Does seeing a woman breastfeeding offend you?

[cynatnite]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Readers of a US parenting magazine are crying foul over the publication's latest cover depicting a woman breastfeeding, with some calling the photo offensive and disgusting.

"I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one woman from Kansas wrote in reaction to the picture in Babytalk, a free magazine that caters to young mothers. "I was offended and it made my husband very uncomfortable when I left the magazine on the coffee table."

Her reaction was part of some 5,000 letters the magazine has received in response to a poll to gage reader sentiment about Babytalk's August cover photo, which shows a baby nursing.

Several readers said they were "embarrassed" or "offended" by the Babytalk photo and one woman from Nevada said she "immediately turned the magazine face down" when she saw the photo.

"Gross, I am sick of seeing a baby attached to a boob," the mother of a four-month-old said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060804/od_afp/afplifestyleussocialbreastfeeding

These people care more about being offended by a breast than the natural act of a mother breastfeeding her child. :eyes: It's ridiculous.

[Caution]

1. A better question is "What the hell is wrong with you if this offends?"

[BattyDem]

25. LOL ... good point!

You know what really gets me? There's nothing "revealing" in that photo. WTF are they freaking about about? Those uptight puritans amaze me: they claim to be devoted to all that is pure and natural and God-like, yet they are offended by the sight of a mother feeding her child, which is the most natural thing in the universe. :eyes: What's even worse is that it sounds like it's not just the usual puritanical crowd that's outraged! WTF??

Frankly, I think it's an adorable picture! I love the look in the baby's eyes. :-)

[Chulanowa]

186. I've actually talked to a moralist about this.

She said, and I shit you not, "If God had wanted women to breastfeed, then why did he give men nipples, too?"

Apparently lactation is an accident of nature. Everyone knows that God invented baby forumula, and by gum, if it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for MarkStacyJenniferWhatever...

[Neoma]

195. Because men can breastfeed...

[BattyDem]

209. I'm speechless!

She said, and I shit you not, "If God had wanted women to breastfeed, then why did he give men nipples, too?"

:crazy:

When was the baby bottle invented? When was formula invented? I'd love to ask her, "When Jesus walked the Earth, were Enfamil and the Playtex Nurser the top brands or did other companies have the market cornered?" :eyes:

[ronnie624]

235. Lactation is an accident of nature.

But, it was obviously an accident that offered all early mammalians a distinct advantage for survival. :-)

As for the topic of the thread, I am always captivated by the sight of a mother interacting with her children, especially the little ones (and possibly a bit envious). I could never be offended by a woman breastfeeding her infant.

[redqueen]

41. Exactly. Thank you.

:)

[shanti]

93. ITA

it doesn't offend me at all - i nursed all four of my sons and believe nursing is the best way to start your infant's life - if you are able to. i understand not all are able to, but at least TRY!

[Cronus Protagonist]

94. Nothing. It's a normal response to bodily functions

It's the same response one gets when one thinks of their parents fucking. Most of us, as intellectual human beings, are repulsed by anything that reminds us of our creatureliness. Mothers with small babies are wallowing in their creatureliness and it comes across in the same way as if you saw your mother getting fucked by daddy naked together. You know it goes on, but you don't want to see it or refer to it as it diminishes you as a person to see yourself or someone you love as a mere creature, a beast, suckling their young, or fucking for that matter, like a feral animal.

For what it's worth, it does not offend me in the least, and I think the photo is beautiful, but then again, I have been studying this kind of thing for years.

Here ends today's class in psychology.

:)



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[redqueen]

118. sneezing? coughing? kissing?

this creatureliness theory has a few holes

for one thing: most people LOVE to see non-family members fucking. that's a fact.

[Cronus Protagonist]

128. OK, so you're not well read on the topic

But that's OK. I am and you can count on my explanation. Look up oedipous complex and castration anxiety, then cruise through all of Ernest Becker's work and you'll be up to speed. :)

[redqueen]

135. okay thanks...

but it just confused me because yeah sure we all would likely recoil at seeing our own mom breastfeeding (nude mom) or our own parents or siblings fucking (duh)... but others?

like i said... the vast majority of people love seeing strangers fucking, so... why not enjoy seeing strangers breastfeeding... or not enjoying really but... why isn't that neutral?

thanks for the references... don't expect you to explain here... i'll read up when i get time :)

[Cronus Protagonist]

141. I understand, it's about seeing the creaturelinss that's repulsive

People don't want to see each other shit either. Yes, there are people who get off on these things as fetishes, but that's a whole other area of psychology regarding the sexualization of our creatureliness as a method of dominating it and thereby rendering it powerless.

Most "normal" people are to varying degrees repulsed by knowing that themselves and the objects of their adoration do things like shitting, peeing, fucking, breast feeding, kissing, anal penetration, oral/anal contact, oral/genital contact, etc... We, as thinking people who elevate ourselves above the mere animals in this world, are upset when this illusion is broken and the social agreement to pretend we're above all that is violated. Look at how many people have a compulsive need for their world to be "perfect" and "clean". Even murdering thousands or millions of people is referred to as "cleansing".

It's a major thread in humanity and appears to be at the root of most of the world's problems, since it's at the root of the human condition.

If you're really interested in this topic, I can recommend no better single book to begin with than Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death. It's my favorite book and I've read it more than ten times and still find new insights about the human condition each time.

:)

[bettyellen]

144. perhaps instead of reading the same book ten times you might want to

get some air, and walk among the vast majority of totally normal average humanity... who contrary to your book's info actually do like porn a great deal.

this aversion thing you speak of? um... that's usually just after you come.

[Cronus Protagonist]

148. You miss the point entirely, bless you

It is you who needs to get some air, and try reading some books while you're at it. You'll find a wealth and a world you don't know exists. Best wishes to you.

[bettyellen]

211. LO, I'd just assume reread freud than revisit becker......

good lord, if he knew the cult he created with that stupid book, i'm sure he wouldn't have published it.
it would seem you would be needing the luck recommending reads some of us dismissed as tripe years ago. perhaps you'd fare better with that better than mensa group.
i hear they like to avoid bodily functions over there big time and brag about the psuedo intellectual crap they've read..... sounds like your thing. :hi:

[Cronus Protagonist]

221. Gosh, how can one person display such unfounded condescention?

I'm astounded. Doubly so at your grandstanding of it. I notice that you dismmiss Becker's collossal work with a sneer just the same as you did my recommendation of it. That ignorant dismmissive attitude might be someething for you to work on... just a recommendation, so don't get your knickers in a twist over it :)

[bettyellen]

232. i know it must be upsetting for you to realize other people have not only

read the book over twenty years ago, but laughed at what an ignorant, narrow minded bit of neurosis projection it is.
colossal, seriously? well, lots of wanna be intellectual people think that about ayn rand too..... and in both cases, i have plenty of company that agree the writing is utter crap, and not some earth shattering truth.
hey, you'll live. not forever (booo hoo, i reminded you!) but, you'll live.

[NuttyFluffers]

181. but do people feel comfortable when porn is read in public & leered at?

that's the transgression that is being talked about. we all know, and enjoy to various extents, our "creatureliness," but we also as a society compartmentalize it within specific areas of our life. it's the rituals, taboos, and other social restraints we apply on such things that helps us social creatures maintain our perceived sense of normalcy. note though, different societies retain different views on what, where, and how different "creatureliness" things need to be restrained.

[bettyellen]

213. i know darn well it is incredibly cultural/ regional ....

we don't blink at stuff in NYC that others would grab torches and pitchforks over down south.
it certainly isn't innately human to dislike looking at nudes.
it is learned behaviour to feel that kinda shame. and thank god, not all of us have learned it.

