Absolutely should not be considered a big deal. When you make it a big deal, in my opinion, that is where all the troubles and hang ups start. As a mom I have tried to be open about nudity infront of my son. Explaining it is just a body, we all have them...Oddly even with this openess when my second son was born, my older son was a little freaked out seeing the baby being breast fed. He was 10 at the time and had developed his own feelings towards nudity. I had to start over. Whenever he catches a glimpse and shirks away or gets "grossed out" I reiterate my feelings on nudity. I so don't want my children thinking just because someone is nude that it is sexual. That is where exploitation comes in to play...and objectifying. The human body in its natural unaroused state does not need to be considered X-rated. Now if we were talking about bare breasts in some sort of sexual fashion, i.e. being licked or sucked by an adult or w/ nipple clamps on, obviously I would not find that appropriate for a young child to see.

Just curious, bm4all. What kind of paper are you working on and for what?

Thanks for the great responses gang!

Denny, I am writing a social psychology paper on changing gender inequalities. In particular, the paper focuses on the gradual change of social inequalities regarding to status. My question about kids seeing breasts is extremely important because between the ages of 7 and 12, kids are being "socialized" by society as a whole - and can be excellent indicators of society's teachings. The reason I ask adult opinions is because they are the ones who allow or disallow certain forms of socialization to occur.

Glad you asked? :) :D

This is another example of the way things have changed over time!When I was in my young teens,my uncle got Playboy magazine.In those days,seeing a bare breast,was very erotic.Now
it's considered no big deal!It's TAME in magazines. Irish

It's just our society is stuck up about them. I don't see any harm in nudity, period.

Vigil--I suspect a lot of the attitude here in the US can be traced back to the Puritans, who got here before almost anyone else from Europe. They had, as you might imagine, a bit of influence in the early days of the colonies, and some ideas (both good and bad) hang on like leeches. I think every history has examples of attitudes that stay around for centuries for no good reason--this is one of ours.

Dear Flynn

The celtic cross is in my heart. It is one of the ironies of histories that the world's broadest community retains the prejudices of the narrowest church.

i find that the sexual taboo's in america are actually very unhealthy for several reasons

one, it violates our constitution. to separate church and state and similarly have both the taboos and laws regualting sexual material we see an obvious connection between our governmetn and christianity

secondly it denies a distinct part of our humanity and distinguishes us entirely from what is natural. to deny this serves no purpose yet is imposed on society as a whole with no proven benefits

and as a side note puritans were in generally pretty damn freaky by today's standards...even when it came to things now labeled as rape and sexual harassment. punishment was very slim, and really only because they had a tremendous fear of the wrath of god

now you say your paper is on psychology? have u taken any classes on frued? basically his belief is that children of all ages express sexuality , and that when that is inhibited then psychological perversions occur

while not seeing bare breasts has never turned a child crazy i find that there is not one single practical reason to disallow it

:) also i'm quite the fan of bare breasts :)

Actually, the paper is for social psychology .. even more confusing :D. I am all too familliar with Freud and his psychodynamic theory. Interesting that such a smart man would justify all of his perversions in such a scolarly manner :) :)

Some very well thought out responses ... and lots of votes! Thanks gang! I love you all !!

For the record, the Celtic cross used as my avatar is actually album art for the Indulgers--a Celtic rock group I follow loyally. I swiped it because their song (and album) "In Like Flynn" inspired my choice of name here.

Anyone who wants to know more about the band can visit www.shamrocker.com

And............Now back to our program, already in progress.......

Just to ad a tidbit............I've always been of the thought that, what we can't have we'd want with fervor if we have the knowledge and not yet the experience. If parents, who feel taboos of their own childhoods, inflict said taboos on their children.......they should expect that their children will want to know what the "big secret" is. In other words..........the more we can't have it.....the more we want it! If you grow up in a sexually deprived enviroment.............you seek what you've never had. We are sexual beings from birth............and with every day thereafter, we are told not to be......by society.

Some interesting thoughts here.

I am intending on exposing my child to my breasts as soon as he's born.

It's going to be a bit difficult to FEED him otherwise.

I imagine he'll probably also get a good look at my vagina when he's squeezed through it.

The human body has MANY different functions and most of them are not sexual. Nudity is not the same as sex and I think it's somewhat pathetic that people out there can't seem to tell the difference.

But you're forgetting that women doen't even *have* breasts until someone somehow points out that they do.

Until then, they disappear. Women are talented that way.

Ah yes...I always find it useful when a man points out that I have large breasts. Otherwise I tend to forget I have them. It's easily done when they only weigh a couple of pounds each.