I don’t need to see your milk machines but I do want to see your breasts
Lately there has been a lot of press coverage about Facebook and breastfeeding. No they geeky founder Mark Zuckerberg isn’t attaching other dorks onto his man boobs for sustenance sake.
I have never seen breasts before.
Breastfeeding mothers are upset that pictures of them breastfeeding their children are being removed from Facebook because they have been marked as obscene. In fact they started a group on Facebook about it which has grown pretty rapidly and have gotten a lot of mainstream press including an interview on this weekend’s Good Morning America.
I am a pretty liberal dude especially when it comes to social issues but I am siding with Facebook on this one. I don’t want to see your milk machines on the internet or in public. Not because I find it obscene or wrong but because it is just flat out unattractive and unappealing. (Just like fat people wearing size inappropriate clothing.) Being the shallow and unsympathetic son of a bitch that I am it is enough for me to side with the “evil corporation”.
Sure I get the whole argument that it is natural to feed your child and all that stuff, I’m all for breast feeding as long as I don’t have to watch it. Kind of like the same way I support meat eating as long as I don’t have to watch the animal get killed I am totally for it. When I am out at a restaurant the last thing I want to see is junior sucking away on your tit. Just like I wouldn’t want to see a calf feeding while I stuffed my gullet.
While I am on the internet, be it at work or on my personal time, I don’t want to see your “I haven’t lost the baby weight” yet body feeding some bald headed monstrosity because that image could scar me for rest of the day. (Now if you want to personally send me a nude picture of your pre-pregnancy body doing something dirty I would gladly view it.)
I already can hear some of the points that the breast feeding mothers will make… (While I would like to address them all I really don’t have the time or interest to do so… let me just tackle one of the main ones I see all over the place.) The argument that America is too puritanical and uptight about the human body is completely true and I agree with that. However when you extrapolate the argument you lose me with, “Since breast feeding is natural we should just get over it, appreciate the human body, and accept the act for what it is. It is natural but it doesn’t make it socially acceptable to see. We are not talking about art here. The social mores against breast feeding are that it isn’t appropriate to do so in public whether the act is natural or not. While it might be natural for me to pick my nose or bite my nails it is unacceptable to do it in public not because of law but because of social mores. (Additionally it is totally natural for me to rub one out to the new edition of “Ladies Home Journal” but illegal to do so in public which I had to find out the hard way.)
With all that being said it is great to see you all united and get all this press coverage it must give a lot of meaning to your life. Plus it gives you something new to debate instead of “right tit or left tit”. Now imagine if you spent that same time and effort putting it towards an issue that really matters like health care? Instead of fighting a policy on a privately owned site where you agreed to the terms of service when you signed up. (You know the place where they talk about not uploading “objectionable” content.)
Now excuse me I am going to go look for Hentai groups on Facebook. (Just kidding anyone looking up anime porn should hang themselves.)
Shouldn’t the only breasts that should be allowed on Facebook be the three titted bitch (Link NSFW) from “Total Recall”?
Anyone looking at anime porn SHOULD hang themselves.
I also think breastfeeding should be illegal on the grounds that babies ruin nice boobs for life. They are the only things that can turn a nice set of C’s into fried eggs in months flat (pun totally intended).
I have personally encountered some of the aforementioned
“Fried Egg Breasts” only these musta been off cuz they more resembled “Scrambled Eggs”
;oP
My best friend got married to a lovely huge breasted goddess, he impregnated her & she bore a sweet child. However, much to my chagrin and absolute embarrassment, his wife delighted in whipping out her luscious tits and breast feeding in front of me in their home, in the minivan, at the mall. The more I blushed, & the harder my cock tried to burst out of my pants the more seductive and satisfied her moans and glances ans smirks became. The final straw came when she demonstrated her double breast pump, and insisted that I help her use it. We pumped her boobs for sure — then she made me suck it, claiming it was just a taste test for hr kid. Damn it. I am now scarred for life, thanks a lot…
I just read your comment on your friends wife and I say … “That must have been cool! and I wish it had been me! or should I say … me too – me too please!” You lucky dog!!!
Congratz, you’re an idiot.
I have no problem with women wanting to breast feed their babies – even in public. Just throw a scarf or blanket over the event. Most women aren’t flipping a boob out at family dinners in a nice restaurant or riding on a bus – how is it a little bald blob hooked on makes such exposures ok?
Taking a dump is a natural act but I don’t think anyone (except maybe some strange pervy people) want to see me wiping my ass in a lounge chair at the pool.
Cheers and thanks for putting this in perspective.
taking a dumb shouldn’t be equated to breastfeeding… not even in the same league. Interesting comparison…
dump*
They may not be equal in all ways but they are both natural functions and if breast feeding mothers are basing their arguments on “natural functions” they have leveled the playing field themselves.
Please to note that I’m in favor of breastfeeding anywhere and everywhere…just throw a shawl over the event. Everyone doesn’t need to watch.
And while we are at this, other than educating future breastfeeding mothers on the latch and such on educational sites, why in the name of all that is holy does a woman need to publish pics of her boobs on facebook no matter the reason for flashing them around.
And another for the record, yes I do think it is a double standard for men to expose their nipples on the beach when women are prohibited from doing so.
How is it that nipples have become such an issue in the public discourse? Was it Janet Jackson’s pierced nipples at the Superbowl?
People find the dumbest things to fight corporations on. Instead of fighting facebook they should be going after the music industry for letting so much crappy music be put out there. And the fast food industry for putting so much shitty food on the market.
I totally agree with you on big people wearing size appropriate clothing. I really don’t need to see some persons strech marks because their shirt is two sizes too small and it doesn’t go over their belly.
I’m torn over the whole issue. On the one hand if the act is not totally visible I’m ok with it. However, if the breast and child sucking the breast are both visible, I don’t really want to see that.
