Are breasts and nipples sexual organs?

Are breasts and nipples sexual organs?

This article discusses the different aspects of why some people consider breasts to be inherently sexual organs, like genitals. It is divided into the following sections:

Are breasts an erogenous zone?
Are breasts a sexual organ because nipple stimulation is arousing to some women?
Erect nipples
So are breasts sexual?
But didn't breasts evolve to be a special body part to attract a mate?

Are breasts an erogenous zone?

"Erogenous zones" are parts or areas of human body that provide sexual arousal when touched.  It is commonly noted (and various magazines have had polls on this) that apart from the genitals, the erogenous zones vary tremendously between individuals - even between Americans.  Some people like to have their breasts caressed, some like their neck or thighs being touched, belly, or feet, etc.

Not all women want their breasts or nipples caressed. For some, the nipple area is just too sensitive for that. For some it's nothing special. Yet others like it. So it is a very individual thing. Truly, some people even say that their whole body is an erogenous zone for them.

Basically, it is the skin that feels the touch, and loving touch on the skin releases oxytocin in us (more on oxytocin later) and makes us feel good. Then it is the mind that controls sexual arousal. The mere touch on skin does not cause sexual arousal without other factors (as we are all aware!).

So breasts can be an erogenous zone for some, just as neck, ears, belly, thighs, etc. can be - and for some people they are NOT an erogenous zone. It's an individual thing. Of course it is up to the couple what they do during their intimate moments, which body parts they touch or caress. Hopefully if you love the person, you love ALL of him/her!

Certainly this does not make breasts a special sexual organ like genitals. It is just skin as any other skin, and not even the most sensitive skin in the body (think of lips, fingertips). But what about nipples? Read on.

Are breasts a sexual organ because nipple stimulation is arousing to some women?

We have often been suggested that breasts have also a sexual function (besides breastfeeding) because nipple stimulation is arousing to some women - some think it is so in all women.

Nipples are very sensitive since they have lots of nerve endings. Some women don't like theirs touched exactly BECAUSE of this; the nipple is so sensitive. True, touching them can be arousing in a sensual setting. Some women can even climax from nipple stimulation alone (though not the majority). So why does it happen?

The answer really is very simple: sexuality is in the mind. Whether nipple stimulation is arousing or not depends, first of all, on the woman's mindset. If the situation is sexual, and she believes touching nipples is part of that, then it can be arousing. Secondarily, nipple stimulation releases the hormone oxytocin, and oxytocin in its turn helps us feel love.

In breastfeeding, when the baby suckles and stimulates the nipple, oxytocin is responsible for the let-down reflex, which causes the milk flow within the breast. Also, labor contractions are caused by large quantities of oxytocin.  In fact, physicians routinely induce labor by injecting a certain form of oxytocin into women (pitocin).

Also, and very importantly, a kind touch anywhere in the body causes oxytocin to be released. This is true for friendly hugs, massages, hairdresser touching your scalp, shaking hands, stroking someone's skin, and caressing touch within the intimate moments. If the touch is kind and friendly, your body releases oxytocin.

Oxytocin makes us feel good, feel loved, and we feel loving and friendly towards whomever touched us. It helps the mother will feel love towards her baby when the baby suckles on the breast. In other words, it helps bonding. Oxytocin is called the love or cuddle hormone, and it exists in all kinds of friendly human relationships.

Oxytocin or kind touch is so important that babies who are not touched a lot, won't develop properly.  The touch-deprivation that some lonely people experience can lead to depression.  Elderly people are especially in danger of that.  Everyone needs touch, everyone needs oxytocin, even your pet.

So nipple stimulation releases oxytocin, the cuddle hormone, just like a friendly touch anywhere on the skin does. But only THE MIND will make a woman feel sexually aroused. It is not the nipple stimulation per se - if that was so, then she'd feel aroused during labor and giving birth, too, since large quantities of oxytocin are circulated in bloodstream during those painful moments. The same is true of breastfeeding - baby's suckling of nipple causes oxytocin to be released, but this alone does not have to create sexual arousal.

The sexual response happens in the BRAIN. The human brain is the most important sexual organ we have. When people are sexually stimulated, it is certain chemicals in the brain that are at work. In fact, a person's brain can be conditioned to produce those chemicals at the sight (or thought) of breast, nipple, ankle, genitals, underwear, or at the thought or sight of some specific object.

So if the woman believes that breasts are connected with sex, or if she is thinking of sex and intimacy while her nipples are rubbed, then nipple stimulation can start the sexual response and arousal. The oxytocin released then makes her feel good and loved. But the arousal is not something every woman experiences from nipple rubbing.