[KaptBunnyPants]

132. So if it's just like seeing your parents fuck, but you're not offended...

ehh, nevermind. Some questions are better left unasked.

[kskiska]

153. You're right.

I think this was the reason for the outrage at the Lewinsky debacle. Clinton and Lewinsky weren't doing anything that many normal married (or unmarried) people do. If you were to videotape the couple next door having sex, then showed it on TV, or described it play by play in print, many people would be disgusted, even though in private they do the same. They like to pretend they don't.

[Cronus Protagonist]

159. You got it. That's entirely what was behind the Clinton BJ pillory

Mankind's disgust at his own (projected onto others) creatureliness, particularly when it involves a revered cultural icon. Same reaction to "Piss Christ" where a cross with Jesus on it was placed inside a vial of piss. We're touching on the root of humanity's inhumanity towards itself here.



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[JerseygirlCT]

179. Is eating one of those offensive bodily functions?

(Well, when some people do it, it is).

I think a big part of the problem is that there was a generation of women who were encouraged NOT to breastfeed (my mother bucked the trend for four of us). There's this residual fear of inadequacy/fear of breastfeeding thing that goes on with older women who didn't (I've experienced that one first-hand) and a lack of knowledge about how perfectly normal it is. I think that's slowly passing.

[wickerwoman]

194. Those are cultural hang-ups

that have nothing to do with basic human psychology.

Women in other cultures walk around without tops and breast-feed openly. Are they not "intellectual human beings"? And in many third world countries, public urination and even defecation aren't that uncommon.

[bettyellen]

218. that's why this theory works for the privledged men of the western world

because it sounds absurd if you've spent time anywhere besides america and western europe.
they'd like to normalize their neuroses, claim they are natural and even correct, instead of getting help. it's easy to espouse a theory that makes you feel good about your neurotic short comings.... and give them some deep purpose. it's actually pretty comical.

[Cronus Protagonist]

222. Heck, public urination and defacation occurs right here in Los Angeles

In primitive cultures, the naked breast may be a symbol of life and hence no disgust over it, but there are groups that plug up their anuses to give the illusion that they never need to shit, for example. Where there are no facilities for cleansing or defacating, etc., people still don't like to see people shit or pee altough the neccessity is still of consequence to our illusion of being above that creatureliness. People in the middle east shit in ther street, but still take their shoes off to enter a temple so as to not soil their cultural expression of eternal permanence with "dirty" worldliness, for example.

Basically, what's nasty or nice depends on the culture of the people and what they have built in the denial of their own creaturliness, and eventual death and the ever present advancement of their projected after-life into eternal structures.

It's all too much to go into here, but it's a fascinating subject. If you're interested, buy some books on it and read up a storm!

:)

[wickerwoman]

226. I agree that most cultures have the concept of shame,

the fact that the boundaries are radically different suggests that it is a cultural hang-up and not a human one.

Walking to work today, I saw a four year old boy's penis. His mother was holding it for him so he could pee into the street. There were any number of alleys, walls, bus stop partitions, mail boxes, that they could have stood behind to hide what he was doing, but no, they were right out in the open on a major thoroughfare. It wasn't a question of necessity; it was a simple lack of the conception that peeing in public is in any way shameful. And it's not just children. I've seen men and women just go wherever they needed to. Many public restrooms lack doors and there doesn't seem to be any great public outcry about how we're being reminded of our creatureliness.

Likewise, nose-picking (and eating) and hocking and spitting are quite common in my neck of the woods. It drives me crazy, but people hover over me when I'm eating, breathing appalling stenches onto my food. I think it's difficult to appreciate just how different cultural concepts of shame can be unless you experience them first hand.

If shame about our creatureliness and denial of the material in favor of the eternal are parts of basic human psychology, then how can I be an atheist? How am I somehow magically exempt from the "fundamental human need to deny creatureliness"? I have no problem with public breastfeeding, spitting, urination or defection (apart from hygenic concerns which have no spiritual element.)

[bettyellen]

231. darling, many of us have no problem accepting our humanity doesn't exclude

being an animal. the idea we're going to die someday doesn't drive us batshit crazy either. many people can be at peace with reality without concocting theories to normalize an aversion to the very stuff of life.

it's people who are hung up projecting their hang ups so they can feel better. You'll note this entails trying to convince everyone that being totally hung up on sex and the scatological is normal. and what they describe as "primitives" - well they'd be hung up too if they could afford to be. LOL. people will believe any crackpot theory if it soothes them, i tell you.

it's a load of neo-freudian crap, like penis envy, meant to make some people feel better about their neurotic bullshit- in this case their detachment from their own (and others) bodies. kinda sad, mostly amusing.
:wink:

[junkiebrewster]

216. Why

Why did you make me picture my parents fucking?

[TahitiNut]

189. Well, as long as she's not breastfeeding her lover

:shrug: No problem. :silly:

[NVMojo]

203. damn straight!! poor deprived humans that they'd get "turned off"

by an baby doing what comes naturally. Eating.

[gully]

2. Nope. Seeing a child without food offends me.

These poor children are plastered all over magazine covers, unfortunately too FEW are offended by THAT.

[Skidmore]

6. Without food, many without mothers.

[gully]

49. Yes indeed.

eom

[SammyWinstonJack]

75. Spot on! Without food and abandoned, behind a Gov. that could

NOT care less!

[LisaM]

3. I have to admit it makes me uncomfortable, though I know it shouldn't

at least I know that intellectually. I have noticed, though, that some mothers are able to be far more discreet than others; some don't care, some flaunt it (IMO). I don't voice these thoughts to the people doing it, though.

[SammyWinstonJack]

Well, I breastfed my youngest and never in public, but it was because I

was very shy about it. I always found a discreet place in which to breastfeed him. That said, I wouldn't be offended by seeing a mother breastfeeding her child in public. And seeing this on a magazine cover doesn't offend me. I think we have far more important issues to worry about and I don't think I need spell them out here.

[Ioo]

4. Culture of Life? I mean How F'ed up are you when side boob offends?

It is not even Janet Jackson crazy boob, it is just side boob, and for once the boob is doing what it was made to do...

You know those gals that are offended have husbands that are very poorly sexed. If side boob offends I am sure anything other than missionary on the 3rd thursday of the month is down right devil worship.

[CrispyQ]

15. "and for once the boob is doing what it was made to do..."

:rofl:

[patrice]

5. No.

Being offended offends me.

[supernova]

7. It's a bit unusual yes,

I don't see naked boobs other than my own, so it is a bit out of the ordinary for me.

Does it offend me? No! (Esp when the cover article is about breastfeeding.)

[bluerum]

8. THAT is the magazine cover that is freaking everyone out !!!

Holy beezelbub!

What about all the pictures of carnage from Iraq, Israel and Lebanon? What about NOLA?

Holy Jeezuz what have we become?

on edit: well,,, you know.

[ThomCat]

22. That was my thought too. That is the scary image?

People are crazy.

[underpants]

28. I was just about to start a thread on this- THIS OFFENDS MOTHERS???

Huh I'm sorry even if you don't breastfeed (which is fine) how does this offend you? Are you ashamed of NOT breastfeeding?? Geesh get some counseling or something.

Amazing. Even the most uptight people I have ever known totally get into the natural motherhood aspect of having a baby. Some do return to their hard and fast ways but for the most part they relax and see what is really important.

[johnnie]

9. Nope

I don't really care what people do when it comes to this kind of thing, I also don't care if a few people are offended.

