Where does breastfeeding fit in online?
The other day I stumbled across a little blog where a mother was protesting that Facebook had just removed a photo of her breastfeeding her baby. Breastfeeding photos have been controversial across the web for years.
From parenting forums to the ‘mainstream’ social web, reactions to breastfeeding photos bring social taboos to the surface.
At the centre of all this to-do is something very small. The nipple. The female nipple and areola that is.
Online there are a myriad of breastfeeding resources– the wonderful Australian Breastfeeding Association for one. For all intents and purposes, these websites are breastfeeding tucked away in very important but discreet little corners.
When breastfeeding traipses into general areas of the net, women and their nipples can suddenly become suspect.
Facebook has a policy whereby no female nipple or part of the areola can be shown.
Breastfeeding photos on Facebook
Facebook Policy: Photos containing a fully exposed breast (as defined by showing the nipple or areola) do violate [Facebook's policy on obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit material] and may be removed.
Now, I understand that Facebook and other mainstream social websites need to ensure that things don’t slide into outright pornography– because if that happens, people will leave in droves.
But a normal, natural photo of a baby having a meal of milk from a breast– that’s no different to a baby having a feed from a bottle.
During international breastfeeding week– August 1-7, a Facebook protest against the policy was held, attracting a huge number of participants.
The Mothers for Womens Lib website posted a very insightful piece on the Facebook policy of banning breastfeeding photos: Wimminz disgusting milky nipples! Teh areola! Teh b00bize! Oh noes! (or, Facebook, grow up!)
(Gotta love that for the title of an article!)
The economics of breasts
What is going on beneath the surface of the breastfeeding photos controversy?
Women’s breasts are seen and worshipped as sexual objects in our society. In very male-centred advertising, breasts are a commodity used to sell everything from cars to fishing rods. Breasts are hot content– filling the pages of men’s magazines and spicing up B-grade movies. Breasts are also used to sell fashion and accessories to women. We expect to see breasts used in this way, because we see it every day.
Breastfeeding is something we don’t see. Breastfeeding is not on TV, not in movies, not in shopping centres, not in magazines, and not even in your child’s picture books. There are tiny pockets of it– in private homes, in parenting rooms, in breastfeeding centres, in online parenting forums, in ‘earthy’ children’s books.
Breasts as feeding devices are not used to sell anything, with the exception of breastfeeding-related merchandise. Breasts as sexual devices are used to sell everything.
Taking a look at Facebook, is it just about keeping ’sexually explicit material’ out of user’s content, or is it also to do with social taboos?
It’s difficult to counterbalance the ‘explicit material’ argument when Facebook readily allows the framework for such content:
The sex groups and applications on Facebook are mind-boggling. A quick snapshot:
Sex Pages & Groups: Over 1000 in total, including: Morning Sex: 126,355+ fans Sex (student groups): 2,409 members You had sex where?: 366 members
Sex Applications: 389 applications in total, including: Sex Games: 459,633+ monthly active users What’s your sex style?: 142,345 monthly active users Would you have sex with someone here?: 1,929 monthly active users
There are also sex events to tickle the fancy of Facebookers.
Looking at the main pages of the above (and not delving any further) I saw one pair of naked breasts, two naked penises, one male bottom, lots of girls in skimpy clothing, and images of sex acts. There were some pretty lurid descriptions of sex exploits and body parts in the discussions.
Girls drunk & disorderly on Facebook? – also okey dokey.
Almost anyone with a large list of friends and acquaintances on Facebook will have had some pretty racy stuff pushed into their view– whether they wanted to see it or not.
Breasts and online gaming
Chicks in medieval adventure games almost invariably have large breasts popping out of barely-there armour.
(’Barely-there armour’ – I can’t see that having been a hit at any time in history!)
World of Warcraft is popular with both men and women, though women make up a much smaller membership than men.
GameDaily runs a Babes of the Week spot. This week they featured women in skimpy gear from World Of Warcraft. (pictured left)
Gamers enjoy the fantasy and escape from real life– and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s also true that with gaming evolving from a male-dominated arena, it’s no surprise that any female characters in war games are likely to display distinct sex-appeal.
‘Breast-jiggle’ when a female character walks or runs is a functionality that was long-wished for in gaming, as I recall from my days of playing/designing NeverWinter Nights games. (NeverWinter Nights had a function whereby you could create your own campaigns and adventures, using their game engine and graphics.)
Where the depiction of highly sexualised images of women in gaming becomes a problem is when it is marketed to children, or used by children.
