Posted on 12/27/2008 5:11:03 PM PST by CE2949BB
Protesting a Facebook ban on photographs of lactating breasts, mothers are staging a "nurse in'' today at the site's headquarters in downtown Palo Alto.
A simultaneous "virtual protest" will be held online, when women change their standard Facebook snapshot to a photo of themselves nursing — or, in the spirit of the holidays, an image of Madonna with child. Even an image of any mammal feeding her young will do, say organizers with the group Mothers International Lactation Campaign.
Facebook has removed these photos from members' albums and profiles, saying that displays of areola — the dark skin around the nipple — violate the company's policy regarding "obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit" material. Facebook also threatened to terminate the members' accounts. The social-networking site MySpace also has deleted photos of babies nursing from exposed breasts.
"What about a baby breast-feeding is obscene? Especially in comparison to MANY other pictures posted all over Facebook that really are obscene?'' the event organizers asked on their Web site, called "Hey Facebook, breast-feeding is not obscene!''
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
> “Hey Facebook, breast-feeding is not obscene!’’
No, it’s not “obscene” but neither is it good manners to do it in full public view.
What other body fluid is acceptable to express in polite company? Go find somewhere private to breast-feed.
They aren’t saying that breast feeding is obscene.
I am sure there are lots of us, apologies to mothers everywhere, do not really want to see this.
May not be obscene, but it is very gross.
No offense taken.
Nursing is a private matter. It is not gross, it is not obscene, but it is not for public viewing, either.
If you accidentally show a little, no one should get bothered. But if you deliberately do it publicly in a showoff way, it should not be allowed. Just my opinion, as usual.
I’d say it depends on who’s doing the feeding and who’s being fed
i nursed mine and never showed anything of any substance. Discretion is the better part of breastfeeding.
get a grip hippies. Breastfeeding is one of the most special intimate times you can share with your child. Why on Gods green earth would you want to post that on a social website????? You all have issues who do that. FOCUS on your baby, not whether the world can watch you feed her/him. God the things you people choose to bitch about is unreal. Barack supporters all I will guarantee. Jeez, maybe if they spent more time LEARNING instead of posting pictures of a most intimate moment with their children they would have known better. Now, we all have to suffer cause they care more about the world seeing their kids eat than their future. I’ve had it with PC of any kind. Keep your boobs off the net in any capacity and make the world a better place!!!!!!
No one is forcing people to look at the pictures. :)
Maybe I’m nuts, but I’ve always thought the sight of a woman breastfeeding is one of the most beautiful things in the world.
Heck Id pay to see it
We were so poor my mom had powdered milk in her breasts
I think it all really comes down to whether the girl is hot or not. If she looks like a mom, then that’s pretty wholesome. What’s wrong with that? I mean only sickos will get their kicks off on that.
But if she looks like Kim Kardashian for ex, that’s not really fair.
It's not obscene, it's not gross, it's not some private bodily function.
It's just moms nursing children.
It might be a tad startling if you come around the corner and catch a boob in the face, but it's a pretty normal thing that we ought to condone and support.
I am not a parent yet but I was exposed to the sights of breastfeeding moms at a young age. I have always thought it was a very beautiful and heartwarming sight. Actually, it’s quite a welcome sight to see breasts used for something other than sexual allure. A nursing mom’s breasts are way more beautiful than fake, silicone-filled breasts.
Why would anyone want to put pictures of herself breastfeeding in an exposed manner on Facebook?
Anyone who is bothered by the sight of a mom feeding her child has a screw loose somewhere. PROTIP: get it tightened by a professional.
> Maybe I’m nuts, but I’ve always thought the sight of a woman breastfeeding is one of the most beautiful things in the world.
Well, it is. IMO it’s a great sight to reserve for private times when alone with the wife and offspring. It’s out of place in, say, a baseball stadium, a pub or a restaurant.
Some of the most amazing and beautiful signts are best reserved for the privacy of one’s bedroom.
Urinating and defecating are also not obscene, but they should also be disallowed on public websites. Bad taste.
Pretty soon — the word “decency” will be extricated from the dictionary. It will one day have no meaning.
> It might be a tad startling if you come around the corner and catch a boob in the face, but it’s a pretty normal thing that we ought to condone and support.
There are plenty of normal things that are best reserved for the privacy of one’s own home or even one’s bedroom, if you think it thru.
Sure it’s normal to breastfeed and it’s a wonderful thing. But it’s not something that needs to be shared with the whole world. There is a dignity and decorum in keeping private things private.
It may be; but I believe it is a private moment between mother and child and family; not the entire world.
Good thing she didn’t drop little Norman Bates...
Agree completely. I just consider it a private matter. It is a bond between mother and child.
Judge for yourselves.
Mods: If the picture in the linked news story is 'bad', please remove this post. I have given people a warning and I don't consider the picture 'obscene' or 'bad' in any way. Others may disagree. I'm leaving it up to individuals to decide whether they want to see the image, so I'm not going to post it here. Thank you.
A medical student was asked why breast milk is preferable to formula. His response:
“It’s always fresh.
“The cats can’t get at it.
“And it comes in such a cute little container.”
He graduated.
;^)
Yes, well that's OK....
It might be helpful if you drew a diagram of the human body so you were clear where the respective parts reside.
It's not urination, it's not defecation, it's just feeding one's offspring in a totally natural (God-designed, if you are of a religious bent) way.
