Facebook bans breastfeeding

Again, my guess is that if Maggie Gyllenhal (spelling, wow) had her lingerie photos uploaded to her facebook account, no one would give a rat's patoot. Ah, the joys of our society and their double standards!

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Want to see my "obscene" breastfeeding pic on Facebook? Of course you do! Haha! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=569942343

That is one of my new baby son's first breastfeeding sessions - he was a little ticked at all the paparazzi apparently!

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I am not for or against the relationship of babies and breasts in public... I just do not care. If I am not involved, I am not interested. That said, I have questions and comments not tainted with bias (see first sentence, this paragraph).

First, is Facebook a government run “tax supported” operation, or is it private “for profit” business?

Second, are these Facebook breast-feeding events real time, or do they reflect history?

Third, did the removable of the "feeding events" from Facebook cause any kids to go hungry?

Fourth, did the mommies posting their boobies and babies on Facebook agree to the terms of use?

I thought the breast-feeding law allowed women unfettered opportunity to execute their biological imperative as needed; thereby avoiding the judgmental negatives of arbitrary discrimination by those infected with too much prejudice and too little tolerance. That is the law; it is right, and if it bothers you, put a towel over your head.

However, the application of any law, no matter how many past ills addressed, cannot extend beyond its letter and intent, and to try, lessens its effect and simply makes you look dumb, disagreeable, or both.

To complain about Facebook’s removal of your protected feeding event pictures appears to be a step beyond the intent of the law with no real support. If Facebook is removing your pictures and closing account wrongly, organizing against such action may be the right thing to do, but only to address those specific actions, which are not relative to the actual breast-feeding.

There is a big difference between sticking your boob in your kid’s face, and sticking a picture of you feeding your kid in “my” kid's face. If I refuse to allow the latter, it has no effect on the former... right? I am relatively confident the law does not address a right to gain attention through photographs of infant nourishment, public or private.

Is this not so much about public breast-feeding as it is about the want to advertise it, or possibly the need to do whatever one wants while forgetting under virtually all circumstances, your right to swing your arm ends abruptly at mine.

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Great one mamaloo :D

Here's mine;
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=285518&id=672512749

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Why is it that only breastfeeding mamas only fight to keep breastfeeding breasts unsexual? They only fight the fight for themselves and all those other tramps need to cover up. How is that fair? ALL female breasts should be made to be unsexual. I think ALL females should have the right to go topless every now and then. Right?

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Johathon,

Thank you...


Shannon,

In relation to your comments as to why bare breasts cannot be considered unsexual?

You are trying to apply the right of moms’ who wish to feed their kids freely to cover your wish to feed your need to expose your breasts freely with no reaction, and no judgment. Have you a history of bad reactions exposing yours? The worst logic ever is to apply a single example as a “general rule”. Do you expect all women have bad reactions? Not true of course!

You are being judgmental toward women who dress in a provocative manner (as defined by who? You?), or men who admire and appreciate the female form mostly due to their biological imperative stacked (not so punny) upon a heavy dose of cultural influence.

Un-sexual breasts... why? I would “really” like to know why you want to alter the result of evolution: physical, emotional, cultural, social, and of course advertising. I do not ask with any intent to be disrespectful, on the contrary, I am willing and eager to see what and why you think as you do, and what you expect to accomplish.

You must know your proposal has the same chance to affect change as a dog lifting his leg against a title wave. Oh, you may, if you make this a “life dedication” cause, create opportunities for women to strut sans cover, but, there is a small probability – surely lost among sub-atomic components of string theory – men would devolve to a neutral, some would say neutered, state in which breasts lose their intrinsic sexual appeal: a reality of which most women are bluntly aware.

Nevertheless, in the end, I want you to know with part of your proposal you are certainly not alone. I for one will support, and stand behind women who on occasion … oooh, it’s so hard, I can’t bare to say it… but, you can figure it out, can’t you?

Initially, and at times ultimately, the secondary and primary sex characteristics affect attraction between individuals. It would be great – and I admit some do – if we initially found attraction to the character content of others. To ask lactating mommies to shoulder that load is shouting against the darkness.

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I think you should be able to show your breast as long as it's done tastefully, and it's not Britney or Paris oh sorry those are crouch shots girls.

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I'm just kind of wondering WHY anyone would want a pic like that in a public forum to begin with????

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Joy,

What’s wrong with the picture? If you don’t like it, don’t look at it! It is not obscene, not illegal, and not your decision. Like the stork says about bringing pickle’s to a restaurant, “It’s perfectly natural!” Have you “looked” at a public beach, Sears’ catalogue, or daytime TV lately?

Et si oculus tuus scandalizat te erue eum et proice abs te bonum tibi est unoculum in vitam intrare quam duos oculos habentem mitti in gehennam ignis. (Google Matthew 18:9.)

If you read the 45+ comments on the ParentDish blog “Breast-feeding mom takes on Applebee’s” you will find “sooo” many people saying about the same thing.

Hey, I’m a guy; I like women, I like curves, and heck, I like milk, but except for my “holy-moly!” reaction to any physical oddity, I found nothing particularly stimulating or attractive about it.

Would you rather see a “3B” nursing mother: in a Burka, in a Bathroom, with a Blanket over them? If anything, that would be objectionable.

It is ironic to juxtapose your apparent implication regarding the picture posting judgment, against your judgment about its posting… as manifested in your question. However, to answer that question… I don’t know.

My question to you is, why not?

