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

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