I was the nipple alerter

[Michigander_Life]

I didn't expect to cause such a ruckus. I just would have appreciated a NSFW tag. As difficult as it is for some to comprehend, based upon the responses in the various threads, it is possible to both be allowed to browse the internet from time to time at work, AND to have a fairly restrictive and vindictive IT department.

A NSFW tag when posting nudity would be considerate.

[bravenak]

1. Breastfeeding is nudity? I did it at the mall.nt

[Michigander_Life]

5. It wasn't a breast feeding image

It was a baby's head next to a nipple. And yes, an exposed female nipple is generally considered nudity, especially by conservative employers.

[bravenak]

10. Babies like to root and take breaks while feeding.

Sometimes you have to get milk flowing and sometimes you squirt it out like a water gun and their mouth fills up. It was obviously about breast feeding.

[ScreamingMeemie]

216. Ummmm...that's a breastfeeding image.

I suggest you utilize your own technology for goofing off at work.

[AAO]

225. My employer frowns upon employees accessing the internet for non-business activity.

When you go outside the allowed use of the internet, you are ALWAYS on your own. Nothing is guaranteed on the internet, except access to information, if you can find "real" information. And at my company everything is logged, as it should be.

That's my advice. Sorry for your predicament.

[elleng]

18. Reactions vary greatly!

Big deal recently @ a Friendly's restaurant in Connecticut.

[bravenak]

81. Most people never noticed. I used a blanket.

I just couldn't resist the title. It drew me in. I never post nipples anyway. Sad that his job is so strict.

[Control-Z]

98. I can't think of a place I didn't breastfeed! Lol. (nt)

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. I don't really see in what way a mother nursing an infant is "NSFW".

I'm sorry, but you have to be functionally brain-damaged or sexually deviant to see that as pornographic or inappropriate.

[Blue_Adept]

6. Consider yourself lucky if you've never worked at a place like that.

Or had people in cubicles around you that are like that. Or family members. Etc etc.

[VanillaRhapsody]

28. because often it is software that determines it beleive it or not!

[PatrynXX]

199. on HP

yes nothing like getting auto deleted because the word BLOOD was in the comment. think Breast also got me deleted too. didn't know Arianna didn't have any.. dumb software in that case which is probably why they switched to facebook comments which sorta is a pain because I'd tried to keep my comments off there. zzzzz

[Gravitycollapse]

3. You could have messaged the OP or posted in the thread.

Rather than having it hidden. If you're looking for support for your actions, I have none for you.

It was a nipple. That it happened to be on a woman is irrelevant.

[Kaleva]

29. People in the thread asked that a warning be added.

[Gravitycollapse]

36. Why should a warning be added? It was just a nipple, for God's sake.

If this was a photo of a man's nipple, I highly doubt anyone would give a single shit.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

43. My whole point in my OP. Thank you! nt

[Kaleva]

49. Maybe not but the request was made and it was ignored.

In my own view, if MSM would likely blur out any part of a image before publishing, then as a matter of courtesy here, a warning ought to be present in the title of the OP.

[Gravitycollapse]

71. It was ignored because it was a stupid request.

And your argument is equally ridiculous.

[Kaleva]

75. The jury didn't think it was and thus the OP was hidden.

[Gravitycollapse]

120. The jury got it wrong.

[Callmecrazy]

321. And a mouse click will unhide it...

What's the point of getting a post hidden when it isn't deleted from the thread? Are you going to tell me that people don't open hidden threads? I submit that it gets even more exposure when a post is hidden by a jury. The alert system is a fool's errand, and I'll never hide one. It only gets more attention.

[TheKentuckian]

266. Unless the poster makes the rules, it really their argument. We've been telling folks

that these corporations have too much power and the employee little to none and too damn many shrug and yawn or cheer it on and now you are placing the onus of their absurdity on the worker doing nothing more than saying "can you help me keep my job by giving a heads up at this weird bugaboo that is fairly rampant in corporate America?".

It isn't like such a thing is unusual. We can all agree it is really, really stupid and madding without transferring culpability to tthe person with no power.

That said, this a pretty uncensored environment and some folks aren't even going to think about such things in that context and never consider it.

I don't have this problem though, if I ever get any free time (hahaha) or just take a break my access is too locked down to even pull it up. Hell, at times I need access to union sites and they are blocked as political and I have to jump through hoops and plead my case on an individual basis, every time for the same blatantly obvious reasons. I give up and just use my phone, no use in a six month process to access a site that may change before I need to access it again but I sure need to take a look now.

I think some fortunate people have little idea how much of a pain in the ass every moment and every simple fucking thing can be transformed into a monster, a trap, or a mountain in a lot of work places can be.

[gcomeau]

84. Tell it to IT departments across the country.

Until then whether you think it *should* get anyone in trouble if that flashes up on their computer screens at work or not, the fact remains it *will*... and an NSFW tag is appropriate.

[sufrommich]

99. This. Honestly,what don't people get

about this?

[AtheistCrusader]

132. Are you fucking serious?

If you think a nipple within an inch of a baby's mouth is going to get an IT dept. all a-twitter, wait till a filter count on certain words in this thread is reviewed.

lawl

[gcomeau]

144. Yes, I'm "fucking serious".

If your IT department doesn't, great, happy for you. Lots do. As far as a lot of places are concerned it doesn't matter the context, boobies are boobies, and looking at them on your work computer is considered bad-omg-sexual-harassment-hostile-workplace-ARRRRGHHHH!!!!!!


So yeah, put a damn NSFW tag on that.

[CherokeeDem]

153. Yes...

As an HR professional... I can tell you, all it would take is for one person to see that picture on a computer screen and complain. I have fought this stupidity for years but it happens. IT doesn't go after these people, HR has to and I hate it. Let a complaint happen and invariably the person who opened the site would be the loser, not the complainant. So contrary to the person who said the request for the NSFW warning was ridiculous, it is not. Let the person who is reading the post at least have the option of reading then or reading later.

It is courtesy.

[Blue_Adept]

155. What this thread and the other one has taught me is...

that a good percentage of "liberals" here have the opinion of "fuck courtesy" if it infringes on them or their beliefs. Which is unfortunate, because such things as these four simple letters goes a long ways towards easing problems for some people. And it's been a solidly established common courtesy online for a couple of decades now.

[AtheistCrusader]

161. What about bare shoulders?

How puritan do we need to be here, to be respectful?


I contend, there is nothing at all inappropriate/sexual about a newborn feeding. Nothing.
Normally, NSFW tag is used for sexually explicit, or borderline sexually explicit material. Material that may not include nudity of any sort, but rather conveys a risqué subtext.


Nothing risqué about a baby eating. Sorry. Having trouble empathizing here.

To do so, would require me stopping and giving connotation to the hidden photo, that doesn't exist in my mind.

[awoke_in_2003]

230. Yes, it doesn't offend me or you...

but like Cherokee Dem said, it just takes one busy body to cause HR to get involved, and the busy bodies usually win.

[AtheistCrusader]

232. A republican busybody could make a HR stink about GW Bush looking like a moron in the McCain

withdrawal auth for Iraq thread.

Where the hell are you going to draw a credible line here?

[awoke_in_2003]

234. Fine, fuck it...

the OP is asking for one little fucking courtesy because others might not get it, but fuck 'em.

[AtheistCrusader]

239. I'm sorry the objection doesn't seem reasonable.

[joeglow3]

300. And at the end of the day, the person who matters is you, right?

[AtheistCrusader]

304. As I said

I cannot distinguish what, if any individual thing, might be so subjectively offensive, that I could justifiably be driven to tag that post with a NSFW tag.

(Also, the characters NSFW trigger reports and firewall activity monitors as well, so for every person we 'save' by tagging it, there's another person answering questions why they are hitting sites that contain NSFW material AT ALL.)

If the bar is 'what someone might report as offensive to HR', that blows this whole thing wide open into ANY potentially POLITICALLY sensitive images.


So, can't help. It's not a matter of defiantly deciding 'fuck you', it's 'I can't fix this for you'.

[joeglow3]

307. It comes down to our legal system

A company's number one fear is getting sued (be it customer, client, consumer, employee, etc). In most cases, one cannot sue for political opinions. However, there is a clearly established legal history around sexual harassment. As someone pointed out, someone could have been walking by and not even noticed it was a breastfeeding pic. Regardless, the individual and the employer are potentially opened up to a sexual harassment claim.

Is it complete bullshit? Of course. Would I stand beside you to fight to give breastfeeding the normalization it deserves? Damn skippy. But, as it comes to a picture on a thread in DU where it could very possibly create financial difficulties for a fellow member, I would be willing to pass on the battle out of respect for their job security.