And in answer to your question: sweat.
How did this get to be another endless debate about public breastfeeding? Facebook is a private company. If they want it, it’s there. If not, then it’s not. What else is there to discuss?
They depend on user generated content and this isn’t a clear case of obscenity.
Honestly, man, come on. Do you really want to p!ss off a bunch of hormonal women? ;)
I'm not offended by breastfeeding. And if I don't wanna see my friends boobs, I would just click past them or delete them. But Facebook wants to cater to its broadest clientele. Let the Mothers International Lactation Campaign start their own Facebook, or maybe "MILCbook."
Breastfeeding is normal and natural and beautiful.
I bf all of my kids.
HOWEVER, some use bf as a means to pornography. There was a magazine cover a year or so ago that showed a a picture of a full breast with a child nursing just barely covering the nipple (of course the exposed breast was young and perky.)
Unnecessary and pornographic.
Most breastfeedng mothers drape a receiving blanket or diaper over their babies when feeding publicly.
“Here’s a link to another news story re: the protest. It contains a picture.”
As I said, unnecessary and pornographic.
You're comparing breast feeding an infant child to taking a dump?
It seems to me - and I’ve nursed eight babies in a variety of locations, without a single complaint from the public - that the only reason to post pictures of oneself breastfeeding on line is to get people to look at one’s breasts. If you want to show what the baby looks like, this is not a good approach!
Women who insist on making an exhibition, and anyone who insists on making a scene when reasonable decencies are observes, need to get a grip.
Not guilty. :-)
“It may be; but I believe it is a private moment between mother and child and family; not the entire world.:
Feeding your child is a private matter?
I don’t believe that women should be relegated to public bathrooms to feed their children (would YOU eat in a public bathroom?), but I also feel that there is no need to share pictures of full breast exposure with a nursing infant.
Modesty (a word seldom seen anymore) is the key.
BF is gross? No more gross that anyone eating.
People who expose their breasts to others on purpose have a problem. BF is not the problem.
Mothers International Lactation Campaign
______________
I have never heard of a more absurd “cause.” Bf-ing may well be beautiful natural, etc etc, but I can’t understand why this group is getting all hot under the collar because they can’t post pictures of themselves doing it on the web. I would, however, understand if Facebook said they couldn’t post pics of their children at all.
What is the obsession with publicizing one’s entire life?
> It’s not urination, it’s not defecation, it’s just feeding one’s offspring in a totally natural (God-designed, if you are of a religious bent) way.
No problem with any of that: why not do it in private? After all, procreation itself is a totally natural and God-designed process that oughtn’t be done in public.
> And in answer to your question: sweat.
Maybe if your idea of “polite company” is a road crew or a gym. I think most polite folk would prefer if you kept your sweat to yourself where practical, and washed it off (in private) as soon as you possibly can.
“Judge for yourselves.”
Nope...it’s not appropriate in my opinion~
(and..It doesn’t look like that little guy is latched on very well at all! There would be a lot LESS showing if he had a good latch IMHO)
Why wouldn’t she just put up a different and less revealing picture of herself breastfeeding that still depicts the act?
Why????
Because she wants the attention.
Come live in Seattle for awhile around the MILITANT breastfeeders who flash their boobs everywhere...and just DARE you to make a comment on give a look.
There are some nutty people around here.
One could ask, “Why would it be against Facebook’s rules to show a baby ABOUT to breastfeed? It’s natural after all. How about a picture of a baby who’s done breastfeeding? So what if there are breasts exposed in the photo? It’s all natural. “
Just because the mom in that picture has a dime an eraser size portion of the mom’s breast covered by his mouth does NOT make it less revealing.
My opinion.
“People who expose their breasts to others on purpose have a problem. BF is not the problem.”
BEST POST!!!!!!
That is EXACTLY IT!
“It seems to me - and I’ve nursed eight babies in a variety of locations, without a single complaint from the public - that the only reason to post pictures of oneself breastfeeding on line is to get people to look at one’s breasts. If you want to show what the baby looks like, this is not a good approach!
Women who insist on making an exhibition, and anyone who insists on making a scene when reasonable decencies are observes, need to get a grip.”
Another WINNER!!!
(Your tag line is hilarious! We’ve been snowed in for ages. Just got out today. Goodness. My children are wonderful and amazing creations of our Lord. I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing. I’m sure of it. Of course he did. He’s the Lord!)
Ladies, you need not explain about the joys,etc ...we understand that. Here is the problem.
Everytime there is an uproar about Breastfeeding mothers, there ALWAYS Follows, and uproar from the Feminists who want to Run around Topless in PUBLIC.
NOTHING is more beautiful than a well fed child, but the Feminists who WANT to run about TOPLESS.. IS TOO PAINFUL A THOUGHT TO BEAR.
not blaming you, but it always happens
I don’t you need to shout. Eating in a public bathroom is not what I had in mind.
My wife is extremely modest and she is partaking in this virtual protest. I would imagine many of the other women who are partaking in this are also very modest.
For those of you who think that breast feeding shouldn’t be done in public, where should it be done then? If you say a public restroom, next time you are out, trying eating your lunch in a public restroom and then see if you still think that is a good idea.
I’ve never seen a woman flaunt breastfeeding in public, not saying it doesn’t happen, but I will say it is pretty rare.
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