Pope Francis Supports Breastfeeding Enough To Know It Needs To Happen In Public

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ATeutonicKnight said:
There’s nothing wrong with liking breasts. But breasts are not inherently sexual. I’m a leg man, but that doesn’t mean I think legs are made for sex and will demand ladies not show their legs. Breasts are made to feed children, and we shouldn’t make women go in hiding whenever their infant wants to eat. This shouldn’t even be a problem, since most girls that breastfeed their babies use covers. However, I’ve seen people freak out even when girls are using covers (This happened to my sister, from our grandmother, no less). But even then, some babies refuse to eat with a cover on, and we shouldn’t force mothers that breastfeed their children to cover up what they are doing. Mothers are incredibly busy, and they don’t always have time to hide in a room so as not to “offend” others. People in today’s society focus so much on stopping anything that might be “offensive” to others, when sometimes we just need to get the heck over it, especially when it’s something as natural as feeding your child.
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This has come up many times on CAF. So by this point, after having read tons of posts and referred articles, I feel fairly confident in saying that your assertion that “breasts are not inherently sexual” is contrary to both biological, anthropological, and even current psychological evidence.

Humans are are the only primates with perennial breasts. Other female primates do not have noticeable breasts unless nursing. Further, human breasts are far from optimized for breast feeding. In fact, the rounder shape of the human breast is the least conducive for a child to feed from among all primates. The more angular shape of other primates reduces the risk of blocking a child’s nose while nursing. The fat deposits that make women’s more rounded, permanent breasts do, however help to naturally attract males. If you look at even the most ancient primitive art, large, rounded breasts are prominent in fertility symbols, not angular teats. Further, evidence supports that “breast play” as a form of foreplay or intimacy is present in most cultures all over the world, and has been in history.

Much more can be said, and if you are interested, just look up “permanent breasts” + “humans” or “secondary sex characteristics” + “humans”. There’s tons of material online on the subject.
 
Not to be nitpicky but “NEEDS to happen in public”? Who translated this?
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
I don’t see what the big deal is with breastfeeding in public. Breasts have been so oversexualized in America, and I get so flustered every time someone acts like breastfeeding in public is disgusting (And I rarely get flustered). It’s natural and okay. Breasts are not made for sex, they are not made to turn you on, they are made to feed babies. If some people can’t handle it, they need to get over it and look away if they need to.
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They are for husbands, too. The book of Proverbs in the sacred scriptures tell us so.

5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

Proverbs 5:18-19

catholic-bible.org/proverbs/proverbs-5.htm
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
I don’t see what the big deal is with breastfeeding in public. Breasts have been so oversexualized in America, and I get so flustered every time someone acts like breastfeeding in public is disgusting (And I rarely get flustered). It’s natural and okay. Breasts are not made for sex, they are not made to turn you on, they are made to feed babies. If some people can’t handle it, they need to get over it and look away if they need to.
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A very interesting perspective.
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
I don’t see what the big deal is with breastfeeding in public. Breasts have been so oversexualized in America, and I get so flustered every time someone acts like breastfeeding in public is disgusting (And I rarely get flustered). It’s natural and okay. Breasts are not made for sex, they are not made to turn you on, they are made to feed babies. If some people can’t handle it, they need to get over it and look away if they need to.
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👍
 
Let me perhaps clarify what I mean further.

As an example, babies were not made to be cute. Rather, we humans evolved to think they are cute. Here’s a short and informative video from Scishow: youtube.com/watch?v=GJO9BNUSXjY

I bring that up because breasts are the same way: They were not made to turn men on. Rather, men evolved to find them sexually arousing. I mean, just think about it: Why do men find breasts arousing? Scientifically speaking, they are essentially bags of fat that produce milk. Doesn’t seem very arousing when you think about it that way, but many men are crazy for them. Why? Because we evolved to think they are arousing.
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
Let me perhaps clarify what I mean further.