It wasn’t the anti-breastfeeding commentry that made me feel the need to comment. Fair enough, you’re probably too busy living your life on the net to have discovered a woman willing to share your DNA – let’s hope you don’t. It was the idea that all breastfeeding mothers who feel passionately about this subject are empty headed housewives whose decision making is limited to ‘left tit or right tit’.
I am staunchly pro-breastfeeding and in public too – in fact, anywhere the child (yes child, not just babies) is hungry. And somehow in my limited female brain I’ve also managed to feed two children, aquire a degree and work in software development (yes currently, not just pre-sprog). Oh, that and maintain my pre-pregnancy figure through bloody hard work in the gym. So forgive me when I take offence, but my daily decisions are perhaps a little more complex.
Maybe I’d accept your point of view when you’ve matured past the point of a teenage boy’s vision of breasts (that’s boobies to you).
Holly honey it is a humor blog.
I am sure you are an intelligent, professional, and logical woman that makes all sorts of tough choices on a daily basis. But when a bunch of people decide to unite over such a banal cause it annoys me.
It’s not a banal cause though. Sadly you can’t understand how difficult it is for women to overcome the stigma associated with feeding their child in public. Especially new mothers. Most give up within the first six weeks, not because they want to, but because when you are overwhelmed with hormones and attempting to rejoin society (trust me, it’s akin to a transformation from zombie to human) it only takes one person to tell you it’s disgusting or unsavory and that becomes the last straw. Empathise for a second here – imagine a new mother read your blog and has just decided to switch to formula becuase they (albeit hormonal and mildly irrational) think all men take that opinion. Does that lay well on your conscience?
I’m the first person to admit a breast is very nice to behold, but there is a time for business and a time for pleasure – and business is conducted where the client wishes.
First of all Holly if anyone came and read this blog and took it so serious that it impacted their decision on how to feed their baby they should be shot for the betterment of the human race. This site is very clearly a humor blog… I mean I reference the three breasted woman in Total Recall and anime porn.
On a serious note though I think breast feeding is fine but when it comes to doing it in public or throwing up pictures on the internet there is a line that needs to be drawn. When I was in cub scouts (this had to be when I was in 5th grade or so) our “den mother” decided to whip out her breast in the middle of a meeting to feed her kid in front of 12 kids. I never will forget the feeling and how inappropriate that was and how uncomfortable that made me feel. Sure we could blame society for that but why should we take away the rights of parents on when they want to explain sexuality, how the body works, etc to a kid because the feeder can’t excuse themselves to go into another room to do it?
Yes, to any rational person this is a humour blog, but post partum is not a rational state of mind. Look to the animal world and most new mothers are irrational and more likely to attack. Bring this to our society and that feeling of vunerability is dealt with in a different way (it’s generally frowned upon to bludgeon a person just because they made you feel edgy – even if you really want to).
From what you’ve written about your personal experience, you are projecting onto these breastfeeding women your own feelings of awkwardness when having seen a woman breastfeed at an early age. Maybe she could have excused herself, or maybe she was required to be there because of the child/adult ratio, or maybe she just fed a baby in front of you which was a new experience and you held onto the feelings of ‘weirdness’.
Essentially, it’s just a breast. 50% of people have them. Maybe if you were exposed to them (bad turn of phrase) at an earlier age, it wouldn’t have bothered you.
If you HAVE to breastfeed? How else do you expect me to feed my child? Perhaps we should all forumla feed? Latest results in China show what a fantastic idea that is. Perhaps we could go for Child apartheid – no babies or lactation near the normal people please. Honestly. There are times I’m thankful to be in the UK where people may breastfeed wherever they want – legally you can’t ask us to stop.
If you’ve read his blog before, you would know that it is purely humor and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
For me as a woman, I find it completely gross for a woman to pop her titty out and feed a baby in a public setting. If you HAVE to breast feed, to the bathroom and do it. I have no problem with that. But for you to think that just because you have a newborn that you can pop it out whenever you (or the baby) sees fit to is ridiculous. Think of others before you do it. I personally don’t want to be eating my dinner and just happen to glance over and see some lady with a baby attached to her breast.
how about you go eat your dinner in the bathroom then so the baby can eat out in the restaurant… or does the new baby have to do the dirty bathroom eating?
@ Holly B. I am sure that even though they can’t ask you to leaglly stop they sure as hell can ask you to leave or do it somewhere else. Especially if it is a private dining establishment.
No. In 2004 Scottish Parliment passed a law allowing mothers to feed where they like and it is a criminal offence for an establishment to require a woman to stop or leave. In the UK, The 1975 Sexual Discrimination Act created legal protection for a woman under the provision of goods, facilities and services section. This protection covered a woman breastfeeding a child, of any age, by implication, and meant that she could not be discriminated against for breastfeeding in places such as restaurants, cafes, surgeries, libraries etc. The 2008 Equality Bill looked to take this further and is due to be passed in 2009.
Breastfeeding in surgeries? That is just ridiculous.
Or it could be English terminology where surgery means a Doctor’s Office or whatever the US equivalent is. But then if we’re getting into that it’s prounouced ‘Al-u-min-ee-um’ and spelt ‘colour’.
Well yeah you should take your breastfeeding to the bathroom. Like other people said, it’s a private moment so take it to a private place, i.e. bathroom, home, car, etc. We shouldn’t be subjected to see it. Your choice to have the little rugrat, you should deal with it. Also, haven’t you ever heard of a breast pump? Pump the boobs before you leave the house so you have bottles ready to go while you’re in public. Perfect problem solver.
On another note, I have to agree that I can’t believe this is you’re most controversial post…haha.
