Lately, there has been much controversy around the issue of public breastfeeding. Many believe that before a woman proceeds to breastfeed in a room full of people, she should go into a public bathroom — or anywhere, really — as long as no one sees her breasts. But isn’t it fair to say that breast or sex is rightfully a part of the American culture? If one dares to refute this presumption, just take a look at some popular television shows from the past decade: “the Vampire Diaries,” “Gossip Girl” and “Sex and the City.” All of these shows are overly sexualized, with women as their most frequent victims.
But it isn’t TV or ads that get the first chance to mold women and their roles, but rather the family and culture that they’re born into has the initial say. The culture of many American households revolves around gender roles. Pink and blue, masculine and feminine, husband and wife and Barbie and Superman are just a few tactics. While Jane idolizes Barbie for her “beauty” and “motherly” characteristics, Joe idolizes Superman for his strength and heroism. As Joe gets older, he realizes that he may actually be like Superman (just without the X-ray vision) and as Jane gets older, she realizes she may actually be like Barbie. In school, Jane and Joe learn that only men have governed this great country and women haven’t governed much. Jane may have just seen her mother govern in the kitchen or in the laundry room. So, as Joe follows in the footsteps of Superman and the U.S. presidents, Jane follows behind her mother.
As a result of this imbalanced and separated childhood, a nearly innate sense of inferiority to men builds in women. Which makes it easier for the media and TV to enforce the idea that a woman’s sole mission in life is to effectively attract and satisfy the opposite sex. Through the media, they’re taught that to do so they must use their bodies. Adding on to the list of duties, women are now not only expected to care for the children and maintain the house, but look “good” while doing it. Their physical appearances must correspond with the mythical norms. Their bodies have to stay tight and fit, youthful and vigorous. But most importantly, their bodies have to be “sexy” and not “motherly.” And that’s when breasts come in. To satisfy their husbands, women turn their breasts into a materialistic thing that they can dress up and change the size of, making stores like Victoria’s Secret rich and the global beauty industry even richer.
Women aren’t taught that their breasts are innate tools that contribute to the well-being of offspring because it would lead to less capitalistic profits and more confident and critically conscious women, which should be the goal. But while the family, culture and media are set against this, it is all up to women. Women must push the system, yell at the system and sometimes boycott the system in order to see a change, small or big. But first, more women must discover and accept the true roles of their bodies. Women must accept their breasts and every part of their body as an intrinsic and essential part of the human-life cycle.
Selena Brown is an undeclared freshman