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  • MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10 2007 4:00 PM

Facebook: Feeding Babies is Obscene

Submitted by Bitch_PhD

Edited by erin_broadley

Tags: breastfeeding, facebook, lactivists, women's rights, the internet



Facebook has made a bad mistake. Apparently they've been deleting pictures of breastfeeding mamas and babies, and in some cases even deleting the accounts of said mamas. This, apparently, because they (1) consider breasts obscene, and (2) can't differentiate between a titty shot and a picture of someone feeding a baby.

"Photos containing an exposed breast do violate our Terms and are removed," she said.

It's not clear what constitutes an "exposed breast", which has the lactivists baffled.

Facebook did not respond to emails requesting further clarification but several group members have reported that their images were removed despite the fact they contained no nipple.


As anyone who's ever had a baby knows, you Do Not Fuck With Breastfeeding Mamas, who are one of the most easily organized groups on the internet. After all, websurfing is one of the few things you can do easily while nursing a baby. And mamas who breastfeed are pretty damn militant (rightly so), since it takes a certain amount of chutzpah just to overcome the "omg, titties!" thing and decide to nurse in the first place.

I predict that Facebook's going to change their mind about this policy within a week. So if you're on Facebook and agree that they should learn the difference between porn and breastfeeding, you'd better hurry up and join the Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene! group; since the original article linked at the top of this story appeared three days ago, the group's gotten almost 10,000 members, who've posted over 600 breastfeeding photos.

Bitch_PhD breastfed her kid for two and a half years.

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Comments
sick

sick

Minneapolis, MN
June 2003

SEP 10, 2007 05:28 PM

meta said:
breastmilk is food for babies. if you're grossed out by breastfeeding, you should be grossed out by watching full-grown humans eat.



I am grossed out by watching full-grown humans eat.

Yet I can't reasonably expect them not to. I just don't look.

MaryJane

MaryJane

SUICIDEGIRL

USA

SEP 10, 2007 05:29 PM

i breastfeed in public, i also have pics of me nursing my baby at a music festival, while camping, at home, at the zoo, all over the place. i will post them wherever i damn well please and if people don't like it they needn't click on my profile or this

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

zoom image

. boobs are for breastfeeding, and like it or not it's an everyday part of motherhood, just like beer guzzling is for college life. sometimes it feels like a pic of me nursing my child is what best defines me at this juncture in my life. i do it everyday, it takes much of my time, and if you hang out with me you'll see me doing it a lot more than i do anything else. there's nothing gross or inappropriate about it. if breastfeeding pics are considered inappropriate, then a pic of feeding a baby a bottle should be considered the equivalent of whipping out a dildo- no?
Hippie Goddess

Ridley

Ridley

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

SEP 10, 2007 05:37 PM

superkrzyamos said:
I have no kids. So I have never breastfed a baby. I plan on doing so whenever I am lucky enough to have them. But WHY (and i am legitimately asking this question) would you put pictures of your baby breastfeeding on your Facebook account? Myspace, oh definitely. But Facebook?

I guess this is just a beauty I cannot appreciate until I go through it myself. Oh well.

oh and to edit I am not saying it isn't a beautiful thing at all. Don't want to be attacked by the Breastfeeding Mamas. Just don't know why you feel the need to share that moment with the world.



Because it's a cute and often tender moment showing the bond between mother and child. It shows what's important in her life. It shows who she is. That's why...

It's like the people who post pictures of themselves drinking, or doing other stuff. It's what they do.

Druggist

Druggist

Gainesville, FL
November 2006

SEP 10, 2007 05:38 PM

you wont understand until it happens to you. my close friend used to cringe at the sight of breastfeeding babies, and now she is all about the right to feed a child in public, yada yada. its one of those get over your insecurities and puberty stage and realize this is part of a woman's life and it shouldnt be excluded just because it makes other people feel uneasy.

Boleyn

Boleyn

Charlotte, NC
December 2004

SEP 10, 2007 05:39 PM

apesamongus

apesamongus

Atlanta, GA
July 2002

SEP 10, 2007 05:39 PM

MrStitches said:

apesamongus said:

Vidalia said:
Okay, agreed, but I think mamas should definitely still have the right to!


