth of boobs, that have been accused of being intimidating even when fully clothed, I very much appreciated the good laughs from this thread.
The only thing about them that intimidates Ernie is their potential to double in size, should we be lucky enough to get children.
That's basically carrying a terrier on my chest all day, let alone the actual baby bump.

I have not given much consideration to reduction surgery because I want the opportunity to breast-feed.
My back is definitely hoping it's soon, and (wistful optimism) that they maybe shrink afterwards? Please?
I suspect I'll be adding a complimentary 10-lb weight on my back, and spending a fair amount of time in the swimming pool, during gestation.

Twins would be an excellent use of resources, especially if they have large mouths and strong arms.
Not expecting yet, just hoping.

-Erica W

Erica Wisner wrote:
I have not given much consideration to reduction surgery because I want the opportunity to breast-feed.
My back is definitely hoping it's soon, and (wistful optimism) that they maybe shrink afterwards? Please?
I suspect I'll be adding a complimentary 10-lb weight on my back, and spending a fair amount of time in the swimming pool, during gestation.
-Erica W

It might not be wistful optimism, but biology that creates shrinking after breastfeeding! Having the scientific mind that you do, Erica, you're probably already aware of this, but I'll share just in case (or perhaps for others).

By the complimentary weight on your back, did you mean the fat pads that are/can be deposited on the back during pregnancy as fuel for making mother's milk? During breastfeeding, both the fat pads on the back and the fat in the breasts themselves (and perhaps other fat? - some of the details have escaped my memory from 18-25 years ago!) are used to create milk. This means quite a few women experience smaller breasts after nursing.

Nursing large, healthy babes was an awesome way (for me) to lose weight all around. So many magical aspects to it.

The last time I was at the Oregon Country Fair I kept telling my freind that the B's weren't silent, but it never failed all he could say when he spied them was OOOOOOOOOO.

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:

Erica Wisner wrote:
I have not given much consideration to reduction surgery because I want the opportunity to breast-feed.  
My back is definitely hoping it's soon, and (wistful optimism) that they maybe shrink afterwards? Please?
I suspect I'll be adding a complimentary 10-lb weight on my back, and spending a fair amount of time in the swimming pool, during gestation.
-Erica W

It might not be wistful optimism, but biology that creates shrinking after breastfeeding! Having the scientific mind that you do, Erica, you're probably already aware of this, but I'll share just in case (or perhaps for others).

By the complimentary weight on your back, did you mean the fat pads that are/can be deposited on the back during pregnancy as fuel for making mother's milk? During breastfeeding, both the fat pads on the back and the fat in the breasts themselves (and perhaps other fat? - some of the details have escaped my memory from 18-25 years ago!) are used to create milk. This means quite a few women experience smaller breasts after nursing.

Nursing large, healthy babes was an awesome way (for me) to lose weight all around. So many magical aspects to it.

I was more thinking a backpack to balance the load on my spine.  Maybe a frame pack.

The dual purposes of this thread crack me up.

As for the (way back when) photo that started it, that laundromat really missed a grand opportunity.  Why in the world does it say "Babies and Boobs" instead of "Babies and Boobies"?

Wes Hunter wrote:Why in the world does it say "Babies and Boobs" instead of "Babies and Boobies"?

Presumably in case people are disappointed when one of these doesn't appear...

Burra Maluca wrote:Presumably in case people are disappointed when one of these doesn't appear...

As a kid, I had an animal book where each page was dedicated to one particular species.  Of all the interesting critters, I was most fascinated by the Blue-Footed Booby.  As a boy of 12, even the word itself was, ahem, titillating.