As I recall the poster created a title about guns and mentioned nothing about breastfeeding. It was clear they wanted to shock and post an image that had NOTHING to do with the topic title.

All it all, we can just agree to disagree.

[AtheistCrusader]

315. Agree to disagree.

I wasn't going to respond, wasn't looking to get the last word in, but another thread popped up that reminded me of this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025094565

That's an example of what I was talking about. Where I cannot predict who might take offense/objection to something. Like that little girl's appearance.

How. Why. Why would someone do that to her. Why would someone find her objectionable? I can't picture it. I don't grok.
The breastfeeding photo is along those lines. I cannot for the life of me understand how/why anyone would find it objectionable. I'm genuinely befuddled.

[Dorian Gray]

274. I agree with you 100%

and I think it's ridiculous that people could get in trouble at work because of this picture. But, i do believe that people could get in trouble at work bc of a picture of this nature. Not because I think it's bad, but because I believe that there are antiquated views on what is acceptable.

I understand the request for NSFW. I don't understand the alerting of the original OP, though.

[CherokeeDem]

162. Exactly....

Just wait until they open something objectionable at work and have someone file a complaint or a harassment suit and see how they feel, or open something with their child watching. Common courtesy is apparently trumped by the "my opinion is the only one that counts" crowd.

[redqueen]

233. Many people have complained about an increase in libertarian type sentiments on DU. nt

[Antler]

137. Then you lack empathy...

It is obvious that even though you might disagree there are many restrictive network policies that could result in negative action against an employee.

The policy doesn't have exclusions for the female breast if it is used for feeding.

It's the 'I'll be damned and fuck everyone else' attitude that is the most offensive.

[arcane1]

147. 'I'll be damned and fuck everyone else' exactly. It's libertarian.

[Gravitycollapse]

201. You are right. I don't care about other people's IT issues...

I care about negating the stigma associated with breast feeding and the female body in general. What I'm not interested in is furthering such stigma by unnecessarily using stigmatizing rhetoric.

If your work place has an issue with a photo of a mother breast feeding, it is your duty to resolve, not mine or anyone else's.

[cheapdate]

220. Word.

[Antler]

224. And in this case....

You are just as rude as if you put Porn or gore out there...


Not because they are equivalents but because you lack common manners and think that a few trips to HR, for other people of course, are worth your pet cause.

It doesn't bring anyone to your side and probably alienated some potential allies. At least you felt righteous though...

[Gravitycollapse]

240. Don't visit this site on work computers if you think such banal realities will piss off IT or HR.

This site is not an endorsed outlet for clean access on work computers. That is not the mission of this website.

And equating pornography with breast feeding is absurd, even given your pathetic attempt to justify it. You are equating the two by merely suggesting the actions of IT or HR need to be equal for both.

As I've said to someone else in here, if this was the nipple of a man, no one would be thinking twice. I will not further stigmatize the female breast by implying it is somehow explicit when it isn't.

You can call be rude or inconsiderate. But I will not support such nonsense. If you feel this will be a problem in the future, put me on ignore now. That way, you'll never have to risk opening a thread of mine and seeing the corruption of a nipple or, dare I even suggest, the underarm or inner thigh. GASP.

[TeeYiYi]

4. Where do you draw the line?...

Would you alert on a photo from National Geographic which depicted native women in their natural, true native dress?

Just curious.

TYY

[Michigander_Life]

11. If th OP didn't say [NSFW] I would

It's forum etiquette

[BainsBane]

17. S/he doesn't draw the line. His/her employer does.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

26. ^^^THIS^^^ nt

[TeeYiYi]

38. Intent is 9/10 of the law.

Unless a person is actually seeking to find porn on the internet, they should not react like they just found it in the form of a breastfeeding infant.

TYY

[TheKentuckian]

250. That is fine for the fortunate or the well placed but for most of us the golden rule applies

He who has the gold makes the rules.

The argument is with HR departments and brainless board of directors not with posters saying their ass will be in the sling.

No, these folks aren't likely to end up in the pokey (can't rule it completely out, crazier things have happened) but the unemployment line is a distinct possibility and without benefits at that.

[laundry_queen]

60. Yeah but every employer has different standards

now we're supposed to worry about every image we post in case someone's workplace IT dept might not like it? How about if you are at work, you're more careful. Or, as I said, get a data plan and on sites like DU, use your phone.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

68. seriously. nt

[eggplant]

85. Their employer also probably doesn't allow personal web surfing on company time.

So WTF?

They're pissed because they might get caught doing something they aren't supposed to do?

[BainsBane]

87. How would you know that?

That isn't the case at many places of work, certainly not mine.

[eggplant]

91. I woudn't. Thus my intentional use of the word "probably".

It seem very plausible that employers who are concerned about "inappropriate" content simply ban "personal" internet use in order to avoid the inevitable arguments/hearings/lawsuits that stem from inconsistent interpretations/enforcement of the rules.

But seriously. If one works for an employer where seeing a damned nipple would cause a stir, then wtf are they doing surfing a site like DU during working hours?

[arcane1]

90. I'm allowed personal web surfing during down time, as are millions of others.

Are most of us have restrictions on what is and is not allowed.

It's been that way ever since the first office was hooked up to the internet.

DU? Ok.

Pictures with nudity? Not OK.

It really is that simple.

[eggplant]

97. You roll the dice, you take your chances.

Don't want the risk? Then self censor -- turn off images while you browse. The idea that someone would expect another poster to censor their own posts because someone chooses to read DU at work and aren't willing to accept the inherent risks is pretty shitty.

Pictures that are not acceptable to an employer? Don't look at them at work. Not sure if that might happen? Don't look at pictures at work.

It really is that simple.

[arcane1]

102. As I've said before, this is a courtesy that's as old as the internet itself.

What's up with all the personal responsibility libertarian crap all of a sudden? A post with a photo of blood gets hidden all the time if it doesn't come with a warning. Everyone has blood.

Jeez, people are acting like they've never heard of "NSFW" or internet courtesy all of a sudden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSFW

[eggplant]

142. bwahahahahahahahaha

"internet" and "courtesy" don't go together.

some of the earliest data traded on arpanet (the forerunner of the internet) was porn. sure, it was ascii porn, but it was porn nonetheless.

as far as the "personal responsibility" crap was concerned, the op was whining about what their employers might think about it, not that they were personally offended. so now *I'm* supposed to give a shit about what offends their employer? good luck with that.

[arcane1]

145. 99% of the internet can do it, so it can't be that hard.

Maybe you're new to the web, but the NSFW courtesy is all over. I don't know why DU would be an exception.

Though I suspect that many people posting in this thread are being deliberately obtuse just for the sake of arguing.

[eggplant]

163. I would have thought that my arpanet reference would have been clear enough.

But no, I'm not new to the web. And while the corners of the web that you visit may be courteous, it represents an astonishingly small percentage of the content out there, and I assure you, most of it isn't courteous.

And while I'm all in favor of people voluntarily choosing to label things NSFW and generally being courteous, this whole fainting couch act of "they were bad because they didn't label a picture of a nipple" really is over the top. It's a nipple, it's in the context of breast feeding, and if it were happening on a public street in front of impressionable youth (heavens!) it STILL would be ok.

And finally, I can't help but notice that you are painting the half of the people arguing against you as doing so just for the sake of arguing is an incredibly weak ad hominem attack. Perhaps they are arguing with you because they ACTUALLY disagree with you?

But just in case, this is for you:

[PoliticAverse]

253. That was back when the only people that had the Internet were at work... n/t

[pipi_k]

133. Yeah, well...

It's just as simple for someone posting something a reasonable adult might suspect could be a problem for someone else to include four damned letters in the title.

NSFW

OMG!!!!

That took me all of two seconds!!


Intentionally not doing that simple little thing and then blaming someone for seeing something that could be detrimental (or disturbing) is, IMO, anti-social.

[eggplant]

136. Well, good for you.

Your concern is noted.

[sufrommich]

95. That is absolutly untrue,lots of employers allow

personal web surfing under limited conditions that most workers agree to in writing. Hasn't anyone here had to sign a workplace internet rules agreement? Honestly?

[eggplant]

101. "absolutely"? as opposed to my "probably"?

If someone is doing personal things at work that have explicit prohibitions, then it is the employee that is taking the risk. Don't like it? Don't do it.

And there are certainly lots of places that prohibit ANY personal surfing on company equipment. When I was at IBM, *every* computer had a sticker on it that read "to be used for management approved use only". If your employer has different rules, then great.

