"We owe to centuries of phallocentric conception of sexuality the negation, if not repression, of the erogenous sensitivity of the breasts. "In her book published last week (Seins. En quête d'une libération, Ed. Anamosa, 224 p., 20 euros), researcher Camille Froidevaux-Metterie aims us right in the chest.


Are we denying the erogenous sensitivity of breasts? Even if the human species is fortunate enough to be able to copulate face to face, we are forced to admit that we under-utilize this field of possibilities: in a heterosexual setting, the caresses of women's breasts are sent back to foreplay. As for men's breasts... eh, what? What breasts? You mean pectorals? Our disinterest is such that the recent studies we have on the sexuality of the French don't even mention this source of pleasure!


Yet we know that breasts have a sexual life. Nipples have erections, and contract during orgasm. Their stimulation activates the genital sensory cortex (Journal of Sexual Medicine, July 2011) and releases oxytocin, the bonding hormone (Medical Hypothesis, December 2015). Breasts are at the top of the list of erogenous zones: according to a study published in 2013 in the journal Cortex, they are in fifth place among the most pleasant zones for women, and in 11th place for men - as for nipples, they are appreciated equally by both sexes, in 6th place.