[Skidmore]

10. It is absolutely amazing when you realize that there are actually

a huge group of people out there who do not appear to know what the biological function of the breast is. It is not a receptacle for silicon or saline and to sell magazines. It's purpose was to nourish the infant human. Long before Playboy and Hustler, Baby had first dibs on the mammaries.

[Uncle Joe]

61. Long before domesticated cows too. n/t

[Cybergata]

11. I adore the look on the baby's face.

Whats wrong with these people. This photo is all about the baby and it bonding with its mother. The face, just look at the face! That is the focus of the photo. These people are sick if they get offended by one of the most innocent acts of human kind.

[SmokingJacket]

60. Cutest face ever!

Babies never look so relaxed and happy as when they're eating.

[enlightenment]

12. People have been going back and forth on breastfeeding for

centuries -- is it good for baby? good for mother? natural or unnatural? civilized or uncivilized? And on and on and on.

I think this may be the beginning of another cycle of "bottle is better." I breastfed and wouldn't have considered anything else; that was in the early 80s. My mom breastfed me (late 50s) but was discouraged from breastfeeding my older siblings (late 40s and early 50s).

A boob, unfortunately, is not JUST a boob, for most folks. It makes no sense to me, but as long as we sexualize women's tits some people will continue to see them as sexual objects.

This one is hysterical, considering that you're not even seeing nipple or aureole, which is usually what sets people off.

[ThomCat]

20. I doubt they've been debating the benefit of breastfeeding

for more than a few decades. Until formula was developed and marketted there wasn't any alternative.

[Lars39]

36. Baby formula was invented in 1897 by HenriNestle.

That's *eighteen* ninety seven.

[ThomCat]

40. Okay, so my estimate was off by 40 years.

That's still not centuries. It's a few years more than 1 century. And doubt formula was used nearly as commonly as it is today. I'll bet it took a long time to convince women that it was as good for children as breast milk.

[Dora]

74. IMO, it wouldn't have taken long to convince women to use formula.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Nestle was introducing its baby formula to the American marketplace.

That formula was sold to a population still dealing with the hunger and malnutrition of the Great Depression, a population that was widely misinformed by medical misconceptions of the lactation process, and a population that embraced all changes in food and health technology as "progress." I imagine the average American woman was absolutely ready and willing to use infant formula.

Americans love fads, especially medical fads. Infant formula is a wonderful invention that fulfills a real need. It's not "as good as" the real thing, but it can and does save lives.

It's just too bad that women have abandoned the breast as a result of manufacturers' misleading campaigns and overmarketing.

[loudestchick]

230. true, but the wealthy/elite have used wet nurses so that the human

mother didn't have to debase herself with being tied to the infant. It's the same thing now, power and technology can save us from our animal nature. I nused all three of mine and no one was as uptight about it as my own mother and sister...neither of whom nursed.

[moc]

68. Not widely available before the 1920s; even then, artificial feeding

was primarily limited to alterations of evaporated milk.

The history of infant feeding is fascinating from the perspective of looking at the influence of corporations.

[Dora]

87. I agree - the subject is fascinating.

And not only from the perspective of corporate influence, but also from the perspective of medical misinformation.

[enlightenment]

79. Sure there was -- milk.

Cow, goat, etcetera.

My mom was told to give my brother goat milk (he was born in 1948) because he couldn't handle cow milk.

Wet nursing was also a way for mothers to avoid breastfeeding their own infants -- the kids still got the benefit of the boob (although that wasn't the intent) and the moms could pretend they found junior under a cabbage leaf.

[lolly]

92. Dangerous alternatives

A baby fed unaltered cow's milk for an extended period of time would suffer severe brain damage, kidney problems, and possibly death.

A cow's milk is designed for baby cows. It is much higher in protein than human milk, and human babies' kidneys can't process all the protein. It is also too low in fat, and wouldn't have the right antibodies to protect human babies.

A diet of pure goats' milk might not be as bad, but a baby goats' needs are also much different from humans'.

That's why we have formula in the first place. We alter other substances (soy milk, cows' milk) to bring it as close as possible to human milk.

[moc]

169. Cow's milk is the foundation of all formula. Early "formulas" were

actually canned evaporated cow's milk that was boiled to make it more digestible. Water was added to dilute the concentration of minerals that might strain the baby's kidneys, and sugar or syrup was added to make up for calories lost to dilution. This altered milk concoction was also supplemented with castor oil and vit C.

Seems like way more trouble that it's worth. Much easier to stick a boob in the baby's mouth. ;-)

[lolly]

174. That's the "altering"

BTW, if you look at the ingredient label on most formulas, the first ingredient is usually some form of sugar. It used to be "high fructose corn syrup," but they may have changed that recently with all the bad press hfcs has gotten. They need to add all that sugar to get the calorie content back up after they water it down to reduce the protein concentration.

Cow's milk isn't the basis of all formulas--babies who are allergic to cow's milk (as I was) are fed Soy Milk formula.

[moc]

71. No, there won't be a cycle of "bottle is better".

Speaking as a public health professional specializing in maternal and child health. Now, that doesn't mean there won't be a cycle in public acceptance of breastfeeding, but that's not the same thing.

The science is pretty definitive. There's no cycling about it.

[enlightenment]

77. Speaking historically . . . not sociologically.

I'm sure you are correct about the science -- better to say that public perception shifts.
Thanks for the correction; I'm an historian, not a scientist.
:-)

[moc]

170. No problem. Sociologically speaking is fun too.

:hi:

When I was in grad school, one of my professors went over the history of infant feeding and how corporations and doctors were convincing moms that breastfeeding was "backward" and formula feeding was "scientific". He showed us lots of ads from the 30s and 40s. Fascinating stuff.

[shanti]

95. you sound like

me and my mother, same age group too. however, the person that discouraged my mother was....MY FATHER! he felt that her breasts belonged to HIM! :grr:

[ThomCat]

13. People who are offended by this are sick in the head.

It's a breast. A baby is feeding. Deal with it. Geez.

Anyone who can't handle someone breastfeed has some serious issues. Really. If you are that offended by exposed breasts then don't expose yours, and keep your emotional disfunctions to yourself.

[longship]

14. Nope!

Why should it?

[breakaleg]

16. Offend? No. but

I can see how people may feel uncomfortable seeing an exposed breast. BUT that's their issue and they should learn to deal with it.

Babies' rights take precedence. And they need to be fed and they have a right not to be fed in a disgusting public bathroom, which is the common suggestion of how to deal with breastfeeding when in public.

[Mandate My Ass]

17. I'm sometimes grossed out when I see plastic surgery boobs

Only because I can't help but imagine what waking up with DDDD's feels like the first day, or what lugging those fake melons around does to a person. IF women want to do that to themselves, that's their choice and I respect it. I never hear anybody complaining about those, though. And they're everywhere.

No other culture seems to have this problem but the US. :shrug:

[SheilaT]

18. I just read something in the paper

perhaps yesterday that said that breast-fed children dealt better with stress, such as parental divorce, later in life. How interesting.

I nursed my sons for over two years, and yes, they started other foods beginning at about six months. I know it was the best possible thing for them.

The problem with the cover photo on the magazine is that the majority of people have simply never seen a woman breastfeeding. Our culture discourages it, despite a lot of lip-service otherwise. And probably more tot he point, as others have noted, female breasts are sexualized in our culture, and have been almost totally removed from their real function.

I'm personally offended by lots of things that are acceptable in public. Has anyone else ever thought that a cigar generally looks like a giant turd?

[gully]

110. Here's the article:

http://health.msn.com/pregnancykids/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100142172>1=8404

[Coyote_Bandit]

19. When I look at that picture

I see a darling precious little child. Only after that do I see a boob. It is clearly not the focus of the photo, IMHO. And I see nothing to be offended about in that magazine cover.