[awoke_in_2003]

231. Mine allows me to use the company computer...

for general surfing on lunch breaks. I cannot understand what is so hard about typing NSFW. Not every one is as enlightened about it as we are, and it takes just one complaint to HR to ruin someones day.

[eggplant]

242. The issue here is that the OP is blaming the real OP (the OOP?) for their own risk.

Everyone seems to be in general agreement here that NSFW tags, in and of themselves, are nice things when they are used. But the issue is where blame lies when someone sees content that they personally feel is objectionable and NSFW but isn't labeled.

The simple truth is that employees who surf on company equipment do so under the rules set forth by their employers (whatever those may be) and it is up to the employee to not break them, not the posters of content that the employee may wish to view. The liability rests with the viewer, not the poster.

One could just as easily blame the Admins at DU for allowing this to happen, but it is much easier to blame the poster, isn't it?

[awoke_in_2003]

243. and the reason that they are surfing under rules...

set forth by the employer is just more reason why a NSFW tag comes in handy.

[eggplant]

244. and yet, NOBODY is arguing that point.

NSFW tags are handy. Not using one isn't some sort of moral crime. Blaming someone for not using one is the height of hypocrisy. Nobody made them read the post.

[awoke_in_2003]

246. Yet almost every one who is arguing...

is either saying it is unreasonable to ask or everyone should grow up. The nipple doesn't bother me. It probably wouldn't bother my employer. I am not everybody.

[eggplant]

259. I'm saying it is unreasonable to alert.

It's like asking someone at the grocery store to move their cart out of the way, and when they don't, running to get the manager.

[awoke_in_2003]

273. people suggested the op

add the nsfw tag to the title- it was ignored. What else can be done but alert?

[eggplant]

279. they can accept that their suggestion wasn't taken, and get on with their lives. n/t

[freshwest]

134. Yup. Not sure where the disconnect from that fact is here.

[panader0]

7. For the life of me I don't get the NSFW thing.

Why would people at work be browsing the internet? Sorry, but to me, if you're on the clock, you're working.

[el_bryanto]

12. Depends on what type of job you have

Some jobs are more about being on call and ready to jump into action if something pops.

Bryant

[Blue_Adept]

16. NSFW doesn't always mean "work"

A lot of people have their computers in living rooms. Open spaces, libraries, cafes, etc.

It's just a common courtesy.

[TeeYiYi]

30. In what universe...

...is breastfeeding considered offensive?

Unless you were actually seeking to find porn on the internet, you should stop reacting like you found it in the form of a breastfeeding infant.

TYY

[Blue_Adept]

32. In a lot of people's universes

Have you been on the internet and met the people that exist there/

And when you add in the business layer with the way so many people (and lawyers) can be about things and what someone may consider harassment, etc., it's no wonder people err on the side of caution. It's not what you expect to come across while going into a discussion thread on a politics forum.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

52. "In a lot of people's universes" Why should we give a shit what those fringe people think?

Last edited Thu Jun 12, 2014, 04:35 PM - Edit history (2)

We don't care about what confederates say every damn day, lol!

[MirrorAshes]

198. Because those people can affect someone's livelihood?

Even if they are "fringe" cases. These are the exact people who would love to mess with someone's life if given the chance.

[DeSwiss]

213. In a f!#!ed up one.

In one so far removed from its humanity that the human body can be seen as offensive instead of beautiful, functional, practical. Just, is what it is.

We have these useless beliefs that are like malware programs running in the background of our consciousnesses telling us what's good and bad and what to blush at or to run from. And we don't even know why.

That's the universe we live in.

For now.

[pipi_k]

226. Lots of people find it offensive, like...

oh, maybe an uptight mom in a library with her kids, and, walking by someone with a breast (or other offensive-to-her-sensibilities body part) on the screen, gets all huffy and starts screeching about the "pervert over there looking at porn on the computer in front of my kids!!!"

Causing a hugely embarrassing situation for the poor bastard who got blindsided, or, alternatively, she only gets snotty with the guy without causing a ruckus and the victim of her rant feels a need to defend himself and a big debate over whether images of breastfeeding are good or bad, etc., etc.


Hey, maybe some people get off on that sort of thing.

I say, if that's what someone enjoys, then let him open up every NSFW post he can find and deal with the consequences.


But just as many people would just as soon skip the drama, thankyouverymuch, and they'd appreciate a simple warning.

Four simple damned letters.

Too much trouble for some, obviously.

[bettyellen]

21. nope, when work shows up I am working before or after 5pm, when it doesn't or the server is down...

I am free to surf. As long as I deal with everything in a timely manner, it's all good. And yeah, IT can be weird.

[The Straight Story]

25. One of my jobs was a site engineer

12 hours of baby sitting servers. If nothing went wrong there was nothing to do. We surfed the net, read books, etc - if something went wrong then we had to jump into action quick to fix it.

Not all jobs are about production and cracking the whip to keep people cranking out widgets.

Most all office jobs I have had people, including the bosses, read news sites, google things for answers, check out fb on and off breaks.

[lunasun]

33. same thing at a fire station etc. Reactive jobs -when you work you really work but downtime occurs

[KatyMan]

127. I suspect most people making fun of the NSFW tag

don't have office jobs like this. My job is similar, there's a fair amount of down time, a huge amount of work/after hours time; it goes with the territory. Nobody on any of these threads is objecting to breast feeding or babies eating or anything, but if you opened that thread just at the point where your fundie boss might have walked by and s/he saw it, it could cause trouble. Why do DU'ers want to cause work issues for their fellow DU'ers? How hard is it to type NSFW?
And screw the glib answers--what's wrong with a breast feeding pic? why are you surfing at work? etc; if your boss saw what you were looking at, all s/he would see is a breast and assume the worst. None of us on this board care about a pic like that, but those around us might assume the worst. Why can't that be respected?

[IronLionZion]

44. Do you have a job?

People who don't have jobs have very extreme assumptions of the nature of many jobs.

[panader0]

173. Construction for over forty years.

So I guess I'm out of the loop.

[FSogol]

8. Michgander_Life! This is your IT department. Stop looking at babies eating and get back to work!

You know how restrictive and vindictive we can be!



Props on fessing up, BTW.

[arcane1]

9. Thank you for introducing the term "nipple alerter" into the lexicon.

I can't wait to use it

[FSogol]

15. "I was the nipple alerter"...I never thought it could happen to me, but there I was....

[arcane1]

34. Sure, nobody *plans* to be the nipple alerter, but unfortunately it does happen.

[FSogol]

37. We blew it. This was a Spartacus moment. We should have all stood up and said, "I was the Nipple

Alerter!"

[deutsey]

69. Would've made a good title for an old B-movie from the '50s

I Was a Teenage Nipple Alerter

I Was a Nipple Alerter for the FBI

[BainsBane]

89. I think areola alerter has a better ring to it

I like the alliteration.

[eggplant]

172. I agree, it just sort of rolls off the tongue.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091579/quotes?item=qt0147126

O'Brien: Damn it, man, what are you so hot and bothered about? Afraid she'll open her jacket and flash her titties at you? You couldn't handle that, could you?

Jenkins: I've seen enough titties in my time.

Moses: I haven't.

Fourth Chauffeur: Been a hundred years since I seen a good titty.

Moses: No such thing as a bad titty.

Jenkins: Goddamn it. There now. That's my point. The little bimbo hasn't been here an hour and all you hormone graveyards can talk about is nipples.

Moses: Didn't mention nipples.

Fourth Chauffeur: We was speaking of the titty as a whole.

[RiffRandell]

23. I was thinking the same thing!

[NightWatcher]

130. I like the term "Nipple Narc"

[PoliticAverse]

254. lol. n/t

[Le Taz Hot]

176. And then announces it.

I mean, I get newbie and all that, we all made our rookie mistakes but this one will go down in the annals (TWO "Ns" --just in case someone's IT department is watching) of DU history.

[Blue_Adept]

13. Nipple Freedom Fighters ahoy

Maybe we'll have thread after thread with it next. Maybe some even will want a pony to go with their nipple. But only young nipples. So we can have ageism nipple threads. It's all about the white nipple privilege.

[FSogol]

20. Why does Nipples Ahoy make me think of chocolate chip cookies?

[Blue_Adept]

24. I'm trademarking that right now!

[PoliticAverse]

67. Sounds like the name of a strip club. n/t

[KittyWampus]

86. LOL! what a funny subthread

[snooper2]

77. chocolate and nipples! YUMMY!