Many people will have seen the Evony adventure game advertised around the web. Due to contextual advertising, the ads show up on some children’s games websites and on some websites where children frequent, as well as many general websites. The actual game looks pretty tame, but the advertisements depict women on their knees, with breasts flowing out of undone garments… at times with the text, “Come play, My Lord” displayed. You can see the evolution of the depiction of ’boobs’ on Evony advertisements here and here.
Such depictions set up an expectation that women’s breasts are entertainment. Okay for adults. Not okay for kids.
Why don’t we want to see breastfeeding photos?
It’s difficult to gauge the percentages, but there may be as many women as men who don’t want see any displays of breastfeeding in public. It’s changing, but slowly.
Incredibly, shopping centres and department stores often did not have breastfeeding facilities until recent years. With women the major customers of shopping centres, why and how did this happen? Why were women forced to feed their babies while sitting on toilets for goodness sakes? Who are the people responsible for designing shopping centres that did not provide for the essential feeding requirements of babies? It also makes economic sense to keep breastfeeding women at the shops for longer, so why were parenting rooms not implemented earlier?
It’s more than a disgrace. It’s telling.
Breastfeeding was an invisible act, much like childbirth. Something tied into the mysteries of life yadda yadda but with enough yuck-factor that it should be kept behind closed doors and away from people in general.
Breastfeeding on parenting forums
Breastfeeding on parenting forums is an accepted and celebrated thing. There are the occasional heated discussions between breastfeeding advocates and women who have/are feeding their babies formula– but mostly that’s to do with formula-feeders simply seeking respect for their decision to use forumla (which can sometimes be not so much a decision as a medical necessity.)
But still, amongst both breastfeeders and formula-feeders, there are women who dislike other women ‘flashing their breasts’ while breastfeeding. Breastfeeding photos, commonly displayed in signatures, can spark criticism if they show the nipple and areola, or if they display ‘too much breast’.
Very few people, however, would ring up a TV station to complain if they see a naked breast in a movie they are watching.
I have to admit– through many years of breastfeeding my four children, mostly people didn’t notice when I was actually breastfeeding– I was so painfully discreet. I’ve been uncomfortable at the sight of a woman breastfeeding who had both breasts bare.
These things are my own issues. I’m not uncomfortable with the sight of women’s bare breasts in a movie (except to question why they’re actually there in the first place.) I have to be careful not to project my own social conditioning onto my values.
The ownership of breasts needs to change. It seems advertising, movies and magazines have too many rights to breasts, and women themselves too few…
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Great article! And very respectful.
Sadly, I think there are a few issues wth breastfeeing, and its not a clear cut issue or topic. I’ve done some recent posts myself on the issue.
Breasts, by their very nature are sexual, and if they weren’t it wouldnt be an issue. I. like you, don’t like the boob flashing – and that is my issue … and,. apparently, that of many, many people.
I also think, if it’s not being flashed in your face of course, that if you don’t like it, don’t look. That applies to breastfeeding and booby flashing in general.
If you look at it from a young males persepctive – a baby’s head just get’s in the way of a good perve (sorry, couldn’t resist)
We also have a HUGE cohort of people who grew up with the notion that breastfeeding was “wrong”. Whether rightly or wrongly, they have some well grounded beliefs relating to breastfeeding, and it’s not going to be easy to change.
The media getting on the “ooh, breastfeeding discrimination” thing also irks me. Firstly, not that many people even care or think about it.
Secondly, I did a survey recently, nearly 500 people, which showed that those who had had a comment their way were overwhelmingly positive & supportive comments. Those that received abuse were bottle feeders, not breastfeeders!
I think sexulaisation of breasts has long been ingrained in our society, who love simplicity. It’s not possible (in their minds) for breasts to be nurturing AND sexual – yet they are.
I also think there are a lot of “issues” people have around breasts, quite likely started at an early age. And, no, I’m not talking about whether they were breastfed or not, but their parents telling them not to look at boobs coz it’s “wrong”. It all has an impact.
Apologies for rant – I only wish the issue were as clean cut as “sexulaisation” and/or more breastfeeding in public ….
Hear, hear. I’d never thought about it in terms of ownership, it’s very true.
And it’s something that cuts across all things breast – how often do people talk about breasts ‘belonging’ to husbands or babies?
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[...] forces that caused artificial feeding to increase) was responsible for some countries losing this. This blog post discusses why there is such a negative response to breastfeeding photos. (Facebook aparently does [...]