[im10ashus]

21. It's not offensive to me.

Seeing this offends me:



Nobody should be starving in this day and age. Bigger issues than boobs.

[Skidmore]

27. In the centers of power we have bigger boobs than issues,

unfortunately.

[im10ashus]

43. Best analogy yet.

Concise and right on target.

[cynatnite]

45. Sad, but so true...

excellent point.

[redqueen]

46. More attention for boobs than we have empathy, ethics, awareness, etc.

It's $#&@*(&#$*( shameful!

[AirmensMom]

23. I think it's a very cool picture.

Reminds me of when my grandson was a baby. :loveya:

[last1standing]

24. I'm always stunned when the fundies go off on this shit.

For all their talk of "culture of life" and other BS, they're really just frustrated, sad, degenerates unable to handle the normal adult functions of procreation and child rearing. Really, what about breast feeding could possible offend someone? Have these people never been on a farm? Have they never seen a cat have kittens? Did they not get the chance to suckle when they were babes?

On the other hand these are usually the same people buying up all the tickets to see Terminator 4 or Die Hard 16. They just love the violence. It's the love that sickens them.

[Skidmore]

30. Back in the day, these people would become extinct

with their twisted sense of morality. Their young would have died.

[RaleighNCDUer]

48. That's just the point. They think we are almost angels, with no

relation to the animal world from which we evolved. All mammals suck on teats, and mammals are animals, therefore if human babies suck on teats we must be animals, but we are not animals and it is SO CONFUSING!

Surely there is some mention in the bible that breastfeeding is a good thing. Somewhere in there.

[last1standing]

76. When have fundies ever read the bible.

They only use the thing for waving and thumping.

[fleabert]

180. this wasn't in the bible but it's close...

don't know the year, but I have read a couple of great books that mention the many paintings done of mary breastfeeding jesus- they stopped around the time that the breast became sexualized- for reference, read The History of the Breast, and Mother Nature- can't remember the authors right now. Great books that cover all this crap that keeps coming up about breastfeeding lately.

btw- disclosure: I am a rabid breastfeeding advocate, a doula, and trained as a Breastfeeding Specialist, so I am a bit married to the subject. Plus, I have boobs. :-)

[The Deacon]

26. Let's See...

...an obviously healthy, happy baby suckling at a healthy breast...nope, doesn't offend me, actually makes me feel a little warm & fuzzy. Of course, I still think it's possible for nations to live together in peace & mutual benefit and that we can end poverty, ignorance & disease with just a little harder work from everybody - so I'm obviously a lunatic.

[sinkingfeeling]

29. No. The people who are 'offended' or 'horrified' are just plain crazy.

How in the world can they consider this 'gross'? Is this the 'family' vaules we're always hearing about?

[scarletwoman]

31. I saw that picture posted somewhere yesterday -- I loved it!

I didn't know the context, it was just a random image on the screen as clicked through different sites. As a mother who breastfed her babies the image brought a rush of warm feelings; the physical pleasure of the act, the joy of nurturing literally the little being that you have brought into the world, the delight of seeing your baby's eyes looking into your own eyes with pure contentment and trust.

That there are so many twisted distorted souls around us who find only shame and revulsion in the pure stuff of life is sad beyond words. They are profoundly anti-life.

sw

[cynatnite]

35. I would never have given the cover much thought...

It's appropriate and very beautiful. Many of us never think twice about this because we know that breastfeeding is a perfectly natural act. We would have gone on and as has been said in this thread be offended at the sight of starving children, innocent people killed in war and flag-draped coffins. These are some of the things people should be offended by, yet a breast pops into their line of sight and they're ready to burn someone at the stake.

[thereismore]

32. No way dude, it's what the baby needs. tn

[Rosemary2205]

33. Imagine these people as parents.

I can't even imagine how badly those outraged 5000 letter writers are going to screw up thier child's body image.

[cynatnite]

38. Do you think those kids will even know what a breast is?

With the tearing off the covers and flipping the magazine over it makes me wonder. My son is seven years old and he knows mommy's got breasts.

[flvegan]

34. 25% were outraged, most gave it a "thumbs up"

Seems like about the right odds, as f'd up as that might be.

[YDogg]

37. Kansas, the Land of Ahs!

"I was offended and it made my husband very uncomfortable when I left the magazine on the coffee table."

Sounds like this is someone with serious body image issues, or some sad repression. Yeah, I'll bet it made her husband very uncomfortable. Probably felt some strange stirring.

[cynatnite]

44. She was afraid her husband would be attracted to the side view...

of a breast on a magazine cover. Some are that insecure.

[YDogg]

54. Yeah. That view sounds rather repressive to me.

One of my family members breastfed her kids, and everyone in our family thought it was pretty cool. It's a beautiful bonding experience between a mother and child ... at least that was what she took away from the experience ... as well as a natural thing to do.

On the other hand, a kid we know was breastfed until he was in kindergarten, and that seemed to be quite a long time.

[cynatnite]

56. I loved breastfeeding my kids

It was such a rewarding time and I do wish I had stuck with it longer. I breastfed for only 3-4 months.

Kindergarten...well, that's taking it a little far, IMO, but who am I to say it's wrong.

[Fridays Child]

137. He probably felt dirty, competitive, jealous.

In other words, he loved it.

[redqueen]

39. No. And something is very wrong with people who are offended by that.

:wtf:

:eyes:

[helderheid]

42. nope. n/t

[MadHound]

47. No, I'm not offended at all

And what I find ridiculous about this brew-ha-ha is that the media is once again playing up the outrage expressed by the overwhelming *minority* opinion:eyes:

"Babytalk executive editor Lisa Moran said though most of those who responded to the poll about the cover photo gave the magazine a thumbs up, she was surprised that some 25 percent expressed outrage"

So what does the MSM do? Yahoo runs an article playing up the outrage expressed in the minority opinion, and a national television show runs a program highlighting this minority opinion. Sadly once again those in the minority will feel validated in their outrage, encouraging them to be ever more outraged over such natural acts as breastfeeding and the human body in general. Meanwhile, those of us in the thinking, rational, mature majority are again marginalized. Absolutely ridiculous.

[Robb]

50. Absolutely I'm offended. I was taught growing up

...never to take out a snack unless I brought enough to share with everyone. :evilgrin:

[gully]

51. He he.

;)

[Dying Eagle]

108. LOL

:spray:

[mindfulNJ]

52. I guess the question on the cover

is answered. Why don't women nurse longer? Could it be our because of our idiotic, sophmoric reaction to the sight of a bare breast in this country? Hmmmmm...

[cynatnite]

59. It could also be that many women work...

and with a lot of jobs it's hard to pull out the old breast pump when the need to relieve pressure arrives.

[LeftyMom]

100. That's true.

Poorer and minority women are less likely to breastfeed, while breastfeeding rates for professional white women are fairly high. Even if they have a sympathtic employer who will allow breaks and a private place to pump, access to a refrigerator to store at work and a caregiver who will offer pumped milk, most poor and working class women can't justify the $200-300 for a quality breast pump (a lesser one won't keep up milk supply during regular pumping and often won't pump a feed's worth of milk at each pumping session,) let alone a $100 lactation consultant visit or $10/tube nipple cream when WIC will give them formula for free.

[RB TexLa]

53. Not about offense for me, I don't care to see small children eat in any

manner.

[breakaleg]

57. I have a child and I agree that watching small children eat is gross...

[supernova]

72. So, don't watch

You could busy yourself with something else while a woman breastfeeds her infant.

[breakaleg]

208. that's not what I said...