[FSogol]

79. Your thoughts are NSFW.

[Iggo]

64. DECRIMINALIZE THE FEMALE BREAST RIGHT FUCKING NOW!!!

[deutsey]

80. lol

[PoliticAverse]

104. There are groups working towards that goal...

See this wikipedia page on the issue (which is itself NSFW)...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topfreedom

[BainsBane]

14. It comes down to basic consideration

for another person's situation. It doesn't matter if they agree with your company's policy or not. The pertinent issue is whether or not people can find enough compassion in themselves to care about whether another DUer keeps his job or catches shit at work. Clearly too many do not.

[Michigander_Life]

22. I support breast feeding

I just think it's proper forum etiquette to use a [NSFW] tag on anything that could even remotely be considered NSFW.

[vanlassie]

31. You don't support breastfeeding if you think it needs to come with a warning label

And what happened to personal responsibility? The rest of us have to keep YOU "safe" at work? Please. Grow up.

[arcane1]

40. Placing NSFW on a post that might violate a company policy is as old as the internet.

There are rules on DU about posting graphic bloody images without a warning. It's similar, though not quite, the same thing.

It has nothing to do with what one "supports."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSFW

[Michigander_Life]

54. Yes I do

And it's forum etiquette to put a NSFW tag.

A jury agreed with me.

[Lee-Lee]

55. Consider growing up yourself

People have jobs.

People are allowed to use the internet at their jobs.

Many employees take a very hard line on anything that could remotely be considered sexual in a work environment, and all it takes is one prude walking by, seeing it and complaining. What is more if the person complained on is a male with no reason to be researching or looking for breast feeding info an excuse of "it was a breast feeding picture" probably won't wash.

An image like that, no matter how much you may insist it should not offend, can offend. If only seen briefly and not recognized as a breast feeding pic especially.

And that can cause a person trouble at work.

A little basic respect for those realities is not a lot to ask. You may insist up, down, left and right that it should not be considered offensive- and I would agree. But are you going to pony up and defend them if they get in trouble, pay legal fees or lost wages if they get fired your insistence doesn't change the reality of those in such a workplace.

There is the world as it should be, and the world as it really is. We have to live in the world as it is, where that picture could get people in trouble even if it shouldn't. So a little basic respect for those in that situation isn't a lot to ask.

[Blue_Adept]

59. ^^ this ^^

[arcane1]

73. Well-said. It's 4 letters used to preface a post.

I swear, some people are acting as if they are being imposed on over a practice that's older than DU!

[redqueen]

83. Thank you, you spelled it out so well.

It is very disappointing that it has to be spelled out here, but there you go.

[Mrdrboi]

204. Absolutely This

Most workplaces have rules against viewing that stuff. A NSFW is a common courtesy so you dont get someone in trouble. Its a shame alot of people on here dont have that.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

217. very well said, Lee-Lee

[laundry_queen]

65. +1 nt

[noamnety]

88. I have to disagree with you here.

I work at a place with a written policy that we can use the internet during our breaks. And, I work in a job where viewing racist/sexist/sexual etc etc etc material can get us in a lot of trouble. As individuals, we aren't the ones who make those decisions though, so we try to use excess caution and not click on things that give us a clue it MIGHT fall into that category by our employer standards. Normally that's not a problem, I stay away from those sites or posts. It is a problem when we don't have any sort of warning.

I resent being told that means I don't support breastfeeding. I breastfed my own kid til she was older than 2, and I breastfed in public regularly. I've blogged about it on political and parenting sites.

Not wanting to get written up at work is unrelated to my breastfeeding beliefs or activities.

[vanlassie]

249. So let me get this straight. There was a baby. And there

was a mother. But the NIPPLE would get you in trouble at work?

Funny story. My job involves encouraging breastfeeding. I put up posters if mothers breastfeeding. All kinds if them. In the WIC clinics in our county health department. And one day a new employee suggested that we might want to " warn" classes who were getting ready to watch a breastfeeding video in the breastfeeding class. Why? we asked. She said because there were men and children in these classes. Children!! And.... MEN!

Well she was gently helped to take a look at where this idea came from. Apparently she was raised in a very strict religious sect. She came to understand how, if we were to issue a " warning " before every breastfeeding class, we would be conveying the opposite message from what we were trying hard to give... that breastfeeding is NORMAL.

Oh. The funny part. Shortly after this happened I was across the street at out county administrative office. There in front, in all their naked and anatomical glory were a life sized mom, dad, and child holding hands and dancing, in bronze.

[noamnety]

255. Potentially, yes it could get me in trouble at work.

And it's not a fight I would want to have.
And it should be MY choice, not yours, as to whether I'm willing to risk that at work.

What I'm seeing in this thread in a few places is an twist on zero tolerance. Simultaneously people seem to think that no office should let their employees go online at all ever during the work day. Except, apparently, to view breastfeeding moms.

That may be how things work on some jobs. I'm willing to accept that people have different experiences. But a fair amount of people share my experience, which is that people are allowed internet access at work as long as there is no nudity involved (and other restrictions). I'm not interested in confrontation at work; I don't want to get into discussions about whether nudity at a legal nude beach is natural and beautiful or sinful or needs to be censored, or whether a picture of a woman giving birth is sexual or not. I don't want to argue about context. And frankly, neither do my bosses, so the policies aren't written to address each specific potential situation. It's just understood if it involves nudity we refrain.

I don't understand why people are having a hard time with that. It's not that hard to put "potentially NSFW" in a subject line. That's why the acronym exists, because so very many people are allowed to surf at work with restrictions.

[vanlassie]

257. Well given my world view, it would never occur

to me to put NSFW on a post related to breastfeeding. And since, as you correctly state, it is Your choice to open unknown content at work, I say if your employer is prudish about breastfeeding ( Which is not "nudity&quot use your judgement, rather than making it our responsibility to protect you.

[noamnety]

263. Well, we each make our own choices.

Mine is to be considerate of other workers who may be surfing at the office.

Others will chose to take the fuck the workers attitude even after being told this could cause problems; they shouldn't be given internet access during their breaks in the first place, and if they read any new content instead of sticking to messages they've already previewed at home, they should be willing to risk their jobs for it.

I'll keep marking NSFW if I know I'm posting something that could jeopardize a person's job, or cause a letter in their file. You are free to ... I don't know, carry on enjoying not warning people about posts that could result in disciplinary action. I know some people who refuse to put trigger warnings on rape posts and such as well. It makes them happy not to warn people, not to allow others to make informed decisions. I don't get it, but I can't force you to be considerate.

[vanlassie]

267. If I say breastfeeding is not safe for work

I am saying breastfeeding should not be seen. There is no fuck the worker involved. I spend my time trying to solve this terrible state if affairs. Breastfeeding needs to be normalized.

Breastfeeding. But if I was going to post a picture of... Something gross, I would certainly give a proper heads up.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

19. The image of a baby feeding should not be NSFW. That is patently absurd, whether or not

it is the rule.

You were wrong to alert for that reason. The more appropriate alert would have been the gunz aspect of the comment.

However, I will concede that if it is the rule where you work, then in those potential cases, it would be considerate.

Also, you called the poster an "asshole". How is your conduct any better than the OP's refusal to add NSFW to his title?

[Michigander_Life]

27. Because it was a jerkish thing to do

By not flagging it as NSFW he is risking people's jobs.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

35. That you could lose your job for a baby/nipple (I've been severely judged as "underwhelming"

and adolescent and admonished for claiming it's a "breastfeeding" image), is just completely red-shift absurd to me.

As for the jerkish lack of adding NSFW, two jerkishs don't make a...er...right jerkish?

[Control-Z]

93. It would have never occured to me

that the picture needed a warning. It's a nursing baby, ffs.

It wasn't jerkish to post without it a warning. It would only have been a jerkish thing to do if the poster, along with most of the members here, felt as icky about nursing as you appear to. Do you really even know how your work feels about breast feeding?

[Michigander_Life]

94. Posters asked him to put a warning and be refused

That's jerkish.

[Dorian Gray]

275. You can't get in trouble

for using bad language on the internet, though? You'd think that profanity would be just as frowned upon as a breastfeeding picture at your very conservative place of work.

[rug]

39. Welcome to DU!

Henceforth you shall be known as The Nipple Alerter.

[Blue_Adept]

42. Wear it like a badge of honor

Over a shirt though.

[rug]

45. I'd wear one proudly.

[Squinch]

41. To all the people getting on Michigander_Life's case about this,

1) Yes, if someone thinks that a photo of a baby next to a breast is unacceptable, that someone is an asshole.

