Motherhood converts the erotic breast into a sacred one

Evidence

Her body is finally her own since it is the child’s that belongs to her. Society recognizes this possession in her and endows it with a sacred character. She can display her breast that was previously an erotic object, it is a source of life: to such an extent that pious paintings show the Virgin Mary uncovering her breast and begging her Son to save humanity. Alienated in her body and her social dignity, the mother has the pacifying illusion of feeling she is a being in itself, a ready-made value. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1449

Categorization

• SEED: The Madonna lactans painting-tradition detail is a vivid nugget for an essay on how societies re-code the female body’s signs from erotic to sacred.
• ADDENDUM: Directly extends the dress-immodesty article: the breast’s meaning is wholly socially assigned, shifting from erotic object to sacred source depending on context.
• XREF: connects to: Pregnancy diminishes women whose identity is anchored in erotic desirability — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1477; Female religiosity and eroticism both make the self an object for a transcendent being — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 705; Motherhood is framed as a sacred obligation rather than a natural need (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Motherhood is framed as a sacred obligation rather than a natural need #expands (0.80)
• Pregnancy diminishes women whose identity is anchored in erotic desirability #complicates (0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1477
• Female religiosity and eroticism both make the self an object for a transcendent being #qualifies (0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 705
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding trigger derogation of women when death and animality are salient #complicates (0.75) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 603
• Maternal love demands unreciprocated generosity whereas mystification inflates all mothers as exemplary #complicates (0.70) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1514