I can't even begin to count the number of time someone has said on SG that "we have a right to say..." and then a dozen people come out of the rafters to point out that a website is not a personal forum. And the same applies to facebook as applies to SG. The owners of facebook can decide who and what to allow on their site. The end. And then anyone can protest and try to change things, but ultimately, they (fb) get to decide.


It doesn't make it any less stupid.


Yea, it's stupid, but I think a lot of restrictions that we have here on SG are stupid as well.

Bitch_PhD

Bitch_PhD

I'm lost
February 2007

SEP 10, 2007 05:43 PM

Boleyn said:
I <3 MaryJane and creativename.



Ditto.

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

SEP 10, 2007 05:44 PM

RileyStClair said:

Cigarette said:

RileyStClair said:
eh, i don't get why they'd really want to post breastfeeding pics either,



Why post anything?



well, what i meant was there are some pictures i am cool with people seeing and some i'm not and at this point i would personally put "my boobs" in the "not cool" category. but i can see how moms might feel otherwise.



That was really only partially to you. Seems like a common question, "Why post breastfeeding pics?" Why not? Why post anything?

MaryJane

MaryJane

SUICIDEGIRL

USA

SEP 10, 2007 05:54 PM

Bitch_PhD said:

Boleyn said:
I <3 MaryJane and creativename.



Ditto.


thanks for the love <3

oh yeah, and i also post pics b/c i'm proud of the fact that i'm giving my child the best start in life- i want to scream it to the world that breastfeeding is 100% natural and NORMAL, and "pics are worth a thousand words", right??? that's my way of getting the message out there. not to mention i find it both beautiful and amazing to feed a child from my body and see her grow with nothing but my love and mama milk. she's like a really cool science experiment wink & people take pics of their science experiments too.
Hippie Goddess

LostLucy

LostLucy

USA
December 2006

SEP 10, 2007 06:15 PM

ok, i see. And well, we all agree fecebook deleting them is retarded!!

Anomalisa

Anomalisa

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

SEP 10, 2007 06:16 PM

MaryJane is awesome. Thanks for expressing your opinions. Someone posted here that "taking a shit" is natural as well, but no one wants to see photos of that. Equating defecating to nourishing a human child is really stretching it.

Why should breastfeeding even be an issue? When was the last time we heard about a website pulling photos off their site of babies with bottles in their mouths?

ThatTalentedHack

ThatTalentedHack

San Antonio, TX
July 2007

SEP 10, 2007 06:19 PM

I'd rather not see it.
Though, the important thing is, it is not something that we, as a civilized society, should judge to be taboo.

10k

10k

San Antonio, TX
July 2002

SEP 10, 2007 06:21 PM

The only problem with limiting Facebook to students again is that the site would never be able to compete with open sites like Myspace. Uni students do occasionally want to communicate and network with other people who are not students. I
believe this was the main impetus for Facebook opening membership in the first place.

ink_slinger

ink_slinger

Edmonton, AB
October 2005

SEP 10, 2007 06:24 PM

I think Facebook has made a mistake by doing this, and I think it's totally fine and normal for women to breastfeed their babies---in public or not---but I don't quite understand why you would post a picture of it on Facebook.

Still, Facebook fucked up on this one. I'll join that group just to send a message to Facebook, though.

10k

10k

San Antonio, TX
July 2002

SEP 10, 2007 06:33 PM

Facebook needs to lighten the hell up and chill out. There is nothing obscene about breast feeding. And I don't see how it violates the terms of service as long as the nipple is not showing. (Can't show the nipple, their bad. Mmmmk) Myspace and Facebook are drowning in pics of women and underage girls with their dirty pillows barely covered by lingerie, their hands or some other non clothing item.

However...

Why the hell would you want to put pics of yourself breast feeding on the web anyways? Whats up with that? No, breast feeding is not obscene. Yes, it is a wonderful bonding experience for mother and child and has many health benefits for growing babies. And yes, it is a completely natural, non sexual bodily function. But so is taking a dookie. And nobody is fighting for the right to post dookie pics on networking sites.

please note: All outraged or indignant replies will be meant with scathing sarcasm.

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