Abstract
OO7 Breasts (http://www.007b.com/breast_taboo.php)
Do you have days when you are moist with sweat as you loudly explain to skeptics how cultural barriers impact breastfeeding success? The website 007b (double O 7 breasts, as in James Bond 007) at http://www.007b.com/breast_taboo.php is dedicated to exposing the challenges women face in trying to breastfeeding successfully, teaching women to accept and love their breasts, and to curing men of “the great American brainwashing.” The website is authored by Maria Miller, who also has a link to her book Female Breasts—The Taboo, The Purpose.
The Home page gets right down to the nitty gritty, with an enlarged link to its “Normal Breasts Gallery.” The points made here are that female breasts exist to nurse infants, all sorts of different breast sizes and shapes are normal, and graphically enhanced breasts in the media are not the norm. This is a perfect page for women who feel so self-conscious about their breasts that they wouldn't consider breastfeeding. The home page also has a nice essay on the sexuality of breasts, acknowledging that breasts are best considered part of the whole female package, rather than the “special obsession point” for men.
The “Breast Taboo” page explains how Americans are taught that breasts shouldn't be exposed to the public, yet Americans are bombarded by breast images in the media in sexually explicit ways. This leads the average Joe to believe that breasts are sexual objects because breasts are not exposed while performing their rightful duties, i.e., nursing their babies. This is all written concisely and logically and in easy-to-understand language. The website goes on to demonstrate how breasts are viewed in other cultures internationally. A page dedicated to “Nursing in Public Around the World” is organized by continent and includes many comments from people around the world on their experiences of public breastfeeding in different societies.
The “Weaning Too Early” page reviews the typical reasons why women wean their infants early. Rather than focusing on the details of medical problems or mismanagement, the author emphasizes the bigger picture, including issues such as history of sexual abuse, negative opinions by partners, and feelings of indecency. She also raises awareness of how new moms are manipulated by formula companies and its impact on breastfeeding duration.
OO7 Breasts is rich with all sorts of other issues such as breastfeeding and the law, movies with breastfeeding scenes, pictures of animals breastfeeding, nutrition and breastfeeding, websites for “topfreedom,” and many fabulous links such as international breastfeeding help-lines and “Hathor the Cowgoddess” breastfeeding cartoons.
This website beautifully addresses the main societal issues that prevent breastfeeding from regaining normative feeding status, without sounding soapboxish, accusing, or demeaning. The issues are laid out in a matter-of-fact, logical manner. I highly recommend this website for women and families who are unsure about whether they will breastfeed. This would also be an appropriate required-reading site for middle school human sexuality classes and for high school womens' studies courses.