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  • FRIDAY AUGUST 4 2006 6:00 PM

Mag's Breastfeeding Photo Is Too Titillating for Readers

Submitted by PopMonger

Edited by PopMonger

Tags: BabyTalk, breastfeeding, breasts, photo, readers

A parenting magazine is at the center of a breastfeeding controversy after featuring a nursing mother on the cover of its August issue.

BabyTalk, a magazine catering to new mothers, received hundreds of letters in response to the photo, with many readers calling it offensive and disgusting.

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it.

"I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast - it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."


Another woman, who’s in favor of breastfeeding, said she also wanted to protect her family from seeing unwanted breastage.

"I'm totally supportive of it - I just don't like the flashing," she said. "I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."


Because, of course, they always tell her which breasts they do want to see.
The photo was meant to call attention to the current debate over breastfeeding in public. A recent poll found that 57 percent of Americans oppose public breastfeeding, while a new generation of mothers - "lactivists" - are advocating for a woman's right to whip 'em out whenever she needs to.

BabyTalk executive editor Lisa Moran said it's the first time a major U.S. parenting magazine has shown a woman's breast.


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Comments
bairdduvessa

bairdduvessa

Centerville, MA
April 2005

AUG 05, 2006 06:55 AM

s5 said:
bizarre.

Mothers who consider a photo of breastfeeding to be "sexual" should be spending a bit more time looking inward and re-examining their own moral values than criticizing a magazine. Obviously, I'm not a woman so I don't know very much about these things, but you'd think that someone who has actually breastfed would recognize that there's nothing sexual about it.



agreed

Palo

Palo

SUICIDEGIRL

Massachusetts, USA

AUG 05, 2006 07:50 AM

Hooray for breastfeeding.

Mallory

Mallory

SUICIDEGIRL

Connecticut, USA

AUG 05, 2006 08:41 AM

people are so weird..
when I was a kid I never came across baby magazines..
I came across Hustler and Penthouse..

Saphira

Saphira

Baltimore, MD
June 2006

AUG 05, 2006 08:55 AM

As a mother who decided breast feeding wasn't for her, I just don't get it. I mean seriously, if you are subscribed to the mag. then just hide certain issues if you find them that offensive. This is a child eating, not creating sexual tension or pleasure for anyone

Pixxii

Pixxii

United Kingdom
July 2006

AUG 05, 2006 09:23 AM

oh my God. If you find that sexual there is something wrong with you. Shit it makes me fucking mad!!!! I can't even speak I'm so mad. gaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhd mad That is such a cute picture and how peaceful and content does the baby look? If you find that offensive I'm sorry but you're a fucking dick. end of.

OctoberSeven

OctoberSeven

Downers Grove, IL
December 2002

AUG 05, 2006 09:29 AM

I really have no opinion on the cover ether way. As far as the issue of breastfeeding in public: I gotta say, honestly, that's what bottles are for. Yes it's perfectly natural, and no, there's nothing sexual about it, but in my view somethings just need to be private (like taking a shit - another natural, non-sexual act).

aleksa

aleksa

Tacoma, WA
April 2006

AUG 05, 2006 09:30 AM

The sad thing is, if it'd been a picture of a (fully clad) woman who had been the victim of a bombing or some other form of violence and had been on the cover of a magazine, no one would've batted an eyelash. But god forbid she be doing something her body was made for....

This country's ideal of violence=okay, sex/nudity=bad is so lopsided.

bcguitar33

bcguitar33

Jamaica Plain, MA
January 2004

AUG 05, 2006 09:33 AM

Penfold said:
I really have no opinion on the cover ether way. As far as the issue of breastfeeding in public: I gotta say, honestly, that's what bottles are for. Yes it's perfectly natural, and no, there's nothing sexual about it, but in my view somethings just need to be private (like taking a shit - another natural, non-sexual act).



That's what bottles are for? It must be cool to have the authority to decide these things.

Maybe if breastfeeding smelled like and only occured as rarely as taking a shit, you'd have a point about it needing to be private.

ProphetNoise

ProphetNoise

Portland, OR
February 2004

AUG 05, 2006 09:36 AM

EVIL EVIL EVIL! DIRTY FILTHY EVIL NATURE! Biology should be ashamed of itself.

Mothers should have the decency to starve their babies so we don't have to look at rounded sacks of fatty tissue and glands in public!

tartpop

tartpop

Fort Bragg, NC
March 2004

AUG 05, 2006 10:52 AM

Penfold said:
I really have no opinion on the cover ether way. As far as the issue of breastfeeding in public: I gotta say, honestly, that's what bottles are for. Yes it's perfectly natural, and no, there's nothing sexual about it, but in my view somethings just need to be private (like taking a shit - another natural, non-sexual act).



that's what bottles are for?? that is the most fucking ridiculous thing i have ever heard. you have to be kidding me if you think that nursing a baby is the same thing as taking a shit. there's a big damn difference. that's what bottles are for? HELLO! that's what BREASTS are for!!!!! babies are born to be breastfed!!! a baby eating and a person taking a dump are not even on the same page. most mother's when they do nurse in public- you can't even tell they are doing it!!! the baby covers everything nipple and below and their shirt covers everything above. what about that act needs to be hidden?

LizaRose

LizaRose

SUICIDEGIRL

Washington, USA

AUG 05, 2006 10:53 AM

Kettle said:

LizaRose said:
well.

so the july-august issue of "Mothering" magazine also sports a cover photo of a woman breastfeeding. i don't think they've had any trouble.



actually they did have quite a bit of trouble. it was pulled from super market and bookstore shelves and store workers refused to stock it until a group of Mothering readers complained to the store owners.




oh. thanks for the correction.

that is awesome. the readers complained to have it stocked. just goes to show the difference between the people who read mothering and the people who read baby talk...

i guess i wasn't aware of the problems because they still had it at my yoga studio and my whole foods...

LizaRose

LizaRose

SUICIDEGIRL

Washington, USA

AUG 05, 2006 11:07 AM

wow... "that's what bottles are for"...

hm. i guess the baby formula industry has done a really good job of convincing people that bottles are an even substitute for breastfeeding when actually that is not the case.

nursing provides nutrients, an immune system boost, and psychological benefits for a baby that bottles cannot.

phrogg

phrogg

Greenville, SC
August 2005

AUG 05, 2006 12:08 PM

aleksa said:
The sad thing is, if it'd been a picture of a (fully clad) woman who had been the victim of a bombing or some other form of violence and had been on the cover of a magazine, no one would've batted an eyelash. But god forbid she be doing something her body was made for....

This country's ideal of violence=okay, sex/nudity=bad is so lopsided.





+1 !!!

MrStitches

MrStitches

Brooklyn, NY
November 2003

AUG 05, 2006 12:10 PM

Well I never!

Phantasy

Phantasy

Australia
October 2005

AUG 05, 2006 05:42 PM

Penfold said:
I really have no opinion on the cover ether way. As far as the issue of breastfeeding in public: I gotta say, honestly, that's what bottles are for. Yes it's perfectly natural, and no, there's nothing sexual about it, but in my view somethings just need to be private (like taking a shit - another natural, non-sexual act).




Do you have any idea how time consuming and difficult it is to express milk into a bottle? Maybe breastfeeding mothers should just stay home altogether. Where they belong.

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