2) Many employers are assholes. Many people's paychecks depend on the forbearance of assholes.

3) Many people are in a position to surf the net at work, so quit judging someone else's situation. Everyone's job is not the same as yours.

Just have a little consideration. Is it so difficult to say "NSFW?"

[ChisolmTrailDem]

46. People saying not to judge were themselves judging others, lol! BTW,

the rest of your post...

[Squinch]

53. I noticed that.

And thank you!

[Michigander_Life]

51. Exactly

It's just a consideration and forum etiquette thing.

[Squinch]

56. Welcome!

[Calista241]

138. Perfect post!

Like many other posters on this board, society has given others the power to judge my performance at my place of employment.

Criticize the status-quo all you want, but it doesn't change that fact that a pic of a woman's boob was on my computer screen.

My employer looks down upon such content being viewed while he's paying me. A simple nsfw tag would have solved this problem.

[B2G]

47. I totally agree

I am in such a workplace.

How hard is it? Skinny dog pics routinely get 'graphic' warnings, FCOL.

[ScreamingMeemie]

48. I did not see anything wrong with the picture. I also never used my employer's computers for

personal stuff; whether I was on lunch break or not.

[laundry_queen]

72. I'm thinking

I don't want my employer knowing what websites I'm on at all. If your employer hates breastfeeding pictures, what are the chances they're going to smile down on you for visiting a place called Democratic Underground?

[secondvariety]

124. Me either.

If I want to surf the web at work, I'll use my phone. Why give my employer something else to bitch about?

[snooper2]

50. I think it's time for the bouncing boobies song

[underpants]

57. I think I just figured out my screen name for Discussionist

Thanks

[Iggo]

58. Then why didn't you ask the OP to add a NSFW warning?

[Blue_Adept]

61. They did. it was ignored.

[Harmony Blue]

62. I understand your point of view

I support your decision. I wouldn't personally do it but I can see your perspective.

[redqueen]

63. Like I said in the hair-on-fire, OMGZTHEYHIDTHENIPPLE thread,

tagging such pics with NSFW out of consideration for others has been standard practice here for years.

The tone around this place sure has changed.

[ScreamingMeemie]

76. Respectfully though, I have always scratched my head over that...

...I am one of those fuddy duddies who never would have thought to cruise the 'Net at work.

[bluesbassman]

82. Did you just say "tone around this place"?!

Thanks for the chuckle redqueen.

BTW, I agree with your view on the NSFW issue. The hide was valid.

[redqueen]

151. Yeah I did. Why is that funny?

Want an example?
http://upload.democraticunderground.com/10025087888#post142

People are idiots about the net. If someone was being an inconsiderate jackass on the phone, would 'why are you so upset? Its the phone its not real life!' be a logical response?

This place gets more like reddit every goddamn day.

[arcane1]

157. Exactly!

[bluesbassman]

159. Well it just strikes me funny how one persons tone is another's sour note.

I guess it's all a matter of who's listening to the tune.

[MirrorAshes]

211. Except Reddit is generally clear with its NSFW tags.

On the subs I visit anyway. There are certainly parts of it that are just NSFL in general.

[IronLionZion]

66. Hopefully the IT dept wouldn't have noticed the image

I know this is besides the point, but the monitoring/filtering tools usually go by keywords and URLs, which can be clicked on to get more info or view the image. When I worked in an office IT dept. I had a coworker ask me what DU was because he saw it in the logs, but that was it. They're more concerned about installing software or sending large attachments through email.

It doesn't hurt to be cautious, and considerate, just in case.

[Alex P Notkeaton]

70. You're a TITTLETALE!!!

[herding cats]

74. Congratulations! You've created a new DU meme and quite a legacy for yourself!

If I were you I'd add, "I was the nipple alerter" in my sig line.

As you've probably noticed breastfeeding is a hot button topic on DU. When it's breast feeding combined with a nod to guns and an actual pic of a baby about to latch onto some lunch it's a DU trifecta!

Welcome to DU, you sure know how to make an entrance!

P.S. Sorry your boss is an uptight butthead.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

103. Somebody FINALLY says what the intention of the baby/nipple OP was doing! LOL!

Gawd this place is funny...and tragic!

[herding cats]

119. I've laughed, I've cried, I've been distracted.

It's GD at it's entertaining best - and worst - today.

[WilliamPitt]

78. From the ridiculous to the sublime

to the ridiculous.

This is my new favorite GD OP headline of all time.

[sufrommich]

92. I get the impression reading this thread that many DUers

don't understand workplace restrictions. It's not as if workers vote on which restrictions are too stupid to comply with,the restrictions are whatever management says they are. There's a reason NSFW became part of internet etiquette,many people do not have the luxury of deciding for themselves whether something is worksafe or not. A simple NSFW tag is not a outrageous request, it's done every day on forums without this amount of angst.

[Mrdrboi]

212. I know right.

Heres a challenge to the people saying its just a nipple.

Get hired at a reasonable professional place of work. One day casually view a thread about breastfeeding with pictures of full breast and nipples. If your boss catches you viewing that thread come back here and go into detail on what happen afterwards.

[nadinbrzezinski]

96. I am sorry that a natural and beautiful thing (a woman breastfeeding) Perhaps NSFW

is such a puritanical and horrific thing. It is not pornography, but if you work at a place that thinks this. I truly feel sorry for you.

It is the (puritanical) country we live in, I suppose, but I guess there are other things that are quite natural that we should not post, like this.

http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/UnderGear/MA775_F_E12?$dwpg$

The horror, two nipples NOT ONE. RUN!!!!

or this



two more nipples... seriously RRRUUUNNNN!

See now the double standard?

[arcane1]

105. It's not a double standard. That image would be considered NSFW in many office environments.

Nice try though.

[nadinbrzezinski]

107. And it is a bathing suit commercial

see why I am doing this?

[arcane1]

110. That's irrelevant. All that matters is that it could make a coworker uncomfortable to see.

Those of us who work in cube farms are accustomed to this, so I can see why it might be weird for an outsider.

[nadinbrzezinski]

116. I worked in one a few years back

and the rules to this day make me chuckle.

It shows just how much we allow the few and the loud to dominate things, including whether we should allow women to breastfeed at work. To the latter, it is actually quite astounding and sad at the same time.

A few of our puritanical fathers (Cotton Mather definitely comes to mind) would be proud of the pull they still have 400 years on.

[arcane1]

123. I wholeheartedly agree.

And I'm sure there are some lawsuit-fears involved as well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

125. Oh I am positive they are lawsuits involved.

and chiefly the fear of them.

But that does not make them less laugh worthy. (And I feel sorry for those who have to work in those environments)

These days I work on my own, at home, where the most protestation I have is from two conures when we do not feed them fast enough in the morning. It is kind of liberating in that respect, but there are other pressures.

I went, I put the 16-20 hours days at times, and the pay is lousy, so try to make a go at it.

[arcane1]

129. It's become a little easier now, but I still feel out of place in an office.

I could work from home like a champ though!

[AngryAmish]

164. I'm sorry but that picture is offensive...

to those of us who love beer and will never have abs like that again!

Maybe a trigger warning next time. TW: Beefcake.

[nadinbrzezinski]

169. It is a bathing suit commercial

so you can bet on a good dose of photoshop. Somehow I doubt that beefcake is that beefy if you know what I mean.

[AngryAmish]

179. A boy can dream, tho?

[nadinbrzezinski]

180. Just like a girl

it is actually, seriously, fascinating what is done with photoshop to make regular people look more ahem attractive.

[Agschmid]

215. You got alerted on... I voted to leave. Just FYI.

But it's likely you won't see this.


On Thu Jun 12, 2014, 06:15 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

I am sorry that a natural and beautiful thing (a woman breastfeeding) Perhaps NSFW
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5088273

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

I guess I'm the bulge alerter now. lol. But this post is basically just taunting, and could get people in trouble just the same. I'm alerting for the principle, not the content.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu Jun 12, 2014, 06:22 PM, and the Jury voted 0-7 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Let's just say I enjoy my bulges and won't be voting to hide any. Bulges for everyone! (Well unless you're not into that sort of thing).
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Meh. Leave it alone.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Silly alert.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I'm not even sure what the principle is. This post does not appear to me to be disruptive, hurtful, rude, over the top, or otherwise inappropriate. Perhaps in the context of whatever argument is going on, but on its face, this post is fine and even somewhat educational. If people believe it's NSFW, then get it off your screen. It is not DU's mission to police every DUer's workplace.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given

[SidDithers]

100. You've been here for 8 days...

you might want to get a better feel for how DU operates, before alerting on a post like that.

