This is absolutely absurd! I'm so furious about this that I can't even come up with a coherent response. I'll be back.

 

As soon as I saw this I knew I had to email it to you. It is so absurd.

 

Put the breasts away! The children will see them! Oh wait - that's the point of breastfeeding.

Women can't catch a break with this issue, can they?

Jane, Pinks & Blues Girls

 

*sigh* how very sad. I just would have hoped we'd have come further by now.
Obscene! Give me a break... what's obscene is that someone views breastfeeding as sexual and thus seeks to banish it in public/on public sites.

Ridiculous!!!

 

I hadn't yet heard about this. Oy oy oy! I wonder sometimes if people just can't find anything to complain about so they go back to the beginning and start from there again.

Why anyone cares the choices other people make I will never understand.

 

I wrote about this same topic today. It amazes me that pictures of women showing even more breast in a bikini are OK, but breastfeeding is obscene. Crazy.

 

Not long ago, I read some absurd website by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author of the bestselling book "Kosher Sex." (I know this sounds like I am setting up a joke, but I swear this is real.) Anyway, Boteach advised women that they should not breastfeed for more than 3 months or their husbands will be jealous that the baby gets to touch her breasts more than he does. Seriously, how FUCKED UP is that? In this case, boobs are for breastfeeding and men's pleasure, but not any part of a woman's body that she controls. Sick.

(He also, by the way, advises not having husbands in delivery rooms because they will be so traumatized that the baby comes out of the same hole they fuck that they will never have sex with you again or some insanity like that.)

 

Oyvey - that's us, an "Advanced Species."

 

First of all I can't stop laughing over Suzanne's comment. Of course, it sounds like the Rabbi was serious so really I should be outraged.

So I wonder what Facebook would do if I posted photos of me breastfeeding my then infant twins? Nothing subtle about that one.

 

The same thing happened on MySpace about a year ago (maybe less). As a protest, tons of women (including me) put up pictures of breastfeeding as their avatars. I'm not on Facebook, so I can't do anything there. People are stupid.

 

So, so stupid. And then some.

 

For more on the wit and wisdom of Rabbi Schmuly Boteach, see my post from last year at:

http://www.cussandotherrants.com/2006/09/try-not-to-choke-from-laughter.html

 

Try Not to Choke from Laughter is the link to Boteach's teachings.

 

Now I'm addicted to writing more about Boteach on Alex's blog. (Sorry Alex!) Here's what the nut said about breastfeeding:

Furthermore, I said, her obsession had turned one of her most attractive body parts into a feeding station, an attractive cafeteria rather than a scintillating piece of flesh...

Obviously, breast-feeding is not the same as carrying on an extramarital affair. But when a mother gives her breasts to her son and takes them away from her husband, the effect on the marriage can feel the same.

 

Holy crap! That is freaking ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! I hadn't heard about that article. Am about to go check it out!
Thanks for sharing!
- Audrey

 

I can't believe these issues are still going on. Do you remember a couple of years ago when some ISP banned a breast cancer support group in a sweeping "no breasts" ban? This is ridiculous.

Congrats on your blogoversary!

 

Great post. I posted on the same issue today. Thanks for making your readers aware of this wildly weird societal quirk.

 

I can't tell up from down and boob from clown anymore. My daughter's afternoon snack is offensive and FOX show promos border on NC17 but are embraced...WTF?

 

I love your lesson, Alex. Right on.

 

A couple of months ago my 2 very modest breast feeding pictures were taken down from Facebook. I received an e-mail from them stating it was considered obscene material. I was warned not to reupload the photos or my account would be shut down. I was furious but had no outlet, so I just dealt with it. Today I come home to an e-mail from betterphoto.com, where I have been an active for several years. They too have removed the photos. The reason they give: "the photos are not family friendly". I am so frustrated and angry! I don't understand how people can view breastfeeding as obscene.... I need a larger outlet to voice this issue and I just don't know where or what that is. All I know is that I am sick and tired of being told to put "them" away. I wonder why I wasted all this time, effort and painstaking frustration to be able to breast feed. I could have taken the easy way out but I worked my butt off to be able to breast feed. Myjourney started with weekly appts with a lactation consultant, drinking teas and other concoctions and taking medication to increase my milk. Not to mention the hours of painful pumping in order to boost my milk supply. All this and what for? To be constantly made to feel like it's shameful and dirty...To be looked at with disdain and horror when I discretely feed my child in hidden away corners and bathrooms? Would these people want to eat THEIR meal in a bathroom? What do we need to do to get back to basics. You know, the days when formula was suplemented to help out in desperate situation where NOTHING worked/breastfeeding was imposible and children were going to starve without it? Too many people have taken the easy/lazy way out over the years and those of us still trying to do what doctors say is best, are suffering.

I AM SO SICK OF IT!!!!!

The problem I have is that I have this huge opinion and a loud voice, but no clue what to do with it.

here is my photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84726766@N00/2611088906/

Is it really that horrible?

Thanks for reading!

Coleen
coleen_m_patrick@yahoo.ca