God intended purpose of breasts?

[sbrinton]

Not to open a can of worms here, but...

I've read a lot on here about how the "God intended purpose of breasts" is feeding babies. While I agree totally that breasts were made for breastfeeding, does anyone else see that breasts are sexy?

As a Christian, there are more than a few examples in the Bible of men finding women's bodies attractive and this seems to be how God intended things...

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I personally dont view breasts as sexy but I do think that they where intended to serve double duty as both. Main reason feeding baby followed by sexual.

[SpiderMum]

I think breasts are very sexy...but mainly very useful in the feeding department. I think it we didn't need them to feed babies, God wouldn't have bothered to attach them (or nature, if you believe in natural selection).

[JorgieGirl]

Many parts of our body do double duty. Breasts are just another one of them. I do think they are sexy and fabulously functional! Nature has a way of being efficient.

[The4OfUs]

I agree they are sexy too, BUT their functionality comes first, and their functionality shouldn't be overshadowed, or have "rules" dictated over them, by the sexiness.

[TopHat]

I've even heard the argument that because women have breasts (which is not actually true for my AA cup friends) and men don't God/evolution meant for them to be attractive to men. Of course, by that reasoning, women would innately be attracted to facial hair. I definitely feel that the sexual appeal of breasts is primarily culturally impressed on us. From a very young age, we are bombarded with cleavage and airbrushed breasts. We are conditioned to think breasts = attractive.

And yes, my husband loves my breasts and they can be sexual, but they do have two functions as do most body parts. Lips, hands, legs, etc., can all be sexual, but that comes after their main functions like eating, picking things up, walking, etc.

[Ann-Marita]

I think breasts being considered sexy is a cultural thing. There are cultures (fairly close to the US, too) where women will go topless in public or semi-public places, and no one bats an eye, because in their culture breasts are not the airbrushed, pushed up sexual body parts they have become in the US.

[MamaStarbird]

I think that at the deepest level, the reason men find breasts sexy is that breasts signify that a woman is sexually mature and able to have babies and feed them. I don't think there's any point in separating out one 'purpose' of breasts from another since God's design of things is so brilliant and complex and works together so perfectly and this is a great example of that. Men are attracted to grown, healthy women who can bear and raise lots of babies.

[tanyam926]

I think that breasts can serve multiple purposes. Attractive, nourishing, soft and cuddly, comforting, etc. are all nice things about breasts.

I agree w/the pp who said that the sexual attractiveness of breasts should not be put before the infant's need for survival at the breast. That's just ridiculous.

I really believe that our society has many sexual dysfunction problems and the breasts for sex only is just one.

We do not value motherhood, optimal infant nutrition (thanks medical establishment and big pharma), or children and their rights to have a healthy life. Breastfeeding touches on all 3 of these and therefore is a hotbutton issue.

All I know is that there are MANY men who love breasts but have no problem being around BF women. My dh is one of them.

I also think that the more people are exposed (pun intended) to women BF their babies, the less squeamish they will become.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by sbrinton

Not to open a can of worms here, but...

I've read a lot on here about how the "God intended purpose of breasts" is feeding babies. While I agree totally that breasts were made for breastfeeding, does anyone else see that breasts are sexy?

As a Christian, there are more than a few examples in the Bible of men finding women's bodies attractive and this seems to be how God intended things...

Where does it talk about breasts in particular being sexually attractive? Women's bodies have a lot going on that identify them as women's bodies. Smaller limbs, large hips, full and rounded buttocks. It's the whole package that's sexy.

Which is why in some very religious countries where they don't trust men to have any self-control, they make women stay completely covered up.

Personally, I don't like claiming that breasts are totally non-sexual when dealing with rational people. What I prefer is to point out that breasts are exactly as sexual as lips.

[laohaire]

Yup. Legs are sexy too but I think we can safely say their primary purpose is for walking.

[boheime]

Originally Posted by laohaire

Yup. Legs are sexy too but I think we can safely say their primary purpose is for walking.

Exactly, I find many parts of my husband attractive, but they have other fundamental purposes.

[Ruthla]

Some men are incredibly aroused by women's ears. That doesn't change the fact that the primary purpose of ears is for hearing. Hips can be sexy. Elbows can be sexy. Feet can be sexy. Hair can be sexy. ANY part of the human body can be sexy, breasts included. That doesnt' change the fact that breasts house the mammary glands, whose purpose is to make milk to feed the young.

Of course, there's something about the way human bodies are designed that differ from other mammals. In cats, dogs, and hamsters (and many other mammals as well), females don't grow large mammary glands as a sign of sexual maturity. The mammaries enlarge during pregnancy, stay large during lactation, then shrink back after weaning.When not nursing or pregnant, female breasts are similar in size and shape to male breasts. That's not the case with humans.

So I guess G-d intended women's breasts to be attractive as well as functional. You'll also find Biblical references to nursing for 3 or more years.