I said watching small children EAT is gross - you know, the food in their hair... I have no children watching babies breastfeed!

It was a joke.

[Binka]

185. Did You Hatch As An Adult? n/t

[RB TexLa]

234. No, I was born like many people are, and I wouldn't care to ever see that

either.

[Kailassa]

210. You should go to Lebanon. There are a lot of children that don't

eat there at the moment.

[leftofthedial]

55. only when she didn't bring enough for everyone

[porphyrian]

58. It only offends me when they are going out of their way to offend me.

I don't give a shit until people get in my face to try to piss me off. I like to see titties in public.

[Nimrod2005]

62. No never I love it!!! Love seeing a baby eat...From mom.

It is beautiful...

[Jacobin]

63. They're just baby bottles, for cryin' out loud

What could be 'offensive' about them?

WTF is wrong with these people?

[bamacrat]

64. Not really, kinda wired because Ive only witnessed it a couple of times

But I still dont think it should be done in public.

[Karenina]

65. Why not?

The kid is hungry, needs to be fed, do you also object to multi-tasking?

[GreenArrow]

66. NO!

Sheer idiocy and narrow minded prudery.

[Xenotime]

67. Kansas women are aparently ashmed of thier breasts.

[Alexodin]

69. Its natural normal and healthy to feed a baby this way.

Some people are offended by the very body they inhabit. How weak is your god if such a thing threatens you? How weak is your marriage and faith if you are concerned that your husband may see a magazine cover on a rack in a grocery store and entertain thoughts of adultery resulting in his damnation? I am not offended by the process of life itself and nurturing a child is exactly that. Its biology and they can never prevail against nature itself. What if the child were the baby Jesus? Would that make a difference? What other dark thoughts are suppressed in the recesses of their twisted and demented minds? Don't answer that.

[moc]

70. Nope. I have no problem with NIP

aka "Nursing in public".

Nursed both my kids in public. The only time I avoided it was when I was participating in a webcam meeting at work.

[Karmakaze]

73. If THAT freaks them out, this should send them into a coma!

I don't know where this painting is, or even if it is really a church painting or just some hoax but:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

78. men are just children at heart. And the way to our hearts is

through our stomachs. Proof positive that it was true throughout history.

[lolly]

89. Old Legend

The picture you posted is probably illustrating a legend that has recurred in several different contexts--I think it was in the Decameron, among other places.

The story is of a woman whose father (sometimes mother) was sentenced to death by starvation by some despotic regime (sometimes it's an anti-Christian tyrant). The parent is locked in a cell and allowed no food. He or she is allowed visitors, but all visitors are searched carefully to ensure they are not bringing any food to the inmate. The daughter visits dutifully twice a day. Jailers are amazed when the father lives for several years, despite having no food. As it turns out, the daughter was a nursing mother, and was feeding her father at visits.

Kind of weird, but I don't think people in earlier eras had the bizarre fixation with breasts as purely erotic icons that we have today. They were associated much more freely with nurturance and charity.

[negativenihil]

80. it doesnt offend me...

However, i also dont feel it should be a public act. (go ahead and flame me...)

*shrug*

[texastoast]

91. Bless your heart

Queen Victoria and all her repression of the idea that we actually have skin under clothing has affected us all.

[izzybeans]

81. No but I send a complaint to the FCC every time my neighbor's cat

nourishes her little kitties. That is just pornographic. :P

[ContraBass Black]

82. "Gross, I am sick of seeing a baby attached to a boob,"

the mother of a four-month-old said.

That's worrisome.

[FlaGranny]

83. No, it doesn't. n/t

[elf]

84. MAMA

That's latin for a Woman's breast...........

and almost everywhere in the western world that's how children call their mother:)

[devilgrrl]

85. That nurishing your child is found to be offensive is mind-boggling.

Un-fucking-believable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get these people off of my planet.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

86. rapture ready, not doubt.

What fools these mortals be.

Now, being male, I have mixed emotions from seeing a woman's breast, regardless of size or shape.

If it is attached to a baby suckling, I have this warm paternal feeling of happiness, that all is right with the world.

If no baby is attached, I have this urge to take the baby's place.

[Binka]

187. Best Post On The Thread

:loveya:!

[madokie]

88. nothing as beautiful as a womans breast with a baby nursing

and I am not talking sexual here either.

[TrogL]

90. I'm no help

Public nudity doesn't offend me.

[Blue_In_AK]

96. That's what they were made for. n/t

[medeak]

97. I whipped that tit out when babe was crying no matter who was

around...want to hear screaming or see a glimpse of soft tissue?

jeeesus chreeest...

[MUSTANG_2004]

104. Reminds me of the Barbara Walters comment

About being uncomfortable on a plane when the woman next who her was nursing. I find it odd that anyone prefers a crying baby to a possible glimpse of bare skin, and, even more, that someone has such tender sensibilities that they'd rather a small child cry for food than that they be exposed to a nursing woman.

[OregonBlue]

98. What do those idiots who are offended think breasts are for? I bet

they are the ones beating off in private to porn films. Every noticed how many fundies are also perverts?

[NightHawk63]

99. Not in the least.

I've seen it in public several times and it never bothered me. But I can think of a bunch of adults that just disgust me when I see them feed in public. Just saying.

[The Backlash Cometh]

101. Women breastfeeding in public doesn't bother me, but it's everybody's

reaction to it in North America that would make me feel uncomfortable.

[Kazak]

102. It makes me uncomfortable to see a parent giving formula...

:shrug:

[AngryOldDem]

133. Some may have no choice

I was one of the minority who physically could not breastfeed. I tried. I really did. It did not work out for me.

Don't mean to turn the discussion to a "breast vs. bottle" thing; believe me, that is the LAST thing I want to do.

[fordnut]

103. No not at all

[The Straight Story]

105. If it was condi rice doing so, yeah probably :)

Here and w jr. Blech. Now there is photoshop waiting to happen....

[motocicleta]

106. I love that our society gives voice

to everyone with an opinion, no matter how idiotic. That part of freedom of speech we don't seem to have lost. Offend some braindead moron with breastfeeding? You're gonna hear about it. Lie about a blowjob? You're in deep doodoo. Lie about WMDs? Ain't no big thang.

Great country we have here.

PS I was breastfed for 3 years. My wife still nurses our 3+ year old, in public. I'm pretty sick of getting shit for it, can you tell? If you think it's inappropriate, I have a suggestion: don't tell me about it in public. It never seems to go well.

[MUSTANG_2004]

111. Educate instead of confront

While it can be difficult when dealing with obnoxious busy-bodies, you might want to deflect them with a comment like "I know it's unusual in the U.S., but it has so many health benefits that we'd feel terrible if we deprived our child."

Although my wife prefers, but has never gotten to use, "I understand your discomfort, and, as a result, I'll make every attempt to wean her before she starts college."

[Midlodemocrat]

113. Ha. Ha. We used to joke that my son

who ADORED nursing, would be walking down the aisle and asking for a little nip.

I nursed all of mine for a year. They weaned themselves because the world around them got more interesting than staring at my chest. It was without question, one of the best times of my life. Each and every time.

[motocicleta]

125. That's rich

and great advice. I don't confront generally, just when they go above and beyond with very special idiocy, like "Oh my god, did you see that? How disgusting!" clearly loud enough for us to hear. Your garden variety fools I am actually incredibly patient with. I guess the whole uproar over this cover, in the midst of Iraq and Lebanon and climate change and and and, has just really twisted my knickers.

I will write that on my mental blackboard 1000 times.
Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront. Educate instead of confront.

I feel better.

