The bigger the better
Excerpt from the book "The Big Book of Breasts". By Dian Hanson.
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By 1959 only a quarter of American babies were breastfed, and American men were the most breast-obsessed on earth
In 1870, a hundred years after the publication of Rousseau's Emile, the "useful breast" cult was still the rage in Western Europe.Women of the better classes eagerly proved their solidarity with nature through public breastfeeding, and though the point of the movement was to desexualize the breast these public displays titillated many, including, perhaps, young Sigmund Freud. Freud's oral phase of human psychosexual development cast the useful breast in an entirely new light. Prior to the French Revolution, Europe's middle and upper class breasts were reserved for sexual titillation, while peasant breasts fed the babies. The Revolution swept the sexual breast from favor. Then along came Freud, suggesting that breast-feeding also provides sexual gratification; that an infant, in effect, makes love to its mother's breast - with its mouth! The breast as first sex partner may have scandalized the genteel matrons of Paris and London, but it struck an undeniable chord with many men. For American men this chord would swell to become a national anthem.
The useful breast movement never took hold in the US the way it did in Northern Europe because North America had no significant history of wet nursing. American infants of all classes could count on their very own mothers breast, and they would continue to enjoy this Freudian idyll until the 1940s, when not just the mother's, but all breasts, were abruptly snatched away. World War II emptied American factories of manpower. Women took the men's places and left their babies at home to be fed by the bottle.
When the war ended women went back to their homes, but stayed with the bottle. By 1956 only a quarter of American babies were breast-fed, and American men were the most breast-obsessed on earth. Coincidence? Ask Professor Freud. And while you're at it, get his opinion of those WWII pin-up magazines.
America's WWII pin-up effort is unique in history. It was anecdotally a response to the thousands of men who were infected with venereal disease during World War I. When a second war loomed it was decided the only way to keep troupes safe from Europe's carnal temptations was to distract them with pin-ups. You couldn't just hand a boy a nudie magazine and tell him to jerk off, though. Moral standards had to be maintained, so while the photos returned to the magazines bathing suits and tight sweaters chastely covered every breast. And they had a time doing it, as these forties' breasts were noticeably bigger than the bare breasts of the twenties and early thirties. I've heard conjecture that the voluptuous pin-up queens were selected as fertility symbols, to inspire soldiers to survive and propagate; sounds plausible unless you've met any men's magazine publishers. Since I have, I imagine the thinking was more, "If you can't give 'em bare boobs, at least give 'em big ones!" Sweaters proved the ideal environment for creative padding.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
By 1959 only a quarter of American babies were breastfed, and American men were the most breast-obsessed on earth
In 1870, a hundred years after the publication of Rousseau's Emile, the "useful breast" cult was still the rage in Western Europe.Women of the better classes eagerly proved their solidarity with nature through public breastfeeding, and though the point of the movement was to desexualize the breast these public displays titillated many, including, perhaps, young Sigmund Freud. Freud's oral phase of human psychosexual development cast the useful breast in an entirely new light. Prior to the French Revolution, Europe's middle and upper class breasts were reserved for sexual titillation, while peasant breasts fed the babies. The Revolution swept the sexual breast from favor. Then along came Freud, suggesting that breast-feeding also provides sexual gratification; that an infant, in effect, makes love to its mother's breast - with its mouth! The breast as first sex partner may have scandalized the genteel matrons of Paris and London, but it struck an undeniable chord with many men. For American men this chord would swell to become a national anthem.
The useful breast movement never took hold in the US the way it did in Northern Europe because North America had no significant history of wet nursing. American infants of all classes could count on their very own mothers breast, and they would continue to enjoy this Freudian idyll until the 1940s, when not just the mother's, but all breasts, were abruptly snatched away. World War II emptied American factories of manpower. Women took the men's places and left their babies at home to be fed by the bottle.
When the war ended women went back to their homes, but stayed with the bottle. By 1956 only a quarter of American babies were breast-fed, and American men were the most breast-obsessed on earth. Coincidence? Ask Professor Freud. And while you're at it, get his opinion of those WWII pin-up magazines.
America's WWII pin-up effort is unique in history. It was anecdotally a response to the thousands of men who were infected with venereal disease during World War I. When a second war loomed it was decided the only way to keep troupes safe from Europe's carnal temptations was to distract them with pin-ups. You couldn't just hand a boy a nudie magazine and tell him to jerk off, though. Moral standards had to be maintained, so while the photos returned to the magazines bathing suits and tight sweaters chastely covered every breast. And they had a time doing it, as these forties' breasts were noticeably bigger than the bare breasts of the twenties and early thirties. I've heard conjecture that the voluptuous pin-up queens were selected as fertility symbols, to inspire soldiers to survive and propagate; sounds plausible unless you've met any men's magazine publishers. Since I have, I imagine the thinking was more, "If you can't give 'em bare boobs, at least give 'em big ones!" Sweaters proved the ideal environment for creative padding.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Big Book of Breasts
Hardcover, 30 x 30 cm (11.8 x 11.8 in.), 396 pages
$ 59.99
$ 59.99
The supreme worship of the natural bosom
Roberta Pedon