[2boyzmama]

Anthropologists will tell you that men are genetically driven towards women with veluptuous breasts and round hips because it signifies reproductive health, the ability to bear and sustain young. And men, at their core, are designed with the sole purpose of ensuring that their genes survive to the next generation.

One could successfully argue that humans are not meant to be monogamous, that like many other mammals, the man fertilizes the woman, then leaves to spread his seed elsewhere. Therefore the uses for a woman's breasts don't overlap...they serve to attract a mate, then they sustain an offspring, then they go back to the purpose of attracting a (perhaps different) mate once that offspring has weaned. In fact, it makes more sense, from a pure genetics standpoint, to never reproduce with the same male, because you want as diverse a genetic pool as possible for a species to survive.

It's only our culture ("our" being very general, not specific to any country, but rather the modern human race) that has "melded" the two uses of breasts together by mating for life and living in communal groups.

Or so the argument could go.

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by TopHat

I've even heard the argument that because women have breasts (which is not actually true for my AA cup friends) and men don't God/evolution meant for them to be attractive to men. Of course, by that reasoning, women would innately be attracted to facial hair. I definitely feel that the sexual appeal of breasts is primarily culturally impressed on us. From a very young age, we are bombarded with cleavage and airbrushed breasts. We are conditioned to think breasts = attractive.

I doubt sexual attractiveness is either purely innate, or purely cultural, for human beings.

It makes sense that secondary sexual characteristics are going to be seen as attractive. They signal sexual maturity and specific gender. So women's breasts, hip-to-waist proportions, distribution of body fat, etc. would usually be considered attractive traits to men, as would men's specific body shape, facial hair, etc. to women.

These things can be influenced by culture or even fashion. In the 1920s women bound their breasts to appear flat chested, but most of the time breasts are seen as desirable. Similarly, women have admired a nice beard on men over the centuries, but currently shaving is more the norm in this society, so many women no longer find facial hair appealing.

These exceptions do not negate the general rule that whatever attributes are specific to adults of one sex, or more pronounced in one sex, will usually be seen as attractive.

[MissinNYC]

I think, as a Christian, that breasts are intended for whatever we choosto use them for, within marriage or childbearing. If we find them sexy, or our husbands do, great, show them off to him. I do think it's clear that their functional use is nursing, but God is so good that his plan can include many uses for one thing. Sex is incredibly important to God, as is pleasurable fulfillment within marriage, as is childrearing. there's no need to parse out whats's primary and what's secondary or tertiary. Before we have kids, our breasts are more decorative (eek, mine included), when we have them they are used more for food, and then post kids, they are comforting, feminine, womanly, etc. As I am sure many mastectomy patients know, bbs are very associated with feeling feminine, beautfiful, etc, even after childbirth is long gone.

[blessedwithboys]

i will go so far as to say that the primary purpose of the female breast is NOT to feed her young. i say this because pregnancy and lactation are generally preceeded by intercourse, during which the breast are often used erogenously. so, after using the breasts to attract and pleasure one another, the female then uses them to feed her young.


biblical references to breasts being sexually attractive:
solomon 4:5
solomon 7:3,6,7
ezekiel 16:7 (figurative use)

and the most explicit (and my personal favorite!) proverbs 5:19..."Let her own breasts intoxicate you at all times"

[2xy]

I think breasts are sexy, but I fully realize that I've been conditioned by society so think so. In places in Africa, they think strangely-long necks surrounded by metal rings are attractive. The Chinese thought bound feet were erotic. Different cultures enjoy different stimuli.

Originally Posted by TopHat

I've even heard the argument that because women have breasts (which is not actually true for my AA cup friends) and men don't God/evolution meant for them to be attractive to men.

Well, I'm an AA cup, and I definitely have breasts. Believe it or not, lots of men enjoy bite-sized bosoms. All I know is that I'm pushing 40 and my girls are still cute and perky, even after two pregnancies and breastfeeding.

[ramama]

Originally Posted by TopHat

I've even heard the argument that because women have breasts (which is not actually true for my AA cup friends) and men don't God/evolution meant for them to be attractive to men. Of course, by that reasoning, women would innately be attracted to facial hair. I definitely feel that the sexual appeal of breasts is primarily culturally impressed on us. From a very young age, we are bombarded with cleavage and airbrushed breasts. We are conditioned to think breasts = attractive.

LOL! Although not all women are innately attracted to facial hair, I think we are programmed to be wary of males too young to grow facial hair. I think the same holds true with breasts, men should not be sexually attracted to a woman too young to have breasts. I think they're a sign of sexual maturity, from an evolution stand-point.

I think it's important to note that the Bible does not encompass all cultures. There are many cultures who view sex during lactation a taboo, and cultures who are shocked at what Western women allow men to do to their breasts, who view manual or oral manipulation of breasts an infantile, and therefore unmanly, act.

[beansmama]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Well, I'm an AA cup, and I definitely have breasts. Believe it or not, lots of men enjoy bite-sized bosoms. All I know is that I'm pushing 40 and my girls are still cute and perky, even after two pregnancies and breastfeeding.