Being a mom who breastfed it is pretty much impossible to feed an infant in the restroom. Unless of course you have the money (show me a new mom who really does) to go a restaurant that provides couches in the restrooms to assist in that. I guess all of us new moms could just stay at home and live in the darkness away form everyone for a year (now it’s recommended breastfeeding for 2 years) until our child doesn’t need our milk for nourishment to survive. It’s a considerate thing to cover up when you’re feeding your child in public, but I’m not going to starve my baby because you think it looks gross. I happen to think hair on people’s toes is disgusting, but I don’t tell them to go shave it.
As far as the pictures being removed, if you don’t want to see the photo don’t go into their albums and look. Pretty damn easy solution to me.
And to Vince: No, in the UK as well as in the US it;s illegal for any establishment to ask you leave or anything else. Check the laws…
I’m kind of confused about this whole “rejoining society” with infant in tow in the first six weeks thing, anyway. Some women have to go out to work, sure, but they’re not taking their infants along–I certainly wasn’t dragging my weeks-old child around in public for my own entertainment. Babies that young sleep a lot. They’re very susceptible to germs. It’s just hard to imagine how the whole “out in public” thing arises very often.
obviously Ami you have no children… it will all change if you do and you will be told by someone you have to go sit in the bathroom for 45 minutes… some babies dont take bottles by the way.
This just shows the inexperience with the entire baby scenario. You finally leave the house after not being able to leave in a month because of a new baby. You go out to eat with your husband, friends or whoever and have to bring baby. Baby cries and cries and you are embarrassed, and people stare. You try to give him bottle and he won’t take it. What do you do? Well you have to nurse because that is what he wants and it will make him quiet. So where do you go to do it? Do you go sit in the car? Do you go sit in the women’s dirty bathroom on a toilet? Where would you want to eat your dinner?
It just shows ignorance… kharma will come back and you’ll have a wailying screaming baby some day and have to tell your poor tired wife you finally got to leave the house that she has to go in the bathroom for 45 minutes (because that is how long it takes to nurse) and nurse the baby during dinner… have fun with that.
It is called hire a sitter so you don’t ruin the night for the other patrons.
It isn’t inexperience it is thoughtfulness for others.
take a guess at the cost of a babysitter per hour now a days?
When you have a kid it changes your lifestyle. If you are too selfish to change your lifestyle than don’t have a kid. Why should other people be punished because you have a kid?
And when you retire and there’s no population of working age because we’re all too selfish to stay in the house in case we offend you, enjoy the benefits of having no work force.
Ultimately we have children because we want them, but we are still allowed in public. Maybe the point that the mothers are trying to make is that is it us who are selfish for wanting to feed our children, or are you being selfish for not having the maturity to just look away if it offends?
Really Holly? Not breastfeeding your kid in public is going to kill off the work force and possibly the human race? Isn’t that a bit dramatic?
“If you are too selfish to change your lifestyle than don’t have a kid” – no children = no workforce. Your quote, not mine
LOL… way to twist that.
Seriously I hate when people have a kid and they decide that they need to subject everyone else to their child especially if they have behavioral problems. Bringing your kid to a nice restaurant, a movie (oh I can just feed him he is too young to know what is going on), or someplace of that ilk is something that other people shouldn’t be subjected to.
You had a kid, you know the deal, it changes your life and you have to accept it not force it on other people.
I’ll agree with that – there are places it is not acceptable to take kids, breastfeeding or not. Cinemas and resturants in the evening are not places for kids unless it is specifically a family place. Even so, my kids are in bed by 7 (much to their disgust), so therefore I am in the house. But during the day, children are part of daily life whether people like it or not.
Hear, Hear! Having a child is in fact a choice of the couple in question. An admirable choice, mind you (although there are loads of people out there demonstrating how a permit should be required…Britany Spears anyone?).
But when one makes that choice, it is not your option to foist the matter on the rest of us anymore than we should have to endure your choice to adopt a puppy from the animal shelter – also an admirable act. I shouldn’t have to listen to an endlessly screaming child at a restaurant, a concert or a movie – places I have paid to be. I shouldn’t have to smell baby poop at dinner or in my office. I shouldn’t have to watch nipples being bandied about on the bus.
I shouldn’t have to endure those things anymore than I should have to endure an endless parade of baby pictures from grandparents.
It is all a matter of civility and courtesy. Come on people, show some courtesy already.
I agree with “Bobby”, if you’re that desperate to go out hire a sitter. Otherwise, have courtesy for everyone else. When you have a child, you gotta set your priorities straight, that means that going out to eat may be out of the picture. Going to a restaurant or movies with an infant, where there are lots of germs and stuff is not ideal. Of course the baby is gonna cry and want to be fed and he/she has the right to be fed, the most ideal place to do this is at home, be it the child is bottle-fed or breastfed. That way the baby is in a comfortable spot and so are you. If you’re at the doctor’s office or on the bus or train or whatever and your child needs to feed, cover up. You don’t have to plop out your tit in front of everyone to breastfeed. Little kids WILL stare if you don’t and maybe their parents don’t want them to see that, you have to be considerate to them as well. Maybe the kid isn’t old enough for the talk yet. No matter if the parent tells them not to stare, they will, cause kids are impulsive.
BTW, if you have to pay $10 for a babysitter for an hr, your child is worth it. Prioritize! Maybe going out for a meal isn’t the best idea for you if you cannot bear to part with your baby for 3 or 4 hours. It is a lifestyle change when you have a baby, so you should act accordingly. Either stay home and bond with your baby, or get someone to watch him/her when you go out. If you made the decision to have a kid (man or woman), you have made the decision to change your life. Don’t push your change on everyone else.
and again ignorance like I said, some babies only take boobs, so a sitter still doesn’t solve the problem.
