Flexible

[CuteSlaveLisa]

Most of us entered this world by way of a vagina. Then most of us were brought up to suckle our mother's bosom. The milk that a woman's breast provided kept us alive, let us grow, and made us strong.

Even if we don't consciously remember it our first infantile bonding was with a female body. How then can it be odd, unusual that all humans feel an affinity for the female human form.

Guys are fixated on female breasts, sure. But gals wondering, conflicted, attracted to both, that is natural too.

Just the facts, nothing but the facts.

Grandma aka Lisa Ann

 

[oneblueye]

hey...

Most of us entered this world by way of a vagina. Then most of us were brought up to suckle our mother's bosom. The milk that a woman's breast provided kept us alive, let us grow, and made us strong.

Even if we don't consciously remember it our first infantile bonding was with a female body. How then can it be odd, unusual that all humans feel an affinity for the female human form.

Guys are fixated on female breasts, sure. But gals wondering, conflicted, attracted to both, that is natural too.

Just the facts, nothing but the facts.
Grandma aka Lisa Ann

Though an interesting perspective, it isn't overly laden with the "facts".

(1) There are many, many hospitals throughout the world where infantile bonding isn't anywhere near a common practice.

(2) Many of those 'unbonded' born with difficulties that don't allow them to biologically process human milk, so they have to be put on 'a formula' to allow their bodies to be nourished.

(3) I thought that thread was attempting to make a point but---,

 

[Jada59]

That's not entirely true. While I did come out of my mother, I did not bond with her and I did not drink breast milk. In fact, I couldn't drink any milk. It all made me very ill, no matter the source. In today's terms, I had failure to thrive.

Why did I not bond with my mother? For as long as I can remember, she told me that the instant I was born, she didn't like me. Why? She said she knew I was an old soul and I knew more than her. For a time, she constantly reminded me of this. She no longer does if only because she has memory problems, but she still isn't very nice to me most of the time. Always accusing me of doing things that I didn't do. And telling me that I hate her and always have. I could write a novel on that, but I won't.

My mother has always said that I always preferred men to women. And she's right. Most of my friends were male up until I got married. Seems guys don't want to be friends with a married woman. But once I got my divorce, I got most of those old friends back and made a ton of new ones.

I do have some female friends. But in no way do I desire them sexually and no, I am not conflicted at all. I like men. Period!

 

[Jada59]

Though an interesting perspective, it isn't overly laden with the "facts".

(1) There are many, many hospitals throughout the world where infantile bonding isn't anywhere near a common practice.

(2) Many of those 'unbonded' born with difficulties that don't allow them to biologically process human milk, so they have to be put on 'a formula' to allow their bodies to be nourished.

(3) I thought that thread was attempting to make a point but---,

Yep. When I was born, the newborns were always kept in a ward away from the mother. They might be brought to them at feeding time but in those days, breast feeding was discouraged and the bottle/formula was pushed.

My daughter is soon to be 21. She had to go back into the hospital for jaundice. Across the hall was another baby in there for the same thing. I was shocked to learn that the parents never so much as visited her. We had to listen to her screaming and crying until a nurse was able to see her. The dad was working and the mom just couldn't handle seeing her like that so she stayed home.

 

[CuteSlaveLisa]

Let grandma set up her soapbox.

Ok, done.

My heart cries for those "victims" of modern, or maybe mid century modern, medical practices. I do think it's getting better after getting worse for 100 years. According to Wikipedia (and who after all can argue with Wikipedia ;-)) infant formula was invented in 1867. Introduced to the US in 1907 but in 1940 most US babies were breast fed.

My babies were born in an old porcelain bathtub built into a wooden frame to hold it 60 or so degrees to vertical. No lie, my lovers built it, carefully scrubbed it, and filled it with soft blankets they had washed in the hottest possible water to sterlize. A beautiful experience. Those babies grandfather was an MD who didn't agree with, but went along with what we did and was our "emergency" backup. My little brother's wife gave birth in two modern hospitals with all the bells and whistles. The second time septis nearly killed both mother and baby. The drugs they gave her to save her life rendered her breast milk toxic. I got to hold my nephew while a spinal tap was perform on him days after he was born.

Napoleon (1795-1815) created the first modern hospitals. Those hospitals did an excellent job of killing mothers and babies. In London the replacement of midwives by doctors doubled both infant and maternal mortality.

That infant formula discussed earlier. It was found to be deficient. Causing brain development issues in babies exclusively fed formula. I don't think you could find an OB in 2019 who will say that formula is superior to breast milk.

I stand by the term "most" and feel deeply sad for those not in that cohort. Nursing my babies was one of the most profoundly human experiences of my life.

Don"t even get me started on the idiocy of giving birth on a horizontal bed or unnecessary yet profitable C-sections.

Love and kisses

Lisa Ann