[JeffR]

107. There are very few things that offend me

And I've never been offended by a breast. Up with breasts!

[Midlodemocrat]

109. I'd rather see a nursing baby and naked boob than watch Bush eat.

:bounce:

[mcscajun]

168. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner.

* is a boob, feeding.

[bridgit]

112. no...

[LostInAnomie]

114. That hardly counts as a "giant breast".

eom

[IronLionZion]

115. No, and I'm sure the mom doesn't want spectators either EOM

[dpbrown]

116. What the hell is wrong with these prudes?!!

There is nothing more natural in the world than providing sustenance to your newborn.

The bigoted fundamentalist freaks who rail against this simple, natural bonding and nurturing ritual undoubtedly are already so massively out-of-touch with their own humanity that they don't even understand the misanthropic rot at the core of their drive to ban the breast.

Fucking dolts.

[Fleshdancer]

117. It doesn't offend me at all but.....

I know this is TMI but seeing other women breastfeed (and looking at this pic) creates a slight burning sensation in my breasts. I don't know if it's some weird maternal psychological reaction but it's almost as if my body is trying to produce milk or some weird thing like that. :shrug:

Do any of you mothers experience this?

[lolly]

157. Are you a nursing mom?

Or were you recently?

It's called the "let-down" reflex. Feels like tingling. And it is a reflex, triggered involuntarily by thinking about your baby, babies, nursing.

Had one once while I was teaching a class--we were reading a poem called "On My First Son," by Ben Jonson. It's about the death of his son. Thinking about babies/kids/loving them--then "whoosh!"

Fortunately, I had a sweater I could throw on before (I hope before) students noticed my soggy shirt. :blush:

[Fleshdancer]

198. well.....

the last time I breastfed was 5 years ago (which is the only reason I can think of for not actually "leaking" at this point) but the burning sensation when seeing others breastfeed is still very intense for me. It feels almost exactly the way you describe (you say "tingle", I say "burning) :shrug:

[Kailassa]

214. I'm in my 50's and still get that,

Both from seeing a baby nursing,
and from doing something artistically creative.

I have to hide the fact from my b/f, or my painting gets pleasantly interupted. ;-)

[timtom]

119. Same people who helped

enable this national nightmare we are forced to endure.

[DIKB]

120. What a load of crap.

Breasts aren't even considered nudity in the UK. How Prudish is our country?

[MrCoffee]

121. I'm offended

pretty much anytime i see anyone eating in public.

[tavalon]

122. I have a t-shirt I wear

It's a picture from Harriette Hartigan. It depicts a baby breastfeeding and the mom has a rose tattoo on her breast. The caption is "Breakfast in the Rose Garden". I've never gotten anything but positive comments on the shirt. Perhaps those who were offended didn't choose to speak up.

I'm a labor and delivery nurse so I get a lot of woman started on their first breastfeeding. I don't have any problem with a bare boob and in fact, think it would be a wonderful thing if more women didn't cover up in public when they breastfeed. Those bumps on our chests are there primarily for feeding our children. They have only secondarily become sex objects and they really need to take back their rightful place.

[motocicleta]

165. keep it up tavalon

You're doing us all a great service. The world needs more of you and less of sad pathetic people getting upset about the most natural thing in the world.

And I mean that. It bears repeating. Breastfeeding is in a dead tie for the most natural thing in the world. How it could upset a person is beyond me. It's like getting upset that the sun rises in the east every morning.

[Lindacooks]

123. No. I'm an adult.

Not a Puritan or screwed-up repuke.

[burythehatchet]

124. I'll tell you what freaks me out

The electric breast pump-u-lator.

[MrCoffee]

127. What about clowns?

They freak me the hell out.

[burythehatchet]

130. Kramer?

[etherealtruth]

162. Believe me ...

I could get behind outlawing clowns

[moc]

173. Ah, breast pumps. The stories I could tell!

Given that I nursed both of my children exclusively (i.e., no formula) for their first year as well as worked full time, I had a number of humorous encounters about my breast pump.

Like the time I was flying about a year after 9/11, and my breast pump was going through the x-ray machine. I saw the puzzled looks of the TSA guy with a second one looking over his shoulder just as puzzled. I finally stated in a loud voice, "It's a BREAST PUMP." Very red faces on their part. I don't think they could get it through the xray fast enough.

:rofl:

Or, the number of times people knocked on my office door while I was pumping, and wouldn't go away! I got very good at double pumping hands free so that I could check email and even answer the phone. Occasionally someone would want to know what that "whir whir whir" sound was in the background. :)

[burythehatchet]

175. My wife used to be comfortable at about level 3 suction

I used to crank it up to 10 to be funny. Could be why she left me. :(

[Deja Q]

126. No, I'm just jealous...

:wow:


Mind you, that cover you'd shown is nothing when compared to this one:

[Ilsa]

129. It is so common and natural in other parts of the world.

I breastfed my two kids for almost seven years cumulatively. As they got older, we didn't nurse in public after the second year. Obviously, I have no problem with it. People need to learn to deal with health matters maturely instead of like juveniles.

[Greeby]

131. It just annoys me

The baby is blocking the view! :evilgrin:

[Ilsa]

134. The editor said that 90% or more of the 5,000 letters were SUPPORTIVE

of the cover.

[lies and propaganda]

136. no, but i know i wont do it.

when and if i become a mother, my freaking boob is not coming out in public so some weirdo who is into lactating in public moms can get off. that is super creepy, bottle that shit up!

[Book Lover]

163. Sister, the freaks are out there no matter what we do

Just saying that from my POV, you can't stop yourself from doing what you want to do because some freak is getting his freak on at what you're doing. It's his job to guard his eyes. Peace!

[sleipnir]

138. Depends. Where is the kid being fed?

When you're trying to talk to a professor about a thesis and you have scheduled the appointment a week in advance and the professor sits there and breast feeds her kid in her office, yes, I find that offensive. I don't mind breast feeding in public, but don't do it when you're trying to engage others in conversation or business.

[Kailassa]

215. Exactly, any baby old enough to suck is old enough to learn

to read a timetable.

[sleipnir]

228. ???? That's a silly statement. The baby has no control over it's feeding

Who DOES have control is the responsible parent. A parent who disregards their professional duties, civil decorum, and university life and brings their kid to work just to feed the kid, yes, that's offensive, and yes, the kid can wait a 1/2 hour to eat. Lord knows we all do, it might even be helpful in giving the kid some life character. And when one is paying the salary of another, it is undeniably rude and offensive to "eat" during business hours with the paying individual.

I guess it would have been fine if I went to my next meeting devouring a double cheeseburger, fries and a milk shake will trying to engage in a conversation.

[Kailassa]

238. The breast-fed baby can wait 1/2 an hour to eat????

That really shows how much you know and care about babies.

As I said, a baby needs to eat when a baby needs to eat,
quite different to an adult who can often wait 24 hours with no bad effects.

It would be cruel and stupid to make a baby wait
just so you didn't risk getting a glimpse of tittie.


I do agree a mother in that situation should feed as discretely as possible,
as so many men feel threatened by the sight of a baby
being loved and cared for in the most natural way possible.

[fordnut]

139. i think for everyone that is offended

of this picture is pretty dumb because she's only feeding her
child look at women in olden times it was either breast feed
or your baby starves.and plus it's healthier to breast feed
your baby some people are stupid 

[demgurl]

140. Well I had a family friend tell me they were offended at me breastfeeding!

Of course, they are not a family friend any more, but I could not believe she said that. That was not the first time she and I butted heads. She had a baby about the same time I did and she was unable to breastfeed due to physical problems. She made a joke about how I must feel like a drink dispensing machine with all that breastfeeding and I set her straight about how sacred breastfeeding is in my eyes.

