Breastfeeding: a cultural history
HistoryExtra podcast
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The History of Wetness
The history of wetness reveals so, so much. It would have originated out of need before it became a more established practice with different customs. There's usually a prohibition when you look at the contracts against the wetness and having sexual relations because it's believed that will sour the milk. The idea of wetnessing becomes reversed in Western Europe in the late 18th century. We start to see that maternal breastfeeding is promoted by Jean-Jacques Rousseau who sees biological mothers need to feed their own children.
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