Erect nipples

It has also been asked why some women's nipples become erect during sexual arousal. Is it because nipples have a sexual function? Actually, an erect nipple just means that the nipple stands out a bit, and is not flat. This is true of most women's nipples all of the time (some women have flat or inverted nipples, the rest of us have erect nipples).

So there is some terminology confusion. Basically people are referring, not to erect nipples per se, but to a "scrunched up" and wrinkling of the areola, which makes the nipple also protrude a little more. (see a picture here)

This could actually be termed a "goose bump effect". It happens when the tiny muscles on the areola contract in response to various stimuli like cold, rubbing against clothes, suckling, or nipple stimulation by hand. These muscles can also contract because of the general increased muscle tension or muscle tone during arousal, or because of nipple stimulation by the partner.

So are breasts sexual?

This is a question that cannot be answered in a short space. Breasts are part of the "whole package" that makes a woman. They aren't sexual in the sense that merely looking at them in some everyday context (such as BREASTFEEDING) shouldn't make men instantly think about sex! Yet they are sexual in the sense that they are a female body part, and the whole female is sexually attractive to men.

We are not saying that men can't appreciate and admire women's breasts (as feminine and beautiful body parts), or that a man and a woman can't enjoy touching each other's bodies during their intimate relationship. We are saying breasts are not supposed to be an immediate "turn-on," or in other words a special obsession point for men.

The advertisements and media images play to the idea that men are supposed to be "all ready" the instant they get a flash of a breast. That, we feel, is UNHEALTHY! However, breasts are a part of our femininity as women, and men can be, and ARE drawn to the whole female. It is indeed the whole woman, the entire feminine being who kindles and fans the flame of sexual desire for men.

On this website we aim to fight back against this sad trend where breasts are "elevated" into objects of automatic "turn-on" for men. Keep in mind, though, that this is NOT men's fault, because they have been culturally conditioned to see breasts that way.

Note that we're NOT saying sex or sexuality is bad. Our entire bodies truly can be part of the sexual pleasure - including breasts. The point is: This notion that seeing a bare breast automatically causes sexual excitement does great disservice to all of us (BOTH men and women). It should not be considered a special body part that needs to be hidden at all times. Necks and ankles and lips aren't!

So let breasts be like legs, hips, neck, face, and all the other body parts of a female—part of the whole female (and it's the whole that is sexually attractive to men). Breasts tie in with maternity: they signal that the woman is mature, capable of bearing and nursing children. They also REMIND us of their precious life-giving part in child-rearing. Perhaps YOU yourself were once nourished by those magnificent organs!

But didn't breasts evolve to be a special body part to attract a mate?

Many people have presented the idea that since other animals do not have protruding breasts, that that supposedly is a proof that in humans they would have a sexual function in attracting a mate.

First of all, that is not a "biological fact". We have built a page with lots of pictures of mammals nursing to show just a glimpse of what kind of "breasts" we see in the animal world. It simply varies - some have VERY prominent mammary glands (the udder on cows and goats and sheep) and some only have nipples showing, and some have enlarged mammaries during lactation. Even in humans, breast size varies tremendously. Some women are flat-chested!

Secondly, the idea that the purpose of breasts is to attract a mate sexually comes from the Darwinian theory of evolution. But evolutionary scientists themselves admit that it is VERY difficult to explain how lactation could have evolved since it is such an intricate and complex process, and that the various hypotheses to try to explain its evolution just don't sound satisfactory.

Think of breasts both as "ornaments" (pretty) and as "magnificent" (because of their function—the process of milk production and breastfeeding is QUITE intricate). They are a PART of the WHOLE of a female, emphasizing the fact she can be a mother. Men ARE attracted to the whole female, including the breasts—but does that mean the breasts are supposed to be an "ogling" point, or the most important point of sexual attraction, OR that the sight of breasts without the rest of the body should be an immediate turn-on?

See also:

Oxytocin at Wikipedia

Women's sexual physiology
"...most women claim that the two most important organs for achieving orgasm are the brain and the clitoris."

Culturally Correct Nudity
"In India, a female's upper arms are considered sensual areas of the body and therefore should not be exposed in public."

MPs defend Swazi bare breasts
"Swazi men are attracted by women's naked thighs, not their breasts". BBC News, 15 May, 2003.

Women Travellers
"...in Papua New Guinea you can expose your breasts but your thighs need to be covered at all times, even wearing trousers is seen as provocative."

Lactating on Eggs (A Word document)
National Zoo scientist Olav Oftedal offers a new scenario to explain how lactation—a defining trait of mammals—evolved. From Spotlight on Zoo Science, July 14, 2003.

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