The next time we were out at a restaurant with about 20 friends and I confronted her, by email, telling her that a quip she made about a mutual friend being ugly was uncalled for. She took offense and said that when she announced, "I am glad _____ daughter does not look like him, Luckily she takes after her mom." she did not mean he was ugly. I explained that if someone had said the same thing about them, I would take up for them as well.

She came back and attacked me saying that she was the one who was truly offended at all the times I 'whip out' my breast and feed my baby!

For her part, I believe there is jealousy over the fact that I could breastfeed. For other people, I think they are just more uncomfortable with those types of things in the US.

When I breastfed I did a lot of reading on the subject and I found out that the world average for breastfeeding was something like 2-3 years. (been a while at this point) I decided right then that I did not care what anyone else thought and I would breastfeed as long as my children wanted. I know that made a lot of people uncomfortable but I did not care. I also found out that the same chemicals that helped protect your child from diseases when they first breastfed, carries on and keeps protecting them as long as they keep feeding. I was happy to feed and protect my babies.

[Warren DeMontague]

142. No. It's a perfectly natural thing, and it's WAY BETTER for the baby.

If folks can't deal with it, too fuckin' bad.

[The Count]

143. perfect visual to this:

[AspenRose]

145. My year and a half old son saw this picture...

...and decided he was hungry...started pulling at my blouse. :D

[Warren DeMontague]

146. Human beings, in general, offend me.

I don't understand why we have to come with all those hairy, pointy, puffy and swollen bits, particularly the parts that insist on doing those all those nasty, animal-type things, by themselves or with each other.

Oh, heavenly father, why can't we just be nice, clean, and wholesome, like those singing computer animated vegetables for Jesus?

[lolly]

161. "computer animated vegetables for Jesus"

You mean Pat Robertson and his ilk are all just computer animations?

Whew. That's a relief.

[Warren DeMontague]

176. And they have no genitalia.

Just like Barbie and G.I. Joe.

[rosesaylavee]

147. It's a breast, folks.

Get over it. We ALL have them. Some breasts are more functional than others. This is not about SEX - its about feeding a baby in the way nature designed the breast to work.

Sheesh.

[LuckyLib]

149. The flesh that offends me is the bloated kind, you know, that

floats in water following national neglect after a hurricane?

[grannylib]

150. "Gross"???? Ummm....this is what the female human breast was designed

to do, for pete's sake.
It's a magazine about parenting. My God.
What a bunch of fucking morons.

If the sight of a female breast nourishing a child is OFFENSIVE, wonder how many of these same brainless wonders are out there protesting publications that display naked breasts for other reasons??

[napi21]

151. I don't really care if it's on the cover of a baby magazine, but I sure

don't like to see mothers on the bus, in a restaurant, or any other public place breastfeeding.

There are discrete ways to do it and no one wold notice. THAT's what I think should be done.

[Fleshdancer]

152. just out of curiosity, why does it bother you in public? eom

[napi21]

155. I guess I'm just too damn old and from another generation.

The same reason I think a quick goodby kiss on the street as lovers are parting is fine but I don't want to see any long passionate slobbery stuff. There are just some things that should be private.

[Warren DeMontague]

177. Nope. When a newborn needs to eat, a newborn needs to eat.

I'm glad people (and particularly State legislatures in certain progressive states) have come around to recognize it for the necessary function it is.

[Kailassa]

217. I too am from another generation.

And seeing people so much in love that the forget propriety brings back happy memories.

Seeing a breast ... well, so what?

Once, in the city, at a centre of the road tram stop, a pretty young lady's dress blew right up, showing her bare up to the waist. Guys around started being rude to her, so I glared and asked them which ones of them had not enjoyed the sight. They all went red and shut up.

We are all naked, under our clothes.

[LuckyChoice]

154. It's largely a matter of cultural conditioning

combined with our own mature reevaluation of whether or not we want to accept whatever our cultural conditioning has been. Our responses to these things are mostly learned behavior, and like most of our learned behaviors, they deserve frequent reconsideration.

Of course the "powers that be" might not particularly want a society made up of individuals with sufficient courage to make their own decisions about these things. . .

[Crunchy Frog]

156. I dug up some more offensive pics.

[lolly]

160. AHHHHH!

Why didn't you warn me NOT TO LOOK AT THE LAST ONE?

[readmoreoften]

199. Yeah that last one is DISGUSTING!

Lieberman and Bush kissing! Bleh. I'll take the babies and the titties thanks.

[IndyOp]

172. Dayum - plunging necklines are for breastfeeding. I had not

thought about that before. :eyes:

[ncteechur]

212. Eeeewwwwwwww! Yeah, that last one is repuslive. Which one is the boob?

[YOY]

158. Um...I thought that's pretty much what boobs were for

Granted they do have other uses...but nursing was pretty much the main use they were intended for...

[knitter4democracy]

164. I would hope not.

I nursed for four and a half years straight--my daughter for three and a half and my son for two and a half. I tandemed for a year and a half, and that wasn't always easy.

I frankly don't care who nurses where. We all need to get over this one.

[mcscajun]

166. This doesn't offend me. Seeing it in person wouldn't offend me.

Knowing that the picture of a dead or maimed child in a full-color spread in Time magazine is REAL, that offends me.

I'll take live nursing babies over dead children Every Time. Would that these cranks who are so "grossed out" and "offended" by one of the most beautiful, natural acts in the world thought as I do.

This was the Highlight quote: "Gross, I am sick of seeing a baby attached to a boob," the mother of a four-month-old said.
I shudder to think of how this poor four-month-old will be shaped by this self-loathing moron.

[Phrogman]

167. Thats an absolutely beautiful picture!

I can see why they used it on their cover.

[chill_wind]

171. OH! Look at that face! Some people can find dirt in the crotch of a tree

Amazing that the puritanical psychos of this world can find so much around them to offend, so easily- including the unconditional purest human love.

And to sexualize it, for god's sakes. Amazing that they have so much time to mount these kinds of campaigns. Frightens me that they subscribe to Parent Magazine, because it hints that they might actually be "mothers" of children.

Man these people really live for and love the darkness. And they're determined to drag everybody back into the Dark Ages with them.

[Skittles]

178. I've actually never seen it

but I cannot imagine why it would offend me

[tyedyeto]

182. Not at all...

I breastfed both my children and now I have a 2 1/2 month old grandson who is being breastfed.

Most natural act for new mothers. Those who see it as offensive should be impregnated and sent to the wilderness where the only food their child can rely on is breastmilk.


edit for typo

[Kurovski]

183. No.(nt)

[OnionPatch]

184. It's life

People who are offended should get over it.

As for me, I not only am NOT offended, I think it's beautiful.

[U4ikLefty]

188. Thanks mom!!! Because of you I don't fear/obsess about breasts.

I am instead healthy & appreciate a woman's body. I don;t fear a tit being sucked on. My mom continued to feed my two younger sisters & I was never embarassed, because I knew it was the way God designed us. Fuck the formula if the breast works...your child is more important than what the neighbors think.

[saracat]

190. The picture doesn't offend me but I am turned off by BF in public.

No one in my family breast fed, so I guess that has conditioned me. I just don't think it is good manners to breast feed in public. I was really angry when the women breast fed during a congressional hearing. INMHO , that was NOT the time and place. Flame away. BTW, I think the picture is gorgeous!

[Kailassa]

219. A baby needs to be fed when a baby needs to be fed.

If you have a problem with that sometimes being when a woman is in public,
then you are part of the force keeping women downtrodden and babies bottlefed.

