Mixed Messages: Sexuality and Breasts in a Marketed World
Women are taught to lift their breasts with under wires so they look bigger, but use padding so their nipples don’t show. They are taught to push up their breasts so they pop out of their shirts, but not allow them to be seen feeding their babies. It is accepted for them to be publicly plastered all over the billboards and television screens, but not discussed when they are sick and in pain.
They are ogled, but not respected. They are screened, but not grieved in their passing. They are reconstructed, but not healed. They are loved but not cared for. In summation, they are a commodity but they don’t seem to belong to me.
Because they belong to the marketers. They belong to the medical industrial complex. They belong to the fashion industry. They belong to the pink ribbon campaign. At some point they become my responsibility. But I don’t know, and have never been told, how to care for them.
I was never taught that there is anything I can do to improve my breast health. The only message that I have heard is that I can image and dissect my breasts. And that is one part of breast care for some women, but only a small piece. I have been told what to avoid and all the ways I’m predisposed to malignancies. But what can I do to heal my breasts every day?
Let’s start simple. Let’s start with touch. Breasts don’t have intrinsic muscles to help the circulation and lymphatic flow. Tight, poorly fitted bras constrict and reduce fluid movement. Maybe what touches our breasts could be soft, not binding; supportive, not restricting. And perhaps each night they could receive the nurturing touch of self-massage.
Please take the time right now to view this brief video on PHAST breast self-massage. In just a few minutes every day, we can bring health and wholeness to our breast tissue. Similar to all massage therapy, this can increase circulation, which can improve tissue texture and help cells release wastes and absorb nutrients. You can also download this PHAST handout and hang it in your bathroom as a reminder to massage your breasts.
This is a way to put our breast health back into our own hands.
- If you are looking for ways to naturally promote healthy breasts, or
- if you are scared and have questions, or
- if you have breast pain or breast swelling and want to receive therapeutic breast massage,
please contact me today. Call 206-395-4325 or email info@BreastRemedySeattle.com to schedule a phone consultation or massage appointment.
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