The Milk-Eww Way

by Tin

If you have paid any attention to the news in the past couple of weeks, I am sure you have heard of the breast milk ice cream introduced by an ice cream parlor in London called The Icecreamists. That’s right. The milk pumped from a woman’s breasts is processed and flavored with vanilla and lemon zest. The end product is an ice cream aptly named Baby Gaga (which Lady Gaga is not exactly gaga about but more about that later).

First I’d like to talk about breast milk aka mother milk. I remember in an episode of Friends (The One With The Breast Milk, duh!), Ross is squeamish about tasting the breast milk of his ex-wife Carol while it seems like everyone else doesn’t think it is such a big deal. Only after he learns that Carol’s wife has sampled it  does he dare to give it a go (say what you want about that show but I always give it kudos for including a lesbian couple and wedding).

It is not surprising that a research on breast milk ice cream reveals that most people abhor the idea of consuming human milk in any form except, of course, those who have a fetish for it (ANRs, anyone?).  When I asked my friends if they would try the breast milk ice cream, most of the response started with “eww” and ended with “hell no!”

So what is it about breast milk, the sustenance strongly recommended by the World Health Organization for newborns and a substance ostensibly so natural and organic, that people find so repellent? Most people feel that for an adult to consume breast milk, it is almost a kind of cannibalism. Some are worried that if we use one kind of human bodily fluids in our foods why not other kinds (semen energy drink, anyone?). At the end of the day, it’s just icky!

But when I asked my friends if they would taste the milk of their partner/wife when she is lactating, most of them seem to be comfortable with the idea. (I didn’t ask any of my gay male friends because I assumed they would find it the most revolting but I could be wrong. Please correct me if I am). Why is it more tolerable to try breast milk if it comes from one’s partner/wife? Because of the kinkiness and sexual implications of it even though one does not necessarily have a fetish for mother milk? Is it because once in a while we all like to revert to our infantile states? Or, as one of my friends simply put it, “I need to make sure the milk is ok for our baby.”

"Breasts in cones" as pointed out by Salon.com

Personally I’d like to try the breast milk ice cream but I would not drink breast milk from a stranger. I guess the processing involved in producing ice cream makes it more acceptable to me. Plus I love vanilla.

As for Lady Gaga vs Baby Gaga, I agree with The Young Turks.

Will you try breast milk ice cream or breast milk? Do you think they should change the Baby Gaga name?