As an example, babies were not made to be cute. Rather, we humans evolved to think they are cute. Here’s a short and informative video from Scishow: youtube.com/watch?v=GJO9BNUSXjY

I bring that up because breasts are the same way: They were not made to turn men on. Rather, men evolved to find them sexually arousing. I mean, just think about it: Why do men find breasts arousing? Scientifically speaking, they are essentially bags of fat that produce milk. Doesn’t seem very arousing when you think about it that way, but many men are crazy for them. Why? Because we evolved to think they are arousing.
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Please see post # 25.
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
I don’t see what the big deal is with breastfeeding in public. Breasts have been so oversexualized in America, and I get so flustered every time someone acts like breastfeeding in public is disgusting (And I rarely get flustered). It’s natural and okay. Breasts are not made for sex, they are not made to turn you on, they are made to feed babies. If some people can’t handle it, they need to get over it and look away if they need to.
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Actually, breasts are secondary sexual organs and universally, with humans, seen as serving both roles- of nourishment and of sexual arousal.
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
Let me perhaps clarify what I mean further.

As an example, babies were not made to be cute. Rather, we humans evolved to think they are cute. Here’s a short and informative video from Scishow: youtube.com/watch?v=GJO9BNUSXjY

I bring that up because breasts are the same way: They were not made to turn men on. Rather, men evolved to find them sexually arousing. I mean, just think about it: Why do men find breasts arousing? Scientifically speaking, they are essentially bags of fat that produce milk. Doesn’t seem very arousing when you think about it that way, but many men are crazy for them. Why? Because we evolved to think they are arousing.
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So you are agreeing that, for humans, breasts are inherently sexual? That’s what your post states.
 
JReducation said:
Watching a mother breastfeed her child is one of the most beautiful events that I could ever experience. For nine months she protects him and nurtures him in her womb. Now that he’s out in the world, she continues to protect him and nurture him in her bosom. It reminds me of what should be the mission of every family.
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👍
 
As a male I have no problem with a woman breast feeding in public, if we could look at the woman with the innocence of the child breast-feeding instead of the contamination of lust & corruption of original sin which is in us, that would be beautiful…
 
I have breastfed all of my kids. As a matter of fact, I have been either pregnant, breastfeeding or both for 18 of the last 20 years. When I am in Mexico, I have no problem breastfeeding in public because everyone there is accustomed to that happening. No one sees it as anything other than a baby eating. No one is offended, uncomfortable, curious or interested in any way about it. It’s normal and natural and occurs everywhere. Here in the US, it is rare that I nurse in public. I try to find a room or sit in the van to nurse instead. If I must nurse in public I am well covered by a receiving blanket or sometimes two as the kids get older and tend to grow. Most of the time people assume my little one is just taking a nap instead of nursing. When my kids get older and start pulling the blanket off, I will often refuse to nurse them until I find a quiet spot. I usually don’t wean my kids unti 18-36 months old, but I won’t nurse in public (in the US) after 12-15 months old. It offends too many people and to me it is rude to purposely offend someone or cause discomfort to another intentionally. It is cultural more than anything else. Many places outside the US it is common place to see a nursing mother with no cover feeding her little one on a bus, in a store, working as a street vendor, or anywhere. These are not immodestly women. Most are much more modest than the covered up nursers here or the people who are uncomfortable with the breastfeeding moms. Culture plays a huge role in the way we view this and I try to be respectful of that.
 
independent.co.uk/news/people/news/pope-francis-encourages-mothers-to-breastfeed-in-the-sistine-chapel-9055379.html?utm_source=St+Mary%27s+Church%2C+Islington+List&utm_campaign=03f01d32d3-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9512c165b8-03f01d32d3-233410289

From the article:

During a ceremony in Vatican City on Sunday, the Pope baptised 32 babies and told their mothers: “If they are hungry, mothers, feed them, without thinking twice, because they are the most important people here.”

The ceremony saw the Pope deliver a brief, improvised homily centred on the children - a departure from the long, theology-laden sermons given by his predecessors.

“Today the choir will sing but the most beautiful choir of all is the choir of the infants who will make a noise. Some will cry because they are not comfortable or because they are hungry,” he told parents.

His words come after he linked breastfeeding to recycling food and wastefulness in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa last month, after a mother seemed shy about feeding her child in his presence.

He described how as he approached the mother at his weekly Papal General Audience, her child was “crying its eyes out” with hunger and so he asked her to “please give it something to eat!”

In another apparent first in the Vatican, the parents of one of the babies at the ceremony were not married in church but at a civil service in a town hall - meaning their marriage is technically not recognised by the Catholic Church.

But the Pope has said several times since his election that the Church must not make children of couples in irregular situations feel like second-class faithful, and agreed to baptise 7-month-old Giulia Scardia into the faith
 
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