Open Air
Why do we think skin equals sin? Why is the exposing of skin seen as dirty? Obviously in breastfeeding a mother shows her breast. If she is in public she might cover her breast with a blanket. But it’s also possible that she might choose not to cover, maybe because the child gets fussy under the blanket, maybe because she likes to watch her child nurse, maybe she likes the feel of the open air. Whatever her reason and whatever her choice there will be someone who feels it’s wrong, dirty or rude for her to nurse in public, no matter what.
It’s Your Fault
This gets to the heart of a persistent idea. It’s the idea that the woman is to blame for the actions of the man. It usually boils down to one thing, she showed too much skin. Whose fault is it if a man reacts rudely, even violently to a woman showing ‘too much skin’? In this persistent idea it is the woman’s fault. Why? Because you can’t expect a man to be able to control himself in the face of that much skin showing.
Self-Control
I, as a man, am offended by this the same way a woman would (and should) be offended by a comment saying a woman can’t control her emotions so she can’t be trusted in important roles in public life. The same is true with the ‘skin’ argument for men. It is not the case that men can’t handle it. It is the case that when men SAY they can’t handle it they are using it as an excuse for their own bad behavior. They are rationalizing their inability to have some self-control by blaming it on others. It’s not the ‘other’ who is to blame. It is the man.
Click here to see the whole ‘Breast’ series
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote is my variation on ‘Skin does not equal sin’ – anonymous
It goes back to Adam and Eve, where he said, “the woman whom you gave to me gave it (the apple) to me and I did eat.”
As a teen, growing up in church, the girls were told they were responsible for “turning on” a boy and to wear modest clothing. The boys were told to “avoid temptation.” In recent years there was the “true love waits” program, putting blame on both, and they would appreciate and respect each other.
Your picture of the woman nursing her baby is beautiful. When I was raising my children, no woman would nurse in public. Sin is in the eye of the beholder, skin or no skin.