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I for one am not interested in watching anyone "PARENT" in public, that includes, but is not limited to, discipling your children in public, breastfeeding in public, demanding or expecting special accomodation because you have kids, etc. I am a single female adult, who has chosen not to have children, and I don't display acts of my single, childfree lifestyle in public, so why are mothers permitted to display acts of their motherhood in public. Would I get away with it if I strolled around in public wearing nothing but sexy lingerie, I doubt it. Would I get away with displaying acts of sexuality in public, I doubt it, these are all parts of my single lifestyle, why am I not allowed to freely act out my lifestyle in public, but mothers are? Simply because you allowed a man's sperm to penetrate your womb and get you knocked up and I took precautions to prevent it from entering my womb, doesn't give you the right to force your lifestyle on me. If I have to sit in a mall or a doctors office and watch your tits hang out and dangle over a babies mouth, then you and your kids should be forced to sit in the doctors office and the mall and watch my tits hang out and dangle in the mouth of some hot rich stud. fair is fair! Being a mother does not entitle you to any special rights in society. You think you can get away with anything because you proclaim it's in the name of motherhood. I protest. I too am a female, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander...so if you can let your tits hang out, so can I.

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Why would lactivists want their breast feeding instructions shown on a porn site?
Just type in breast, f--- or anything else and you can view and hear porn - this IS permitted by facebook.

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Having breast fed two children myself, and encouraged many other new moms to choose breast over bottle, I totally agree that restaurants and public places should allow a mother to breast feed her hungry child. How this same argument can be applied to facebook is puzzling. One has nothing to do with the other.

Breast feeding in public serves a purpose: your baby is hungry and needs to eat, regardless of where you are at the moment. Posting pics of breast feeding after the baby has already eaten doesn't serve any necessity to the baby. I'm not saying these pics are obsene - I'm just saying websites are not doing any dis-service to the baby (or mom) by not allowing these pics. Nobody's going hungry over this policy. I don't think they should be using the word "obscene" and they should re-think the extreme penalty (ie. banning the user from the site - perhaps just a notification that the content is not permitted on their site with a warning that a repeat would result in closure of the account should be sufficient)

Public places that do not allow babies to eat when they are hungry are doing a huge disservice. Facebook's policy does nothing of the sort. Let's keep things in perspective here.

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My opinion on this whole Facebook breastfeeding ridiculousness...

I am a breastfeeding mother. I have done a lot in my life, but the 2 things I am most proud of are giving birth and breastfeeding. I can only speak from my personal experience, but for me, breastfeeding is an incredibly beautiful experience in bonding and nurturing. This image epitomizes the love I feel for my child and the my identity as a mother - new person I have become. By posting breastfeeding images on facebook (none of which show nipple or areola), I am attempting to share with family and friends both near and far this wonderful view into my life. As a mother my body has taken on a completely new meaning as I recognize the purpose it has beyond the sexual. I feel beautiful and confident in ways I never have before. This is the new me. This is my new life. Many people post photos on facebook to illustrate ideas of identity and goings on in their lives. Many of these photos are emotionally charged. My breastfeeding photos are posted to express this emotion. I also post them out of support for breastfeeding because it is undervalued in North American society. Just take a look at sad breastfeeding stats - we need to create a supportive breastfeeding culture. I'm sure that most of the other women that have posted BF photos feel very similarly.

There is nothing obscene about breastfeeding. If there are people out there too immature to handle or accept it, then don't look. It's that simple.

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This is all a result of the American obsession with sex and the sexualization of everything. Why is this such a "non-issue" in Europe? Personally, I think we Americans need to *grow up* and stop trying to control and regulate *everything* beyond what is actually bad or harmful.

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I think DaMokiBob had some great points earlier. I don't really feel that Facebook has any obligation to allow pictures of nursing moms. HOWEVER . . .

I also don't feel that supporters of nursing have any obligation to keep quiet. Facebook may have a right to remove nursing pictures, but we have a right to respond to this socially inappropriate action. We have a right to make this policy inconvenient for them. If we make things inconvenient enough, Facebook may decide that this is a bad business decision and may change its policy.

We also have good reason to react to this policy. This is actually very pertinent to the right to nurse in public. While Facebook is not directly impacting our children's ability to eat, they *are* impacting our culture and people's attitudes by making it more difficult to normalize what should be considered a normal, healthy behavior. They are making it easier for people to consider breastfeeding a bad thing that should be hidden away. These attitudes, in turn, *do* make it more difficult for mothers to feed our children, and also discourage future mothers from choosing the healthiest way to feed their children. A mother who equates visibly breastfeeding with pornography (because she knows sites that disallow porn also disallow nursing pictures) will feel less comfortable nursing, especially in public.

So I do think this is a valid breastfeeding rights issue - possibly not a legal issue (I wouldn't know), but definitely a related social issue. Civil rights issues don't stop with enforcing the law, they need to change the attitudes that allowed discrimination to be legal in the first place. And yes, breastfeeding is a civil rights issue. It may not be as big as other civil rights issues like racism (it could be seen as a branch of feminism), but it does impact the rights of members of our society and, by impacting them, impacts our entire society and our economy (i.e., through working nursing moms and infant health care costs).

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Maxie,

Tie your tubes just to be safe. I hate the thought of a sub-human moron like yourself accidentally breeding and exposing us to your flawed genetics, or exposing an innocent child to your flawed parenting. Children are not annoyances to be tolerated; they are little people who need disciplining, "special accomodations," and yes, nutrients, while out in public. I can feed my infant daughter without anything dangling, as you soooo eloquently put it. I don't like feeding her in public but if she is hungry, so be it. Her comfort is more important than my comfort or modesty. Clearly, your comfort or lack thereof with breastfeeding is about the least important thing on the planet to a breastfeeding mom. So you go play with your boy toy of the month in a mindless and forgettable fashion (can you say slut?), but keep your mouth shut around those of us actually doing something with our lives ... growing and nurturing the next generation. Maybe your sad little unused womb is the true force driving your obnoxious post.

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