But the debate isn’t about feeding in public, its about the pictures… which is obviously weird, but who gives a shit. If you dont want to see the pictures, dont look. If you dont want your kids to see them, don’t let them look…
Sigh… so I go into my facebook profile and you are a friend and decide to post inappropriate pictures. I don’t have a choice not to see it. It isn’t like a link where you are telling me what it is ahead of time.
I agree with alot of people when i say that breastfeading in public isnt acceptable. its common curtosy to the people arround you. but unfortunatly thats really the way america is going right now. nobody give a rats ass about the people arround them.
I think its really sad. people on cellphones practically everywhere-Its rude, screaming children-rude. and there is a giant list, and somewhere on that list, breastfeading.
I think breastfeeding is marvelous. I think mothers should have the option everywhere they go. I was adopted so my mother couldn’t but I think there are probably lots of advantages created by mother nature. However, nurse your baby during dinner and at the table… you shouldn’t have to go to a restroom – just be a tad courteous to everyone present and throw a shawl over it. The rest of us don’t need to see your boobs (Alert: smart ass remark follows)no matter how you are using them – milk bags or Hooter resturant attractions.
This should not be a matter of legal rights – babies need sustenance – but it should be a matter of courtesy and civility.
Oy – enough already. And sorry. Any child that hasn’t learned to eat normal food by age 4 or 5 is a victim of parental abuse.
I can’t really imagine having urgently needed to go out to dinner when my child was that young.
@Woman: if you can’t afford a babysitter, you probably can’t afford to go out to dinner. But that’s irrelevant in my mind, anyway, because it’s hard to see how sitting in a carrier in a germy public place while mom “finally” gets out of the house is the best thing for an infant, anyway.
Parenting requires some reprioritizing.
I was just giving a scenario, you could have a 6 month old. The point was just so someone else who is scared to see a “boobie” might get offended, you have to pay a sitter $10 an hour so you can go do whatever, be it dinner or the doctors office or wherever. Its your own damn fault if you feel uncomfortable.
My baby didnt eat every 4 hours… mine ate every 5 minutes… randomly at all times… and he didnt sleep all the time liek someone said, he hardly slept… so the point is people do what the have to do, each situation is different, just look away if you dont like it and dont judge it… suck it up and deal with it.
This isn’t an issue to be so ‘torn’ over…give me an f-ing break.
Is breastfeeding in public okay and sometimes necessary, sure…but there is no reason you can’t be discreet about it or find a place to do it without half of a restaurant shielding the eyes of their children in the process.
Furthermore, in my opinion it’s a private moment between mother and child and if any asshole, including my husband decided to whip out the camera when I have my child on my breast I’d be more than irriated. Now is not the time for party shots.
You want to capture that moment as a mother, whatever. There’s no reason to run to your laptop and upload them into your Summer ‘08 album on Facebook.
Ha ha ha ha that is quite possibly the funniest response yet.
And I completely agree that its a private moment between mother and baby.
Amen!
Very true, but the point made by the blog was not ‘don’t take photos’, but that feeding in public in itself is unsavoury and only undertaken by brainless mothers who have obviously lost all sense of their former sexual selves. And for that I shall enjoy sitting back and watching the flaming pitchforks ensue.
I actually should have covered the don’t take photos angle…
That us probably the stupedist comment I’v eread thus far Holly. So because I breast fed my baby in public I am no longer a sexual person. YOU ARE A DUMBASS. I really hope you never become a parent and if you are, oh help them. You showed how truly ignorant you are witht that comment.
would they take down a picture of a man having his nipple sucked, or better yet a man licking his own nipple? Probably not. I am sure many of those exist out there…lol
The last thing I want to see on Facebook is a dude getting his nipple sucked.
Well, probably not the VERY last thing…
I have no idea why anyone would want their boobs on Facebook in the first place. My boss is my Facebook friend, and that would just be weird.
I’m your friend on there as well… I might want to reverse my opinion on the whole thing.
I want to see that 3 boobed lady from total recall breast feeding!
Now that is a reason to post a picture on facebook
I believe that women should be able to breastfeed in public, because the baby needs to eat when it needs to after all, and u might be in the most inopportune spot, BUT, no one needs to see it, cover with a shawl or a scarf. The only reason you should have a pic of breastfeeding online is if you are demonstrating proper latch on, which should be on a breastfeeding help website. NOT FACEBOOK.
this whole debates just goes to show you that bitches are stupid.
bitches are stupid? I take it you are gay then.
or at the very least celibate
So, it has come to demeaning derogatory remarks about bitches and gay accusations.
That is an intelligent dialogue…not!
I think the ‘bitches’ remark was in the satirical humorous and snarky tone of the blog – the gay and celibate…I’m not so sure but I would bet not. It seems the gestapo division of the LaLeche league has gotten engaged and we know they are physically and mentally incapable of participating in witty banter on this subject.
I was simply asking if you dont like woman and calling them bitches, are you gay? How is that a derogatory remark about gay people? If I said I hated all men and they were bastards, what sex does that leave to like? So the Le Leache League will stop now, so the gay pride league can keep on truckin
This blog is a tounge-in-cheek not tit-in-mouth…jeeeez.
Now that was clever
Kudos for a very witty remark!!
Sharing these private moments with their boss and ex-school friends is really creepy and stinks of exhibitionism.
Exactly
I second that notion.
Out of all of the things that you have written in the last years, the one that gets the most controversy is a post talking about breastfeeding pictures on Facebook?
Really?
It amazes me that this is even an issue. When the hell did the titty suckling pic become a fad? The women who are fighting for the right to show their crotch monsters chowin’ down, are secretly harboring some sort of sick fetish.
Serious, a blowjob is a tender moment but I don’t need to post the pics all over Facebook! Well, unless I’m wanting to get off on other people seeing it.
