On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 22:20:46 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:


"Peter Hendra" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 19:04:11 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:
Karin,
My university educational qualifications are in Zoology as a major.

Did you realise that phylogenetically, men are merely modified
females?


Yes, of that I am aware. Personally, I think you got the short end of the
stick. But, as the saying goes, it takes two to Tango.

That Real Men who can "**** over the side, burp, flatulate" etc can
actually breast feed babies without taking any medication or hormones
- merely by allowing the baby to suckle several times a day for a
period of about three weeks? It has been done.


Of that I am not aware. But something tells me that it wasn't done for the
benefit of the baby.



Karin,
I could wax eloquent on this topic but it has nothing to do with
boating and I don't want to set off a particular person into a tirade
of fetish revelations. Suffice it to say that prepubescent breast
tissue is identical in males and females. It is the release of
hormones that causes breasts to grow and to lactate. Breasts are
merely modified sweat glands which sort of takes the 'romance' out of
them. I had a physiology professor who specialised in this field. He
had just returned from working at John Hopkins on development of a
lactation supression pill whereby women who did not want to breastfeed
and have their breasts enlarged and thus 'deformed' could do so.
Needless to say, we focused (kept abreast ) a lot on that area.

There is a lot of research being done at the moment whereby childless
women who adopt babies can breastfeed merely by suckling several times
a day for a few weeks. It is the old story of the biblical wet nurse
who could feed another's child even though she may not be lactating
initially. During WWII, it was recorded that many starved men in
Japanese POW camps began to secrete milk from their breasts due to
hormone upsets due to that starvation.

Under experimental conditions men have begun to lactate without
developing large breasts. It is a common misconception that larger
breasts produce more milk. Not so. Milk glands are about the same size
and produce the same quantity regardless of how much fatty tissue
surrounds them.

On a personal note, I have always envied mothers the closeness with
their offspring that breastfeeding develops - and no, I have not tried
it. As I worked from home while building my boat with our youngest
child - my wife worked outside the home, I basically raised him and
value the closeness we have, but as with most children, his mother
still has that stronger bond. Perhaps it is more than that and the
Gaia complex is still with us. I know that both European and Asian men
about to be hanged often call out for their mothers. I did ask but was
told that nobody yet has called out for their father.

The boating aspect - with a baby in a liferaft, it doesn't have to
starve. Also, those with a fishing bent should know that if they catch
a seahorse in their net to be kind to the males and release them
unhurt. They are the ones who carry the babies in a special abdominal
pouch and feed them "milk" while the mothers are away having a good
time.

Actually the really fascinating things are the Nodules of Montgomery
which we all have. Science has only relatively recently discovered
their purpose.

cheers
Peter