Sid

[Michigander_Life]

106. The jury hid the post

Who needs the refresher on DU operations?

[SidDithers]

109. Welcome to DU...

Sid

[Michigander_Life]

113. Thank you

It's great to be in a liberal oasis.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

139. If we took this away...

...you'd have nothing left to say.

[SidDithers]

143. Sometimes, it's all that needs to be said...nt

Sid

[Rex]

175. One of the worst alerts I've seen on DU3.

The OP would have never had this problem, if only they were WORKING and not surfing...

[whatchamacallit]

108. Lol sounds like the "Nipple Whisperer"

Seriously tho, if people are looking for evidence of the conservative shift in the democratic party, look no further than hiding breastfeeding. FFS.

[Michigander_Life]

111. It wasn't hidden because breast feeding

It was hidden because the OP didn't use a NSFW tag and then refused to add one when posters asked him to.

[whatchamacallit]

122. If your ultra-conservative employers have problems with a mother's breast

how do they feel about you surfing Democratic Underground?

[arcane1]

131. I'm allowed to surf DU during my down time, but I am not allowed to view "nudity"

Hence the common use of "NSFW" across the internet.

[Iggo]

112. Booooooooo.

[Warren DeMontague]

114. You really should have started your OP title with "Fine, I'll Say It"

Somehow, I think that would have worked better.

[kardonb]

115. work

when you are at work , you are paid to WORK ,not to browse the internet !

[Michigander_Life]

117. I don't work at McDonalds

There are myriad jobs in which employees have downtime and browsing is acceptable.

[sufrommich]

118. Yes Mr. Scrooge.

It's the 21st century,we have these things called "breaks" and "lunch hours" now.

[frylock]

235. you don't sign my paycheck, so with all dues..

fuck that shit.

[JTFrog]

276. And get off of my lawn!!! n/t

[Jesus Malverde]

121. .

[intaglio]

126. So because breasts is rude an NSFW tag must attach to -

The Spirit of Justice


Or the Madonna breast feeding


and Hercules feeding


and Rubens "Roman Charity"

[eggplant]

182. *faints*

You know it's wrong because the one at the DoJ has her hands up. (Nanny police not pictured.)

[alfredo]

184. Remember when Ashcroft had a curtain put over the Spirit of Justice statue because

her metallic breast was wagging in the breeze?

[intaglio]

186. Yup, that's why I lead with the SoJ

But I am not comparing any DUer to Ashcroft

[alfredo]

203. A metal tit gives no milk.

[grilled onions]

128. Why Are Woman's Breast,Shoulders,Legs etc Such A Big Deal?

The same male hypocrites who drool over breasts when they are single start getting breast phobia once they have a steady girlfriend,a wife or a sister hitting maturity. As we saw recently a gentle cleavage--even real shoulders had them airbrush those sinful parts.
They want women "natural" but once the breeding is over and the feeding begins again they freak out over a female spigot that is designed for natural feeding. Many cultures not only have no bras but both breasts sway free in the breeze and no one cares. Why is the flat boobs of men ok but woman are almost trash if one of their milk filled orbs expose themselves while feeding baby Sarah?

[villager]

135. Nursing a baby is not "nudity" -- it is "human life"

n/t

[KittyWampus]

200. Can babies nurse through clothing?

[villager]

206. Well, you're free to go ahead and sexualize "nursing"

Apparently, you wouldn't be alone in this sick culture of ours...

[hamsterjill]

140. I really liked it when someone had to achieve 1,000 posts before they could start a thread.

To have alerted on something like this is absolutely absurd.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

141. Rec'd, both for the profundity of the OP title as well as....

....for the notion that people actually live and work in the real world and not everyone can live in the enlightened bubble where others might have the fortune to reside.

[Bluenorthwest]

146. Just fyi, I'd have no idea what is 'safe' for the sort of workspace you might be in. No idea at all.

It would never cross my mind that adults work in places with school yard rules. I feel badly that you have to do that, but for the love of Mike please understand that others have no reason to know the rule book of your workspace and also no reason to follow those rules. Your workplace is alien to me, might as well be Mars. It sure as hell is not Venus. But I'm saying, it is not at all familiar to my experience. I could easily be 'NSFW' and have no idea that I had been offensive to your office culture.

[Blue_Adept]

148. I write about porn all day

It's part of my work. But I wouldn't presume to put it out there for anyone else because I understand that not everyone has the same kind of rules. So a simple NSFW tag would suffice.

[Bluenorthwest]

192. See I do not equate breastfeeding with porn nor with sexuality as you do.

Here are things that would not cross my mind at all: that breastfeeding is seen as offensive, that people have rules about what they can read during free time at work, that anyone who has rules to follow would expect others to know those rules. If one's job depends on other people understanding obscure workplace bugaboos then one should not be opening threads by folks who have not been informed of the bugaboos. To do so is reckless.

[arcane1]

150. Nudity of any kind = NSFW

There. Now you know.

[LeftyMom]

154. Nursing babies is safe for anywhere.

You can do it at work, at church, in front of your judgiest Aunt.

[arcane1]

156. A photograph of an exposed nipple is a no-no in almost any workplace

Surely you are not claiming otherwise.

[Bluenorthwest]

165. Breastfeeding is not nudity in my book.

To suggest that it is strikes me as hyper right wing crapola. My point is that if one's employment hinges on following a set of rules it is patently absurd to expect that others will know those rules and abide by them at all times. If a person can be fired for reading about breastfeeding, then they should probably not be opening threads by strangers who do not have the same set of rules to follow.

[Le Taz Hot]

170. It's not nudity,

it's nourishment.

[arcane1]

183. It was nudity. I have no problem with breastfeeding, but I am also aware of workplace standards.

I know of no company outside of a porn studio that would be OK with their employees looking at pictures of exposed nipples, no matter the gender. My opinion is irrelevant. The context of the photo is irrelevant. These are simply the rules of the business world.

Believe it or not, there are many people who would feel uncomfortable if the man in the next cubicle over was looking at bare breast photos.

[Le Taz Hot]

185. The fact that you see this as "porn"

says it all.

[arcane1]

188. That was rude and uncalled for. I see it in no such way, and it is dishonest of you to say so.

The rules at my job specifically reference "nudity" as being forbidden on workplace computers. I didn't write that rule. How hard is that to get through your head?

If you had any self-respect you would delete that unfair accusation you made about me. We can have a discussion without being an asshole about it.

[Le Taz Hot]

193. I think you should alert.

[arcane1]

194. That you can't admit you were mistaken, says a lot about you

[Le Taz Hot]

197. Nourishment is not nudity.

Most reasonable people would agree. Now, unless you can offer up some kind of interesting intellectual debate, I'm done here. Buh bye.

[arcane1]

205. Tell that to 99% of all employers in America. Hint: the topic is workplace rules, not breastfeeding.

But since you would rather change the subject with every post, it's obvious you are not interested in a discussion. Go waste your insults on someone else.

[Michigander_Life]

158. That's good and all

But the OP had several people ask him to put a NSFW warning and be refused

[Bluenorthwest]

181. My point is this: your job is yours to preserve, if it can be endangered by opening a DU thread I

would suggest not opening any threads. Because otherwise you are risking your gig by trusting people who might have no idea at all the sort of culture you live in. I would not take such risks.

[LeftyMom]

149. Babies eating are Safe For Everywhere.

If you sexualize babies eating you have a problem.

[hobbit709]

152. Well aren't you special.

[Rex]

166. I won't say it is the worst alert I've seen on DU3...but it comes close.

Why are you wasting your companies time by surfing the WWW? Do people actually WORK anymore or do they just play all day on their bosses internet?

[Michigander_Life]

195. Never heard of down time?

[Rex]

202. Don't have any, but you seem to have plenty.

Must be nice.

[Michigander_Life]

208. It's alright.

Some days an 8 hour day may have 2 hours of work. Some days I get to work at 8am on a Friday and don't leave until Monday. It depends on what people manage to screw up at any given time.

You take the good with the bad.

[onecaliberal]

167. Nursing a child is NOT nudity!

[Mrdrboi]

214. But an exposed Breast is nudity in many workplaces.

You need to understand workplaces have rules and such. Viewing nudity is probably something you shouldent do. Its not what you consider nudity is, its what your boss and rules think is nudity.

[onecaliberal]

245. My boss considers that photo a mother feeding her child.

[TheKentuckian]

258. Your boss isn't everyone else's and isn't representative of the average.

I've got all kinds of bosses (think Office Space), all female all the way to the vice president that heads my division and all female HR to boot and I assure you it would not go over well at all.