-Dallas-
I am a mother and I completely agree with Meghan, Darcie and Isha. This is ridiculous to get so worked up over. Granted I must be one of those mothers that is all for, how did Holly put it?, Child Apartheid. I bottle fed. My three children are beautiful and intelligent. And as far as being banished to a dirty bathroom for breast feeding? A lot of establishments do offer a “mother’s room” for mother/baby bonding time. My daughter has high asperations to open her own restaurant someday. She plans to incoperate a mother’s room. Complete with a comfy chair, or rocking chair, foot stool, soft lighting and a small table if mommy wants to eat too. It’s not a matter of being inappropriate in public, it’s a matter of having private bonding time with baby. And quite honestly, I don’t want to see pictures of you feeding your baby on the internet. If we’re that close of friends’, come to my home and hang out. I can imagine that you don’t want me to post the video of me giving birth, but it, too, is a normal and natural thing. I happen to think it’s amazing to watch and it brings tears to my eyes, but why does it need to be on the internet? It doesn’t. There’s a time and place for everything. And some things shouldn’t be done so blatantly in public.
One last note…This is a humor blog for the writer to vent and express his/her thoughts, views, and opinions. If you don’t like it, don’t agree with it, then DON’T READ IT. And for the love of goddess, DON’T LEAVE COMMENTS! Delete it, move on with your day, and hope that the next blog will be more to your liking.
And know you’ll have to excuse me as I feel the need to go to the mall, while wearing spandex and a sports bra (yes, I am a “fluffy” mommy), while eating Krispy Kremes and then partaking in a random activity that consits of a lot of wiggling, moving, and jumping. Oh, and don’t miss my wet t-shirt contest afterward. Pictures will be posted at a later date….
I bottle-fed both of my children and they’re fine too. What I hate is when someone who does breastfeed (which I say, again, I have no problem with) comes and tell me that little “Jimmy” or “Suzy” is a genius because they were breastfed. Its a bunch of crock cause I’ve seen plenty children (ie. my 10 year old sister…dun ask) who were not breastfed and are way smarter than their children. Then when I get the whole try to make me feel guilty thing because I didn’t breastfeed, when it wasn’t by choice of mine, I was on medication that was deemed unsafe for me to breastfeed. Screw you mothers who try to push this on other people to feel bad about. Not everyone wants to see your tits, seriously! Like I stated before its find for you to do it in public as long as you cover yourself. I can’t walk outside with my tits out, it would be called indecent exposure, so neither should you. Get over it already ladies…..
There have been extensive research about the benefits of breastfeeding. There is science to back up many claims that breastfeeding mothers make. That being said, I would never judge a mother for going to formula after trying breastfeeding. I continued to breastfeed my daughter even when I was on really strong anti-depressants. However, it was a cautious decision based upon my own research. What I don’t get is when a mother doesn’t even give it a get go. With so many benefits, I mean tons; I DO think that you should at least give it a try.
As for your post, while I agree with you most of the time. This one really hits close to my heart. I am a proud breastfeeding mother but I still feel self conscious about breastfeeding in public. Why? Because I know that I would get disdainful stares and it’s still generally not accepted. One of the reasons mothers cite about giving up breastfeeding is the stigma that comes with it. I think if we viewed it as a natural thing and create a more postive breastfeeding environment; then more mothers would and continue to do so. Facebook’s policy is actually anticounteritive to this. That is why so many breastfeeding mothers are protesting.
One day you might see things differently when you become a father, and you have a tiny baby that needs the best nutrition one can get. Then breastfeeding might not be so bad. Hell, you might even become pro-breastfeeding. Until then, yes, breast will probably be only play things to you. However, it’s not only that and mothers want the breasts to be more than that. It’s not about flashing tits in defiance. There are plenty of breastfeeding mothers who do not nurse in public. It’s more about the right to feed your child. Like someone mentioned. No one would bat an eye is a mother brought out the bottle, Why not have the same consideration for a mother who wants to nourish one’s child?
ok, i did try to breastfeed my kids, but the nutritionist, pediatrician, and obstetrician, all decided that it was the wrong thing for me at the time. I was on 2 seizure meds and 1 seizure/bipolar med. It was too risky. I just don’t like to hear from people that my kids is better than yours because I did such and such. Kids are kids. Some are smart, some aren’t. Its not cool to have that “holier than thou” attitude. (not saying you, but others). I praise mothers who breastfeed their children but it is a bond btwn you and your child, not everyone else needs to be a part of it. Its like the bond you share with your husband or significant other, not everyone needs to see every part of it.
I’m fluffy, too. I like that!
Dude, you totally need to rethink soliciting naughty pre-pregnancy pics. Having worked multiple years in an OB/GYN practice, I can guarantee you do NOT want those pictures from most. Seriously.
The 3-titted woman was in Total Recall? I thought it was another movie…. Oh well.
I have 4 kids, 3 bottle fed and 1 a combination. Never once did I expose myself in public. That is a private bond between mother and child. Period. I know the concept of “social mores” is a difficult one for some to comprehend, but with a little luck and a whole lotta Haldol, more people might just make it. No one denies your choice to breastfeed, and no one denies that your baby is hungry and needs to eat NOW, but try to grasp yet another elusive concept, “reciprocal courtesy.” The vast majority do NOT want to see it up close and personal, and it is beyond ridiculous to impose the wants (yes, WANTS, not RIGHTS) of the minority onto the majority.
And you don’t even want to get me started on how bass-ackwards the UK has become….
Kudos! *hand clapping* =)
*claps too*
By the way, it is not a WANT any longer, it is now RIGHT of breastfeeding mothers to feed in public and you can’t do a damn thing about it. Most mothers I’ve seen (myself included) tend to be courteous though. It’s your WANT to not have to see it, not your RIGHT.
*can suck her own*
Suck this down… and from the UK no less!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxv6R9fUO74
In-friggin-sane. Wow.
I am a mother of 2 – 1 breastfed until 14 months, one breastfed until 5 months and then bottle fed.
