p.s. Goo goo gab ba!
Posted on 01/12/2009 10:50:14 AM PST by Paleo Conservative
Facebook's ban on nursing pix is blowing up in its face -- more proof that Net censorship invariably leads to trouble. Cringe has more.
TAGS: Anti-social networking
Yet another social media site has waded into the treacherous waters of deciding what is and isn't obscene and ended up with egg on its face -- or in this case, breast milk.
Last month Facebook decided that posting photos of babies sucking happily at their mothers' bosoms were naughty, not nice, and banned them from the site. Boy was that a mistake.
Angry moms immediately formed a Facebook protest group that now boasts nearly 160,000 members. Sharon Kennedy Wynne of Tampabay.com's Whoa, Momma! blog writes:
The first five days of the year, the group was getting 10,000 new members a day. That's about the number of people who defiantly posted breastfeeding photos online that day. There was artwork of Mary nursing Jesus, of cows nursing their calves and lots of Mommas feeding their babies, Stephanie Knapp Muir, one of the organizers, told me. But she was peppered with complaints that many had their photos removed and a terse letter from Facebook warning them not to do it again or risk losing their membership to the site. Other bloggers took up the call; Google "Facebook breastfeeding" and you'll get more than 2 million hits. Now the ticked-off moms are building a mosaic of breastfeeding photos that organizers say will ultimately feature 100,000 images.
Personally, I'd rather tussle with a grizzly or a great white than with an angry mother of a newborn. And yet Facebook refuses to back down.
OK, I'll just say it, because you expect it: What total boobs those people are. If Facebook had simply asked the moms to mark these pictures as private, or limit access to adult family members, this whole controversy could have been nipped in the bud. Now thousands of ticked-off moms are nursing a grudge against the service.
And yes, I am milking this topic for jokes. (Have I missed any?)
The bigger issue of course is Net censorship. Trying to define obscenity is like trying to drive a nail through a bar of wet soap while wearing roller skates. Nobody wants Facebook to turn into a porn palace (except maybe the porn industry) but why it's picking on lactating moms is a complete mystery. If watching a suckling babe in arms gets you all warm and wiggly, you have bigger problems.
And it will very likely backfire. Instead of Facebook banning moms, they might just decide to leave the service en masse. You might even call that offering tit for tat.
You know the rules...
Cute title, but for shame, breastfeeding? Shouldn’t the moms be feeding thier children melamine laced powdered milk from China? Whats the big whoop, to me this is silly, breastfeeding is a natural, nonsexual part of life.
Hooray for boobies!
And the contestants are? I can’t judge without seeing some evidence!
I’m sorry, but I don’t see why a woman would find it necessary or desirable to post a breast-feeding picture. And I appreciate Facebook’s efforts to keep it clean. While there is of course nothing unclean about breast feeding, it’s crystal obvious that you have to draw a line somewhere, and “no bare breasts” seems like a pretty intelligent place to start.
MM
Let them leave. Just like FR, Facebook can dictate what it will and will not allow.
They can start their own site “BreastBook” or something.
Well, I agree there, why would a mom ever do that, my wife never would have when we had them at that age, how strange a desire?
I am all for breasts but Facebook has their policy and this woman really should be smart enough to know that deliberate pictures of her breast feeding is going to cause problems. IF you want to do favor for a cause, such as breast feeding, don’t stick your breasts in others faces or try to skirt rules and guidelines. People will be more supportive. She is also welcome to start her own social network web site specifically for those who like to breast feed.
On the one hand, people demand their privacy. Bush is a wire-tapper, voter IDs for elections are bad, abortion is covered in the privacy clause in the Constitution, blah, blah, blah.
And on other hand, people want to publish pictures of themselves and details of their lives that are nobody's business at all. And these things seem to blow up in people's faces all the time -- and do they learn?? No. They just create new Facebook entries to complain about how their life was ruined because some ex-boyfriend saw something on their site and is now causing all kinds of trouble. Duh.
Facebook is used by children and adults. I think breast feeding is a great thing to do for your children. My first wife breast fed both of our children, and I was very supportive of that. I don’t think asking folks not to post pictures of it in public on facebook is a slap in anyone’s face. It’s merely the realization that kids are on there, and nudity isn’t necessary on that sight.
There are plenty of ways to post nude pictures on the internet. There are plenty of ways to develop special interest forums, where breast feeding can be heralded, advocated, and supported. I would support that effort.
These women should be more in tune with young men and the drives that they experience in their formative years. IMO, they are not using very good judgement here.
LOL.....agreed. Breast feeding is a perfectly normal, healthy human function, but people need to be discreet about something. I doubt there are any breast feeding photo advocates who would step up to defend pics of me pinching my morning loaf, which is also a perfectly normal and healthy function (most mornings, anyways).
p.s. Goo goo gab ba!
the moms should boycott facebook (tit for tat)
Isn’t this about pictures and not really against breastfeeding?
I agree, but why would anyone post a picture of themselves breast feeding? I mean, why the need to put that out on the net? I saw a lady at a high school basketball game breast feeding in the stands. All I'm asking for is a blanket, I don't need to see it.
I don’t get it either, and I am into technology.
Here's a picture of me pinching one...
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