Bodily autonomy from the waist up, what promises to be an interesting read, from Book TV, "Tits Up." [View all]

My wife breast fed my sons, often in public, until the oldest was almost 4 and the youngest was nearly three. Although it didn't happen often, this sometimes - I remember an egregious instance at the San Diego Zoo - generated unsolicited negative comments. However my wife and I agreed that the science was unambiguously supportive of long breast feeding; it hurt no one, and both my sons grew up to be fine, intelligent, healthy young men who are fairly well adjusted.

My father-in-law, a physician, actually objected to my wife and her sister breast feeding the kids in front of him; at least until my mother-in-law told him to screw off with his old world views.

In our culture, of course, breasts are highly sexualized, and I confess as a young man and even as a full (more or less) adult male, I was hardly immune from this acculturation; one reason I made a point of meeting my wife the first time I saw her was her lack of a bra and a body suit. (I've grown up hopefully.)

This is, apparently, as I just learned, hardly a cultural universal; in fact it was an export of American culture after import from 18th century French culture.

I learned this in a fascinating video on CSPAN's Book TV today featuring the sociologist Sarah Thorton speaking of her new book, "Tits Up." A gay woman who has had a double mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, she has apparently researched the topic thoroughly, talking with everyone from surgeons (cosmetic and otherwise), to sex workers, engineers and a host of other people talking about the topic, which after dispensing with the common vernacular, she discusses - I like this locution - bodily autonomy from the waist up.

Tits Up: What Sex Workers, Milk Bankers, Plastic Surgeons, Bra Designers, and Witches Tell Us about Breasts

The full video is here:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?535837-2/tits-up