Why is it that no-one looked at me strangely while I was bottle feeding my son, but if I pulled out a breast and fed my little girl, some would consider it inappropriate and “a private moment”?
Is it the actual feeding of the child that mkes it a “private moment”? Or is it the fact it is a breast and people are uncomfortable seeing it due to these so called “social mores”?
At one stage in our history it was innapropriate for women to go without a corset, at another it was against “social mores” be seen in long sleeved tops and long pants on a beach in the water. At another stage it was inappropriate for women to wear skirts above their kneew. At another stage in history it was against social mores for women to wear pants. It is only through repeated exposure that these all important “social mores” are changed – and often for the better. What woman today would want to be caged up in a corset and unable to go to the beach??
And the ideas that women should have to go to a “mothers room” to attend to their baby’s needs or at the least put a scarf over the child’s head. Have you ever eaten your meals with a scarf over your head? Have you ever even considered going into a toilet to eat your lunch? Even those nice comfortable mothers rooms that are around in some places – have any of you actually gone INTO one of them? They stink like 100 kids pooy nappies. The feeding seats are usually right next to the nappy bins and they are not usually a sanitary place to eat. If you would not do it yourself, why would you expect a baby to?
Babies cannot talk, they cannot let people know they don’t want to be covered, they don’t want to feed where the air stinks of excrememnt. So their parents talk for them. And they deserve to be listened to.
And issues of the photos? I have a photo of myself breastfeeding on facebook. It was part of my life at the time. Do you feel squeemish seeing photos of a baby feeding from a bottle? No? Didn’t think so. If a parent took a photo of their child feeding from a bottle (lets face it, babies spend a LOT of their time eating, it’s a huge part of their lives), there would be no issue. But a baby eating their food in a more natural way – from a breast, is considered offensive. How sad!
Get over your male obsession with breast purely as sexual objects and deal with the fact they are actually meant to be useful and purposeful items. An areola to a child is not a sexual thing – it’s exactly the same as a teat on a bottle (shaped to function as an areola), and bottle teats aren’t banned from Facebook…
Your argument fails though when you compare a bottle to a breast… Is a picture of my cock not as offensive because dildos kind of look the same?
Ok, I hear you. So now, I recommend that women go topless from now on since the breast and areola are not sexual features. I would be quite happy to quit wearing pants to cover my penis and testicles. After all, those garments cause heat buildup in my testicles and make them lose their natural functional ability to produce the sperm you women need to fertilize your eggs.
And after all, the penis is merely a handle for the urethra so as to eliminate urine from the body so women shouldn’t view it as a sexual organ, should they?
Is that a deal?
I never thought I’d see the day where women would be banding together for the right to show their tits on the Internet.
There’s a big difference between breastfeeding in public and posting pictures on the internet. I’m all for keeping breastfeeding private whenever possible, but it is a baby and if it has to eat it has to eat…sometimes inconvenient situations are going to arise and you do the best you can (“the best you can” in my mind NOT being whipping out your breast in the middle of a crowded room). There’s some validity to the argument that it’s ridiculous to hold off feeding a hungry child because someone might not want to watch. That argument can’t possibly be extended to the posting of photographs. Yep, it’s a natural process. Just like urinating, bathing, making love…and it just never crosses my mind to post photos of those things on my Facebook page.
I’m usually a huge fan of exposed breasts,(or a fan of huge exposed breasts), but I do agree with this post. If it’s not a picture of ME sucking a delicious chestham, I really don’t want to see it.
I was picking my nose when I scrolled to the picture of Ralphie.
That is all.
Did you know about Queen of Spain making her stand on MySpaces first? http://queenofspainblog.com/category/royal-hooters/
Google it because there’s quite an entertaining back story here.
Apparently we have a generation or two of bottle suckers who have grown up on cow’s milk and who look like it too who don’t get these points:
(1) human breasts are for feeding human babies;
(2) human breast milk is the best source of food for human babies;
(3) human breasts have become so sexualized that we have a couple of generations of bottle suckers, who are hypocrites as they will expose cleavage everywhere they go even at work, but who become uptight and puritanical when they see a mom feeding her kid in a restaurant.
I don’t know any breastfeeding mom’s who are deliberately “exposing” their breasts in unseemly ways. The ones I know are just feeding their hungry babies. I have reached then end of my rope with the bawl babies who comprise a portion of the 20 – 30 year old population today – STFU and get over it!
Completely agree. Pissing is natural, some people like to look at other people pissing, but would any of them think that it’s okay to put those pictures on Facebook where they’re blasted in the image feed to all of their unsuspecting friends to see? If your friends list consists only of Breast Feeders Social Club, then by all means post your pictures up there. But if there is one person there, who isn’t totally CRAZY about you and your baby (like most of us do) then keep those photos private. It’s not about your right to breast feed and photograph the event, it’s about our right not to be forced to see it. Just as it is our right not to look at your naked body, your bodily functions or what ever – even if some of those functions are generally appreciated entertainment material, there are people who don’t like to see it, and therefore those who do respect that and post those pictures in appropriate venues.
I breastfed my child and never once showed my breast to do it. From day one, I always carried a blanket with me. When my baby was hungry in public, I threw the blanket over him and my upper body and remained covered from start to finish. Yes, everyone probably knew that is what I was doing, but no one had to witness it. I saw no reason to expose myself to others, regardless as to whether I felt it was a natural act. And yes, my husband has taken photos of this beautiful, natural event, because it is an amazing thing for a mother and father to witness. Key there — for a mother and father to witness.
I personally can’t imagine why anyone would want to post pictures on a public platform of that nature. I, however, would never take someone’s right away to post said photos on an appropriate platform, as long as it meets the platforms terms of use. And apparently, Facebook feels that the photos violate it’s TOS.
