by B. R. GOWANI
female breasts
over the ages
have enthralled artists
and captivated male gazes
many women cover them fully
yet others show a little or more
some may expose them without full exposure
that can be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes
others may show a little
but in a vulgar way
then there is the commercial world
which has created the size complex
which has ruined many women
financially and physically
not to forget the horrors of wars
when the women of the “enemy” side suffers
torture and mutilation
and in some instances
the severance of their breasts
female breasts are multi-faceted entities
nourishing, pleasing, sexual, provocative, …
and in the case of Pero, life-giving for Cimon
Pero the daughter, Cimon the father
while nursing her baby
Pero was also thinking of her father
who had been sentenced to death by starvation
he is my dad
what should I do?
how can I save him?
guards are everywhere
food or water I can’t take
without which his end is imminent
she thought and thought and thought
the only solution that dawned on her
was to take her father under her motherhood
Pero entered the dungeon and saw her father
whose hands were tide in chain behind his back
her heart screamed with pain
but she hid her feelings
so that she could uplift his morale
she sat down by her father
and saved him from starvation
by offering her breast,
the only food she could provide,
him in prison, undetected, was her own milk
as she set an example of parent-honoring
it was a poignant scene
daughter had kind of turned into a mother
father had sort of turned into a son
(in some cultures
daughters are affectionately addressed as
mothers or grannies)
on part of Pero, it was
the climax of devotion
the zenith of defiance
the pinnacle of love
when the rulers learned about
Pero’s exemplary behavior
they were impressed and released Cimon
Women and cows
women have often been treated like cows
have been painted as cows
and nursing women have been called cows
now many women are treating themselves as cows
out of financial necessity
by pumping breast milk or liquid gold
and selling them online
while helping out needy babies
but does it mean that in the near future
they’ll inject themselves with antibiotics
to pump out more milk?
the way industry treats cattle
to increase production of milk and meat
in London, Baby Gaga sells breast milk ice cream …
Christian missionaries
religious clerics are obsessed with breasts
during the European conquest of Africa and Americas
the Christian missionaries got offended
by the topless native women
they made them cover up
thus increasing the native peoples’ cost of living
who now had to buy fabrics, sew clothes
buy soaps, wash clothes, …
Muslim clerics and breasts
Muslim clerics are obsessed with breasts
to be fair, they’re obsessed
with the entire female body
and keep on issuing fatwas
in order to keep women under chadars
veils, niqabs, burqas, and so on
however,
not all fatwas are depressing and/or deadly
and not all fatwa-issuers are evil and backward
some clerics are very broadminded
and are much ahead of their time
their zeal to spread love and peace
and to speed up women’s emancipation
can be seen from the following
three fatwas or religious decrees
in 2007, Dr Izzat Atiya
of Egypt’s al-Azhar University
referring to Prophet Muhammad’s hadith or saying
issued a fatwa:
“Breast feeding an adult
puts an end to the problem o
f the private meeting,
and does not ban marriage.”
“A woman at work can take off the veil
or reveal her hair in front of someone
whom she breastfed.”
poor Dr. Atiya got fired
then last year, Saudi Arabia’s Sheikh Al Obeikan
an adviser to the royal court and
consultant to the Ministry of Justice
issued a fatwa regarding
women coming in contact with strangers:
“The man should take the milk,
but not directly from the breast of the woman.”
“He should drink it and then becomes
a relative of the family,
a fact that allows him to come in contact
with the women
without breaking Islam’s rules about mixing.”
note the fact:
drink not from the primary source, i.e., the breast
but from the secondary source, i.e, glass, cup, etc.
good scholars keep the primary sources for themselves
but Abi Ishaq Al Huwaini is an egalitarian
he says get the heavenly nectar from the original source
germs and preservatives free
the idea behind these fatwas are
to establish a “maternal” bond
between the woman and the stranger
she has come into contact with
in order to eliminate chances of sexual relations
it’s a revolutionary concept
not only that, but it can create
tolerance, peace, and harmony
imagine a Jewish man or a Hindu man or a …
suckling a Muslim woman’s breast
the world will once again
become a beautiful and a livable place
this can create a problem
more Muslim women will become
more often pregnant
there is a solution:
Muslim women, pregnant or not
married, divorced, or single
should join hands together in this peace-jihad
and should let the willing stranger
only touch their breasts with tongue just once
it will be a symbolic gesture
but will establish the maternal bond
but they should avoid those men
with whom they want to establish loving relations
maternal relations should be restricted to those men
where the love factor is missing
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com