[onecaliberal]

264. I hear you but your bosses aren't

Everyone either. If they want to regulate your internet use, perhaps you shouldn't be online unless you are doing something that pertains directly to work. I am female and work with both male and females in cubicles. A mother feeding her child shouldn't be controversial with anyone.

[TheKentuckian]

268. I wholeheartedly agree it shouldn't but I don't think we can pretend it often very well could be

and based on my time in corporate America, is more likely than not. Particularly as a man, it only takes one asshole to put your ass in the sling and railroaded out the door.

The poster was not an asshole for asking for the courtesy of a heads up, it isn't their rule or foolishness but they get roasted and not hardly a peep from those working the fire at the actual asshole in the scenario, the employer.

I don't get why folks are so quick to make the worker the whipping boy and described as the asshole, idiot, retrograde (transferring the blame to them for the policy), a lazy shirker abusing their employers resources, or both and that is both stupid and fucked up, to my thinking.

That said, I wouldn't even bring up DU or political sites AT ALL.

If I had a free hand with access and time to breath a moment at work then on their network it would be movies, sports, ebay, gardens, recipes, and other minimally controversial topics that wouldn't risk showing up on any asshole's radar.

Actually, in my situation the system is so locked down that it works the opposite way and I have to use my equipment to do some work stuff or be forced to waste more time getting random sites approved which has proven to be torture only to get what I need long after I need it so I'm not the poster but can certainly understand their concern and sure as hell don't condemn them in any way because to do so is to misplace the rightful scorn.

[jberryhill]

168. Is it "considerate" to call someone an "asshole" on DU?

Explain the "courtesy" of your alert message.

[Michigander_Life]

171. You mocked people's requests that you edit with a warning

You were being very inconsiderate.

[jberryhill]

174. That makes it okay to call someone an "asshole" on DU?

[Rex]

177. That was a horrible hide...I am still shaking my head.

NIPPLEGATE IS UPON US!

[Michigander_Life]

178. Which is worse?

Being one or calling someone on their behavior?

[Le Taz Hot]

187. Look in a mirror, buddy.

[Michigander_Life]

189. Hey there, good lookin'

Whatchoo doin?!

[Iggo]

190. Ah, okay. I see now.

[blkmusclmachine]

191. ,

,

[PatrynXX]

196. DU your on DU

not on HP.

on DU Fuck is allowed in certain areas as well as the other colorful words. Thus the rules.. So maybe if your a newbie you don't know that much of DU is NSFW whereas Huffpo considers itself a news channel.. so they put in NSFW..

[JDPriestly]

207. Back when browsing the internet at work was a kind of new thing, I was asked to do some

research online.

Based on my search, I (a middle-aged very proper working woman) I turned up a picture of men in shorts. I was so embarrassed and quickly scrambled away from that page.

Turns out it was the cover of a legal magazine. The word "briefs" has two meanings. Someone thought it would be cute to put the other kind of briefs on the cover of a boring magazine full of legal stuff.

My sympathies for you.

But when is our country going to grow up enough to understand that the breast also has two purposes, two meanings. What is this about the breast fetish?

Crazy.

[Michigander_Life]

209. Breast feeding is beautiful; it belongs on DU

It just needs a NSFW tag if the post contains a nipple. Because a lot of us have jobs where that is a potential issue.

[arcane1]

210. Unfortunately, that is a much deeper and difficult topic.

But at least we are slowly moving in a sane direction. Too slowly, but at least it's mostly forward.

Then again, it used to be a ubiquitous sight, so it's more like re-moving forward.

[PoliticAverse]

251. Wasn't my fault boss, I was researching 'legal bras'!!.... n/t

[liberalmuse]

218. I grew up in the 1970s.

There were breastfeeding women everywhere. It was no big deal. As a child, I was not in the least traumatized by seeing a woman breastfeed her child. It was something completely natural. What the is wrong with people? Those who sexualize breast feeding are the ones who need to be shamed, instead of shaming women doing exactly what nature intended. Maybe you're the ones who need to control your wayward urges. Animals have more self control. America isn't your idiotic, infantile frathouse, and if it is, it's well past the time the grownups take it back. Please. Grow the fuck up! Breasts were made so that women could nourish their young, not for horny men to grope and drool over. If you can't handle a nip slip, then perhaps you need to contemplate what the fuck is wrong with you. I'm stunned at what people have become these days, - proud members of the quickly burgeoning Idiocracy. Self righteous prudes have caused unimaginable harm to the human race with your purges, censorship, demonization, torture and mass slaughter of people who "offend" your unbelievably thin skins.

[Michigander_Life]

221. This isn't about breast feeding

Breast feeding is beautiful and should be supported. This is about a poster who refused requests to add a NSFW tag to his post.

[eggplant]

280. Actually, this is about an alerter who can't stop shouting "look at me!"

Alerting was over the top. Next time, just put the poster on ignore and you'll never have to worry about them again.

Honestly, for someone who just got here, you seem hell bent on deciding for the rest of us what is and isn't acceptable. This thread is certainly proof that your opinion is far from universal.

So my polite request to you is that you cut everyone a little slack, delete this whole thread, and get on with your life. Since many people here have essentially requested the same, I'm sure you'll respect our opinions and do what we've asked. It's only fair.

Right?

[Michigander_Life]

282. Many people have also expressed support for NSFW tags

What's your point?

Several posters requested that a NSFW tag be added to the hidden OP. The OP refused. I alerted on the post since the OP refused to accommodate a reasonable request and we didn't have any other options. A jury agreed with the alert.

I don't see what's so controversial about this.

[eggplant]

283. Clearly.

And despite so many people taking so much time to make it clear, you seem hell bent on not getting it.

Beyond that, juries around here have zero consistency. My bet is that if it were to happen again, the vote would go the other way, so please stop using the "but I found four people to agree with me" argument as a justification for your action.

And it is *your* action we are talking about, not the other person's *lack* of action.

So tell me, did you actually get in trouble with your employer?

[seaglass]

289. Do you object to Spoiler tags too? Seems to me this is just courtesy. And yeah, not everyone is

courteous of others on the internet that is clear.

[eggplant]

296. At no point have I said that I object to NSFW tags.

Don't put words in my mouth.

[Michigander_Life]

297. That's the entire point of this mess, silly.

The nipple alert happened AFTER the OP refused to edit with a NSFW tag, and then mocked the various posters here requesting the warning tag.

[eggplant]

298. lalalalalalalala.

[seaglass]

302. Sure looks like it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5088280

Star Member eggplant (1,567 posts)
97. You roll the dice, you take your chances.

Don't want the risk? Then self censor -- turn off images while you browse. The idea that someone would expect another poster to censor their own posts because someone chooses to read DU at work and aren't willing to accept the inherent risks is pretty shitty.

Pictures that are not acceptable to an employer? Don't look at them at work. Not sure if that might happen? Don't look at pictures at work.

It really is that simple.

[eggplant]

311. To you perhaps.

The context here is that if your concern is that, while using your employer's computer for personal surfing, you violate your employer's rules, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

If this is the best example you can come up with implying that I'm against people *voluntarily* tagging their content, then your argument is pretty weak.

Let's try an analogy. Some people, when posting threads with lots of pictures, provide a "dial up warning", as a matter of courtesy. Suppose you were on a dial-up connection, and this hypothetical poster *didn't* tag it with this warning, and you clicked on it. This put a bee in your bonnet, so you add a comment to the thread asking it to be labeled, but the OP chooses not to. Is that a justification for alerting on the thread with the hope that the entire OP will be hidden? Or is that justification for you to perhaps put that poster on ignore, or turn off images instead?

In neither this case nor the hypothetical one I describe, did the poster do anything *wrong*. Sure, you might think them a jerk, but there's no shortage of jerks on DU. The OP itself isn't offensive, it just caused some people to say "I wish I hadn't seen that (for whatever reason)". But we're all big boys and girls here, and going nuclear (causing an OP to be hidden) is a disproportionate solution to a perceived problem. Clearly, the OP in *this* thread didn't give a rat's ass about the people who might not otherwise see the OP they complained about -- people who have no issue with seeing the post. They were only concerned about themselves, and then only in the context of their employment when it was their own action that was risky, not the nipple poster.

So, of course, I like the idea of people playing nice and tagging their posts. But I think that overreacting and alerting is FAR WORSE behavior than seeing a damned nipple, and discourteous to FAR MORE PEOPLE than the original post was, particularly since the person complaining assumed the risk when they chose to surf on their employer's computer, KNOWING the rules imposed on them.