If it is so important to so many women to expose themselves during breastfeeding and share the photos of the event on the internet, maybe they should start their own social site. They would then have absolute control on the subject matter accepted.
*Just a mother’s two cents based on this humor post. I have not researched Facebook’s TOS or the background of this story and really have no plans to do so.
would fake hard round size D’s make a difference? can fake boobies breast feed?
I agree. I think it should be illegal. I remember when my son was 6yrs old. I took him to Karate lessons. I was talking to a few of the moms, and they were saying “do you see that mom over there?, she’s breast feeding her kid without a blanket” “that is so rude” I looked over and while they were all complaining about and doing nothing. I on the other hand am blunt. I walked over to her and gave her what for all right. I said to her “ya know, I don’t want to have to explain to my 6yr old what you are doing and why that sagging tit is hanging out of your top, I and the others think you need to take your breastfeeding out the door or put a blanket over your self. You are being very rude, have some consideration for the rest of us” and she was so embarrassed, she left, as she should have.
It’s repulsive,rude & disrespectful.
It’s not illegal. Infact, it’s illegal to ask a mother to refrain from brastfeeding. Maybe you should read up on the laws before you start criticizing others for trying to feed their baby. I think your behavior was absolutely rude and embarassing. You should really be ashamed of yourself, and to be proud of being so ignorant just blows my mind.
It’s ignorant attitude like yours that’s detrimental to breastfeeding. How would you have felt if someone came up to you and loudly criticised you for formula feeding? Really it’s the same thing. Go educate yourself before you start sounding like a complete idiot
My sister had a kid about a year ago and didn’t stop breast feeding until my niece sprouted teeth. It had nothing to do with society judging her, or chastising her or bullying her into stopping. Why? Because despite the hormones (and believe me there were tons), the post baby body and the general discomfort after giving birth to an 8lb 14 oz baby (she’s only 5′3″), what was more important was the health of her daughter and her joy at being a new mother. So all these arguments may have a point (to someone somewhere) but the truth is, if you need to do it in public, cover up.
Best tool out there for these situations? click below.
http://nursingcovers.com/catalog.php?category=33
Interesting enough.
I breast-fed two little ones. The first one I stopped right at the 6 week line because of some of the reasons given in one of the earlier responses.
My 2nd one however I fed for nearly 2 years.
I was torn about the issue then, as I am now.
Yes, Boobs are just boobies.
I find being send to the restroom or even remotely suggesting that one should feed a baby/child in such a place of discussed beyond comprehension & think people need to have their brains checked who do so.
Which to me this includes people like “The Army wife”.
WTH is wrong with you?
There is no need to be THAT rude to anyone; simply put: it shows missing maturity, respect and common courtesy the way you handled that. And I feel sorry for your offspring & the example of rudeness that you expose them too including the language you used.
If one would like it courtesy extended one has to give it first.
Which includes letting others know when they have crossed your line. How should they know? Not everyone is a mind-reader. Some mind, others totally don’t care.
Meaning, if one is offended because one has encountered a mother fully exposing her breast to feed her offspring (as in pulling her shirt up, unbuttoning it and fully exposing her boob for everyone’s view); one should extend this common courtesy and let them know nicely how one feels about them doing so.
I look at the subject as: I don’t suggest what I wouldn’t be willing to do myself. Unless you are willing to eat yourself in a public bathroom, then don’t make the suggestion.
I agree there is a place to leave your kid at home: movies (unless its G-rated and made for them, duh). Nicer/ nice eating establishments in the evening hours, when adults generally like to converse or be without their own and or other people’s kids.
If your kid can’t behave- pay for a sitter. That’s a no brainer. There are unruly babies and then there are very quiet ones too. Only a parent knows.
I believe it truly comes too common courtesy as said. I am a parent. There are many that aren’t, and I read a few responses from what seemed to be rather haters when it comes to kids period.
I covered up when I was out and about. There are clothing that is made for the feeding mother, where one doesn’t even have to cover up and yet one isn’t exposing anyone to a popped out boob either.
I think those are fantastic and they work well & look great too.
On the days or the times when I wasn’t wearing one of those shirts, I used the same blankie that I’d throw over my shoulder for the little burb spit-ups that happen when the little one is done eating. I bought bigger ones to ensure we both remain comfortable while he is munching away.
However that is I and I am courteous towards others.
I also bought a larger package of ear-plugs, and I handed them out to people sitting around me when my kids where little and we needed to fly somewhere.
I remember vividly what it was like when I was without kids. And how often I pissed myself just seeing some little ones sitting around me while I found my seat in an airplane. I cringed and cussed at myself quietly for having forgotten ear-plugs in case those little ones cry the entire flight long.
Remembering how I felt when I was without kids, let me find the common courtesy to buy extra ones for those people around me, cause I once was one of them.
If we all are a little nicer to our next person we see, and go that extra mile & do so even if they are or not – the world would be better to live in.
Cause then we take responsibility for our actions & our decisions that we made. (To have children, to breastfeed, not to have children etc)
In turn it means that we suddenly lead by example, instead of just being unfriendly pissers who let their personal opinions out on others, and bitch, without ever doing anything themselves in order to better the world we all live in.
You have a personal opinion or feel strongly about it, let the other person know nicely. Just as you would like to be approached if you were them. If everyone would just do that, these petty arguments about boobies out or not, would fade away into smithereens and suddenly they’d be room and time again for issues that are actually a bit more important.
Trix
An after thought. Sorry it took me this long to post it – I’ve been away from my Comp.
The post was also about the Terms of Facebook & if it’s okay to post pic’s of you breast feeding your lil tyke or NOT.
If its in the Terms of Facebook, it’s in the Terms of the Contract. Thus you sign up on their site, you agree to their rules. Period. If you don’t like it, find a site that has Terms you do agree with. .