We cannot all find ways to do every feed in private, and nor should we have to.

[saracat]

224. As long as they are discreet.

There are lots of immediate needs of nature and not all need be done in public.I really don't see how draping oneself is participating in being downtrodden. I also wear clothes in public. Does that make me downtrodden? Many working moms express their milk into bottles so the baby can have breast milk at home as the baby can't be with them at all times.Breast feeding is not appropriate at all occasions. I think it is inappropriate at meetings of congressional commitees and at public events.

[cool user name]

191. It actually turns me on as it is supposed to.

We have that in our ancient brain.

Women that are fertile are more attractive to males.

I'm a male. I'm sick and tired of apologizing for being a male. I also have an intellect and it is that which makes most of my decisions be all of us, male or female, still rely on our instincts.

Sue me.

[Warren DeMontague]

192. I'm offended when men do it.

Seriously. A baby could choke on all that hair.

[lostnfound]

197. So funny.

I have a picture of my son at age 4 or 5 months discovering his dad's nipple and intently staring at it quizzically, absolutely puzzled and dumbfounded -- clearly thinking that it reminded him of the other but it obviously wasn't the same, and I remember him breaking into a smile and eventually just giggling at the absurdity of it all.

No hair, though.

[NMMNG]

193. Some people have real issues

"Gross, I am sick of seeing a baby attached to a boob," the mother of a four-month-old said.

Maybe you aren't equipped to be a mother. I'd hate to see how quickly you get sick of seeing diapers full of poop. :scared:


Breastfeeding is a perfectly natural function and there is nothing "gross" about it. It's only because people sexualize the breast in their own heads that they take issue with it. The baby in that picture looks like he is having a wonderful bonding moment with his mother and I can't see how anybody with normal thought processes could be offended.

[Neoma]

196. Next thing you know..they'll say that breast feeding is sexual abuse.

[lolly]

200. Already Happened

A man took a picture of his semi-nude wife nursing their one-year old child.

The photo developer reported them to the police, and social services took the child away.

Her older children were also taken away and given to her first husband--she wasn't allowed unsupervised visits.

I believe she eventually got something straightened out, but I'm sure by the time she got the baby back she had no more milk. Must have been incredibly traumatic for the baby too.

I think the couple was originally from Brazil? or a Latin American country where people are more accepting of breastfeeding (notice the photo above of the woman talking to other men while calmly breastfeeding a baby)

[Neoma]

207. Holy shit...

[LSK]

201. No, not that I ever saw one

[Swamp Rat]

202. No, it offends me that people make an issue of a natural, human process.

It's a shame that those who are offended even procreate.

[sgxnk]

204. r u kidding me

how is breastfeeding offensive?

fwiw, some areas (NY state comes to mind) it is legal to bare breasts for any reason, not just breastfeeding

most people don't realize it, but in NY state, women (as well as men, obviously) can walk around in public bare chested and this is perfectly legal

but regardless, when it comes to breastfeeding, i see nothing offensive about the picture

[gulliver]

205. I guess I'm a perv. I don't see a picture of a breast-feeding baby.

I see a picture of a breast and, oh, there is a baby there!

Seriously, though, that is the issue isn't it? Breast-feeding is fine and beautiful (obligatory blah, blah, blah), but a naked breast is also, um, sexy. Breaking news! Certainly the publishers didn't intend to make a spectacle of their cover :eyes: but that is what happened.

[caligirl]

206. I always breast fed as needed which included public places if

a dressing room wasn't available. But I always took a baby blanket with me and draped it across one shoulder and my sons. My mom was positively mortified that I did this. She is such a prude to this day. But now that I am looking back on this, I would not sit at a diner with a breast exposed, so the discomfort others feel isn't entirely unjustified. They aren't feeding a baby and feeling all motherly like I was, they are LOOKING at your boob. Its not something I would put on display even if I am well built.

[saracat]

225. Exactly. This is what I mean. Draping is fine. It is total exposture that

becomes crass and rude. We can argue all we want that the breast isn't sexual and that those who see it as such are prudes but the brest a has always been viewed as sexual, which is why so m,any plastic surgeons have based their practice on breast enlargements.Most people don't want to think of breasts as a source of nourishment.

[Kailassa]

239. No, the breast has not always been regarded as sexual.

In Roman times it was customary for a woman to only cover one breast.

Even in Victorian days it was normal for society ladies to dress for dinner
in outfits that showed as much breast as possible without exposing the aureole.

When I used to feed in public, I always draped a silk scarf over myself and the baby.
However, if other women want to strip to the waist and flash both nipples,
which, by the way I've never seen done, that's their right.

The comfort of the new member of our society, and of the person who is caring for that new being,
are ever so much more important than the embarrassed feelings of any onlookers.

The baby has to drink.
Onlookers don't have to keep looking.

[Kailassa]

220. What I find offensive is the people who equate feeding a baby

with taking a shit.
And then use that as an excuse to banish nursing mothers from society.

To those hung-up, misguided folk, baby milk is good for you and tastes and smells nice.
Shit is bad for you, and full of germs, and it stinks.

They are really quite different.

[Gormy Cuss]

227. Or equating it with sexual stimulation

For crying out loud, boobs exist for feeding. Sexual interest is only secondary.

[kineneb]

223. no. And what I see is an adoring baby looking at its mother,

who is breast-feeding baby. The way nature intended.

What I noticed was the expression in the child's eyes: absolute love and infant bliss.

[Fierce]

229. No.

There is nothing offensive about breastfeeding.

[Common Sense Party]

233. I'm as big of a prude as you can get on most things...

...but I have no problem whatsoever with breastfeeding in public. It took me a while to get used to it. In Argentina, when I was a missionary, women would just whip it out right in front of us and get the kid going. At first, it shocked me, just because I wasn't used to it here in the States. Now, I barely even bat an eye.

For most of us, it may have something to do with not wanting to invade someone's "privacy" by viewing/staring at a part of the anatomy that normally is covered...or at least not wanting to get CAUGHT looking at that part of the anatomy.

But that is an adorable picture, and I would have no problem with having that in our home.

[deutsey]

236. Not in the slightest

Frankly, I've never understood why it's so taboo for women to go topless (unless you're part of a tribe being featured in National Geographic).

[midnight]

237. Being a parent is so tough.

This is the best form of nutrition. Something I guess is not important. My one question to those who are sickened by this form of feeding that goes back to biblical days is why?

[astral]

240. OMG! Lolly, did this really happen?

(I still have trouble finding out where the 'quote' button is)

lolly Sat Aug-05-06 09:04 AM
Response to Reply #196
200. Already Happened

A man took a picture of his semi-nude wife nursing their one-year old child.

The photo developer reported them to the police, and social services took the child away.

Her older children were also taken away and given to her first husband--she wasn't allowed unsupervised visits.

I believe she eventually got something straightened out, but I'm sure by the time she got the baby back she had no more milk. Must have been incredibly traumatic for the baby too.

I think the couple was originally from Brazil? or a Latin American country where people are more accepting of breastfeeding (notice the photo above of the woman talking to other men while calmly breastfeeding a baby.

_____________________________________________

I can't believe this. Do you remember anything about where and when?

[skids]

241. That entirely depends on what she is breastfeeding n/t

:silly:

[seabeyond]

242. in 60's and 70's women breastfed all over the place. as a child

i would run up on moms breastfeeding often. was nature and pure. today we demonized the breast for feeding and hold it up in every sexual exploitation we can...... placing the breast as our sexual universe.... that is what is perverted. not the feeding a baby. i want a huge ass fad of breast feeding to come back to our world to normalize the breast,.... and our sexuality.