Hey Facebook, Breastfeeding is not obscene
Anyone logging on to Facebook will be able to see the new group Hey Facebook Breastfeeding is not obscene (official petition to Facebook).
The declaration of breastfeeding as a form of obscenity is, indisputably, the direct consequence of seeing women's bodies only as objects of sexual consumption - as instruments of male pleasure. Even when they are doing something completely different, like feeding their offspring. That Facebook would sanction this viewpoint is itself obscene.
Hey Facebook: it's called being a mammal. It's what we do.
Posted by Dominique Millette - December 28, 2008, at 12:23PM | in
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Breastfeeding is becoming quite the Feministing hotbed topic. I think everyone should take a look at this excerpt from The Human Genome Project. Women and their breastfeeding habits have always been a battleground.
I am happy to see people fighting the restrictions on pictures of babies latching. I am firmly in the breastfeed whenever, however, in front of whoever you want camp. Strangely enough, I also belong to the feed your baby any damn way you choose camp.
Ahh, but the female body must be disciplined and controlled at all times. Except when it's being displayed for hetero male consumption of course. Then, anything goes!
I remember my mother telling me recently that is indecent for women to "whip out" their breast for everyone to see when they are feeding their baby. To which I replied that there is no sexual thrill in feeding your child. It is not the equivalent of mothers trying to get on a Girls Gone Wild video.
Mammals also typically walk around naked and engage in sexual intercourse pretty much wherever they want. Those seem like perfectly natural activities too. Should they be censored from Facebook? Presumably many of the activities we censor from daily life are not "obscene" anyway. The problem is simply that society has arbitrary rules about what is and is not acceptable for general public display. Facebook isn't an arbiter of these rules, and I'm sure you wouldn't make a post like this about allowing pictures of nudity or sex, even though I'm sure many of the people here wouldn't be offended by them anyway. Facebook's question isn't who won't be offended, the question is who WILL be offended. Facebook isn't trying to influence social norms, they're just trying to minimize anger against them. More people would be offended by images of breast-feeding than will be offended by censoring images of breast-feeding. If it were the other way around, they'd allow them. I agree that the conception is flawed, I just think that Facebook as an organization is not really the right place to direct this sort of unhappiness.
I disagree that Facebook is an improper forum. They may not be trying to influence social norms, but they still do have a lot of influence. Anywhere socializing takes place, even circumscribed internet socializing, there is also socialization- people learning norms. If I had children using facebook and hearing their friends say "eww, babies on boobies!" I'd want them to be able to find a group with a differing opinion in the same place. It's an open forum for ideas, there are a lot of people there paying attention, and those of us with non-majority opinions almost have an obligation to put our ideas out there.
More people would be offended by images of breast-feeding than will be offended by censoring images of breast-feeding.
And as long as we censor all images of breastfeeding, that's exactly how it will stay. A lot of people would even extend your analogy by comparing breastfeeding to shitting, since many people believe that if you have the audacity to go out in public as a breastfeeding mom, you should be relegated to the bathroom. If you politely suggest that they eat their lunch in the bathroom they're shocked and horrified and fail to see the connection. However, if you whip your titties out for the viewing pleasure of a male audience, they applaud and think you're really cool. No, that's not like shitting at all. The funny thing is, when you're nursing a baby, less of your breast is revealed than in a lingerie catalog or print ad. Victoria's Secret can plaster a giant image of everything but the nipple on a billboard, but if a small amount of a nursing mom's skin is shown that's obscene. Interesting.
And feminism is about bringing about social change. That means you have to take on ridiculous sexist attitudes wherever you find them. But giving everyone a free pass by deferring to the prevailing cultural attitudes will ensure that nothing will change. Ever.
I agree.
I wish the anti-breastfeeding in public crowd could spend a day in the shoes of a new mom, trying to get out of the house for a few hours and maintain her sanity. If your baby is a fussy one or a hungry one, there's no choice but to feed the baby IMMEDIATELY, wherever you are. It's so awful to feel you have to go sit in a bathroom stall, most of which are so filthy. It's a prescription for baby blues.
No doubt they would just recommend you use formula if you want to get out of the house. Because fuck your baby's health. Their comfort is more important.
And I refused to nurse in a bathroom. I always had a good blanket for cover-up, but if it made someone uncomfortable just to know that I was breastfeeding under the blanket then that's their problem. Anyone who thinks breastfeeding is gross has some serious issues to work through. Formula is gross, not breastmilk.
This discussion is ridiculous. I'm breastfeeding anywhere, anytime, I like. If you don't like it, don't look. Period.