As a father, having my wife breastfeed our baby till she was like 2,5 years. I have this to say, there is a time and place for everything.
My wife rejected the idea of breastfeeding in public, not because of the people, but because she is that way.
Babies eat every 4 hours, there are not that many situations that take more than 4 hours, so if you plan your day, everything can be done without exposing yourself.
There is a lot of natural acts, but you dont go posting pictures or doing it in public.
Maybe your baby ate every 4 hours. MIne ate whenever she felt hungry, never 4 hours apart. Putting your kid on a feeding schedule like that is horrible in my opinion. They spend a ton of time hungry.
Youre a mother… you have a beautiful infant that you have decided to breastfeed… and thats amazing and beautiful… but that is a private and intimate thing that I dont believe should be broadcasted for the whole world to see. i agree with facebook.
I’m sure some people don’t want to have to see you “stuffing your gullet,” but you’re not being forced to put a blanket over your head or sent to the men’s room to eat, eh?
This is ridiculous. If I had a choice big uneducated ugly morons would walk around with a veil over their heads and their mouths taped shut, but no such luck here! So it just wouldn’t be fair for my child to have to eat in “private!” There is nothing to be ashamed of with breastfeeding and a baby shouldn’t have to be hidden away as if there were!
At some point even the most uneducated people must realize how ignorant this point of view is. We all have to deal with things we don’t like, but can turn our heads if they are so revolting.
The more mothers breastfeed their babies in public, the more it will become acceptable.
What should a mother do if she has to breastfeed? Plan around it? Go to the restroom? In the car?
I have a two year old and he’s still breastfed and I will nurse him wherever I darn well please!
For some of you comparing breastfeeding to going to the bathroom…c’mon! Apples and oranges!
if you gonna breastfeed your baby in public, either cover up with a blanket or have some breast milk in a bottle for the kid.
its so fucking simple.
You poor thing. I feel sorry for you. To spend your life so ignorant and deluded.
Do you eat YOUR food with a blanket over your head? No? Why does a child have to? If you are eating away from home do you prepare your meal before-hand, freeze it and then microwave it until it’s lost a whole lot of nutrients just so no-one sees where the food came from to begin with? No? Why does a child have to?
Is your comfort SO much more important than a child’s right to eat? Is YOUR comfort (that can be eased by turning your head a little) so much more important than the comfort of a child who is eating? Why are YOU so much better than a baby? Because you can talk? Because you’re old enough to swear and type on a computer?
Facebook’s terms of use mention not posting things that are obscene.
“upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;”
No mention whatsoever of the whole breast or nipple or anything. It is just what Facebook has arbitrarily decided is “obscene”.
I have said before that I have posted a photo of myself feeding on facebook. I have the legal right to breastfeed my child in front of whoever I waished. The Queen, the President of the USA, whoever. If I have the right to do it in person to anyone at all, why is it so bad to put a picture of it on the internet?
In reply to you again Kate – if it offends you turn away or put a blanket over your own head.
So fucking simple.
See you are changing the argument from breastfeeding as a whole from putting pictures on a public website for people that are underage to see.
Big difference. Also it is a private site, if they choose to think people wearing trucker hats are offensive and delete their pictures and account you have to go along with it.
This is seriously the dumbest controversy I have seen with social media.
Hey Bobby don’t you mean the subject went from Facebook to breastfeeding? And it’s funny because I was just going to bring up that point when I read yours. I guess some people feel it’s the principle of the idea. But, then again like you said (in other words) who ever is in charge with Facebook has the rights and what they say goes. So I say, “Women find a site where ‘anything goes’ or start one of your own… and then every one is happy. Well, not really but it sounds good.
I definitely see the point of the new mothers that have no alternative but to nurse their child where they are at. I have several friends who do put the blanket over the child’s head. I agree that is a private moment between a mother and child. If she didn’t I would leave the room.
As far as the other group of mothers who wish to publish their breastfeeding pictures on facebook, please keep in mind this is a SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE. There are several underage impressional children that go on here, therefore it is not appropriate for these pics to be on display for the world to see. It’s not as simple as “not going to look at the pictures”. I am sure as mothers you understand that you cannot be standing at the computer every waking minute monitoring your child’s activities. You can set filters, however pushing facebook to remove the ban could push the envelope and would be an open door for other things. Also think about what you post because once it’s out there, it can come back to haunt you.
Here’s the deal. This article is about placing breastfeeding pictures on Facebook. Until this point, men and women have been arguing about many other things, getting off topic most of the way. I will try to get people back on topic. Here in the U.S., smoking has been banned from restaurants and other similar public places. It is because non-smokers should not be subject to second-hand smoke. But what about the rights of smokers? It comes down to this: in a place where there are many types of people who don’t know each other, the ones doing the annoying thing must stop. It is called being considerate. I cannot start playing a trombone during a movie at a theater based on the same reasoning. Basically, the person who is bothering someone else loses to the one not bothering anyone with their personal actions. Should babies be breastfed? Seems to have many excellent reasons. Should it be done in public WHEN OTHERS CAN SEE IT HAPPENING? Not if it bothers others in a public place. Use a scarf to cover up, go to a private room, or take some other actions to be considerate to strangers. If you think it is natural and you aren’t embarrassed, then do it. But DO NOT COMPLAIN when others stare or are annoyed. Your choice, your consequences. Too bad for you.
I know this is months after your long rant comparing breastfeeding to smoking, but smoking wasn’t banned because it’s “annoying.”
You see, unlike cigarettes, breastfeeding does not fill a room with cancer. Just hunger … and longing …
Well maybe if it’s not showing the nipple. The breast inself people don’t think of as offensive so much as a woman’s nipple. I mean, I don’t have a problem with seeing bare breasts. My sister has seen mine and she doesn’t even have them yet.