Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Keep it Covered

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  No one wants to see your boobs.

Unfortunately there are still large groups of women who cannot seem to get this fact through their little polyester t-shirts.  Once again, Facebook has attracted the ire of a whole bunch of these peeved moms who, for some reason, feel disenfranchised for not being allowed to post pictures of their naked breasts on the social networking site.  "It's natural," they say.  "This is discrimination."

Oh puh-leez.  It is not discrimination to demand that breast feeding photos do not include exposed nipples.  And forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but if you can see a fully-exposed breast, that breast is not, in fact, "feeding". 

This isn't an issue of Facebook being anti-breast feeding.  It's an issue of moms not having the courtesy to cover up while they feed.  You know, decency.  You remember what that is, right?  Not flashing your breasts to unwitting strangers? (Or witting, for that matter.  Bonnie's PSA - do not flash your breasts to any strangers.  Thank you).

Breast feeding is not indecent, but exposing your breasts to a room full (or, in this case, an internet full) of people who do not want to be confronted with an up-close view of your cup size, is indecent.  It's also rude.  And rudeness does not lend itself to understanding. 

Common courtesy, ladies.  It goes a long way.

5 comments:

fiona said...

A couple of different issues here... 1. You covered this well. If the "breastfeeding" photo shows the nipple, it should totally be chucked. The babe's not breastfeeding if you can see the nipple! And...no one should see the nipple!! So, really, it doesn't count as a breastfeeding pic, like you said. Note: I do NOT support nipple-exposing breastfeeding pictures. BUT, 2. If Facebook were just removing the nipple-exposing pics, then that's cool. But from what I've read/seen, most of the photos being banned are a lot more modest than other pictures on facebook. I was looking through some banned bf-ing photos, and it was ridiculous. I could see the tops of boobs, and then a cute baby. Quite titillating, I'm sure. So, I absolutely get why these ladies are annoyed. When photos of half-naked girls with their hands barely covering their nipples are allowed, then it makes NO sense to ban breast-feeding ones. In fact, I might just go join them for a nurse-in, if I were closer. Now, I personally don't want to post a picture of me nursing. At least not one that shows my boob at all, because that would make me feel weird. (I did post one, actually, where no skin at all was showing, though I did out myself in writing). I think the solution is simple. An overall "no boobs at ALL" policy. Tops, sides, anything. There are some nasty photos out there.

And, I totally nurse in public. I don't throw a blanket over the kiddo, but I am extremely practiced at discretion. If she's not going to cooperate, we go somewhere private. Even without a cover, it is super easy and possible to not flash your boob around, and to nurse without most people even noticing. I think people who do make a scene have got to be looking for the attention. Sillies.

Bonnie said...

I didn't look at any of the banned photos, so I can't comment on that. I was going solely off of Facebook's stated policy, which is that breast feeding photos are fine as long as they don't include nudity.

I am also a nurse-in-public person and see nothing wrong with it as long as you aren't flashing anyone, which, like you say, is possible even without a blanket. I have no idea why people feel the need to expose their breasts or post pics of them on Facebook. But if Facebook wants to remove them (even fairly modest ones), that's their call. Heck, if they want to remove ANY pictures for ANY reason, that's their call. If people don't like it they can quit using Facebook.

As for the other issue, I won't even begin to talk about what other inappropriate pics reside on Facebook. I'll save that for another post. :)

Thanks for your thoughts!

fiona said...

Yeah, FB can do what they want, but it would just be nice if they would be consistent. I think the women are ticked because they see their pics classified as porn and obscene while much more obscene boob shots are allowed. Someone should get their ruler out and measure the amount of boobage showing on all pics, bf-ing and non-bf-ing, and remove all those that expose more than the allotted amount. I'm sure there would be plenty of people lined up to be the "Facebook Boob Measurer." That's a good one for the ol' resume... ;)

Bonnie said...

Hahaha! I vote you, Fiona. That would be a good job for a stay-at-home mom. "What do you do?" "Oh, I decide how much cleavage people are allowed to show."

I'm guessing the main problem with the inconsistency in applying their policy comes about because not many people are willing to say, "That outfit is showing way too much" (or can even discern such a thing) because so many people are wearing next to nothing. But it's easier to see a nursing breast and say, "That's a bit too much" because it's less familiar in that context.

Bonnie said...

To clarify, people see cleavage and skimpy outfits all the time, so they don't think much of it, but they don't see portions of nursing breasts all the time, so they do think something of that. It may explain the inconsistency in applying the policy, anyway.