[seaglass]

312. Yeah, I don't consider a post being hidden as the nuclear option - since you do I can see why your

responses have been all out of proportion. It's not that big of a deal. In fact it is so not that big of a deal to the original poster that s/he did it again.

[eggplant]

314. Was there a stronger option that they chose not to use?

I think that's the general idea behind the expression "nuclear option". It's the most severe.

[MirrorAshes]

219. PSA: This thread is not about breast-feeding

It's about forum etiquette, and the sad-but-truthful recognition that, wrong-headed as it may be, this could get people in trouble at their jobs. Arguments about whether that should or should not be are irrelevant. It is, and people who do not recognize this are simply being selfish.

[arcane1]

227. Thank you. Perfectly put!

[ScreamingMeemie]

229. When I worked in the brick-and-mortar world, I never used company computers for goofing

off. Problem solved.

[MirrorAshes]

241. Also irrelevant.

Not everyone's job is like yours. More selfishness.

[ScreamingMeemie]

247. Totally relevant.

And yes, I judge people who goof off during work hours by cruising sites such as this.
Sorry, the "alerter" could have cruised DU on his/her own time. There is nothing wrong with the post that was hidden. There is, however, something wrong with alerting on a breast...doing what it was meant to do because one was goofing off at work. You play, you pay. Surf at your own damned risk.

[MirrorAshes]

248. You fail to understand something very simple.

Many people have jobs with down-time, in which they are allowed to browse the net. This is not "goofing-off." It's part of their daily routine, and is completely acceptable.

I judge people who selfishly and ignorantly assume everyone's world is exactly like their own. Doubly so if they insist on other people conforming to their own reality rather than exercising simple courtesies.

I am in full agreement that breast feeding should not be NSFW-worthy, but not everyone shares that view. Would you honestly be alright putting someone else's job in jeopardy just because you may not agree with their employer's policies? How would you react if someone else decided they have the right to interfere with your livelihood and dictated to you how you "ought" to be doing your job?

[ScreamingMeemie]

252. Use YOUR own technology on your

downtime if you're that addicted to the Internet. Sorry. I 'understand' completely, and I call BS.

[MirrorAshes]

260. What a nonsensical reply.

What exactly are you "calling BS" on? People with jobs who are allowed to use the web? Really? Such things do not exist? Or, rather, even if they do they should follow your arbitrary rules instead of those set by their employers?

Explain this logic, if you can. And no straw-men about internet addiction. That is an extremely silly deflection.

[ScreamingMeemie]

271. Perfect sense is being made, and I don't buy the alerter's story.

I've been straight up. Don't use employer's technology for your piddling around on the Internet... and you won't feel the need for a goofy alert on a perfectly fine post. Do it on your own time, with your own stuff.

I don't have any "arbitrary rules." I just think it's ridiculous for people to be goofing off on equipment that isn't theirs to begin with. End of story. No pity from me. It's obvious this person knew this supposed rule of his/her company before he/she decided to hang out on DU. Sorry. It's BS.

[tblue37]

322. I teach at a university. I am required to hold a certain number of regularly scheduled

office hours each week. During those hours I meet with students who come by for help or answers to questions. But students don't always come to see me during those hours--and yet I must still be there in my office just in case anyone chooses to come by.

I also schedule 6- or 7-hour blocks of 25-minute conferences each day during three 2-week periods during each semester. Sometimes students fail to show up for their scheduled conference. Sometimes more than one student in a row fails to show up. When that happens, I surf the net to pass the time while waiting for the next student to arrive.

I don't grade papers or prepare for class in my office. I do that at home, where I won't have to stop and start because of interruptions by students or because a colleague spots me and decides to stop in to say hello. But I am still stuck there until my scheduled office hours are over.

During my time in the office, unless a student comes by for a conference, I surf the net (usually DU).

To say I should not use my office computer to surf the net when I have nothing else to do while waiting for students is ridiculous. For about 30 to 50 hours a week my "own technology" and my "own time" at home is used working--grading papers, preparing for class, researching material for future courses, etc.

Obviously you know nothing about the way a lot of people's jobs work. Many jobs are not based on the factory, the store, or the office secretary model. Many jobs involve being available (on call, as it were) for whenever you are needed, doing the work that needs to be done as it arises, and then sitting around and waiting to be "mobilized" again as more work arises. Also, for many workers, much of the work one does is done at home, on one's own time, and with one's own technology. The time in the office is required so the worker is available as needed, but the worker is not necessarily occupied--or expected to be occupied--all the time.

So no, you do not "understand completely"!

I know this is an old thread, but I have to respond to a judgmental post like this (and the others like it you posted even before this one) because it is based on such a complete lack of understanding about the nature of so many of today's jobs.

[redqueen]

303. Yep. What was once an understood and expected courtesy is no longer. BECAUSE NIPPPLLEEEEEE!!!1!!!1

I cannot believe this shit

No, no wait... nope, I totally can

[Dr Hobbitstein]

222. Would you like a cookie??

Maybe a gold star...

We have become so puritanical... I guess the sexual revolution gave us nothing...

[lostincalifornia]

223. What are you looking at DU for at work? Is that company policy to browse and comment on forums not

related to your job?

Since you indicate a restrictive and vindictive IT department, I suspect they wouldn't approve browsing any non-work related site unless it had to do with making a dentist or doctor appointment

[Michigander_Life]

228. We are allowed and encouraged to do anything we want during down time

Except our company policy prohibits nudity.

Numerous posters asked the nipple OP to add a NSFW tag. He refused and the post was hidden because he refused.

All he had to do was be courteous, but apparently that was too much to ask.

[morningfog]

262. Your company policy prohibits nudity?

[eggplant]

281. Well, it is certainly reasonable for your employer's rules to apply to everyone here at DU.

Honestly, why can't you let this go? Perhaps next time, surf DU without pictures, or do it on your phone, or (heavens!) surf something *other* than DU at work, and wait until you get home to visit here.

At this point, your behavior makes no sense. Just move on.

[morningfog]

236. Welcome back!

[Michigander_Life]

238. How are you?

[SidDithers]

256. Yup. So freakin' obvious...nt

Sid

[Inkfreak]

237. Amazing so many are attacking your work ethic.

As if you don't work or must not work hard enough. They completely miss the true meaning of your alert. Courtesy when making OPs. Now, I wouldn't have alerted but that's me. And my work IT is very lax in these things. Good luck & welcome.

[chrisa]

261. "I am THE NIPPLE ALERTER!" (Superhero pose)

In brightest day and blackest night.
No nipple thread shall escape my sight.
Let those who post a nipple thread.
Meet a random jury's end!

[NealK]

269. Cool story bro.

[pinboy3niner]

270. ...

[Initech]

272. "I Was The Nipple Alerter" would make a great album title.

[Niceguy1]

277. I agree with the alert

There is a difference between a momentary exposure while breastfeeding and the permanent exposure in the photo which makes it inappropriate in the workplace.

[valerief]

278. Bravo. I belong to the Clothes for Family Pets Organization. Too many nipples and testicles

run rampant in our society today. Our group's motto is, 'Cover up those things!'

In addition to honoring the wishes of conservatives everywhere so as not be unduly stimulated, pet clothes serve other purposes.
>For only pennies a day, they provide working children in faraway countries with a means of support.
>They provide fodder for limitless YouTube clips hilarity.
>They make your pets feel special.
>They can be an extension of your personal style.

Whether those nipples (female only) are human or non-human, they shouldn't distract us from our culture's main focus, which is not thinking about sex.

Cover up those things!

[eggplant]

284. STOP SAYING NIPPLES!

OMG, NOW I'M SAYING IT!!11!!1!

AAUUGGGHH!!!

[Logical]

285. Then quit reading the DU at work! Problem solved! WTF! nt

[Michigander_Life]

286. You never heard of NSFW tags?

[Michigander_Life]

288. How?

Several people asked him to put NSFW tags and he refused and even mocked their request, what other choice did we have to protect other DU users?

[pipi_k]

290. You know you're not going to win this one, right?

Four stinking letters included in an OP title would go a long way toward making DU a nicer place for everyone, yet some act like they're being asked to gouge out their own eyeballs and throw them into the flaming pits of Hell, even appearing to blame you for your company's restrictive image policy.


Such a simple request, four little letters...yet such resistance.


And as I read through most of this thread, the image that always came to mind was this:





Except maybe many of those being asked to include four damned letters in an OP title and outright refusing to are saying, "You're not the boss of me!" with a raised middle finger.


I dunno. My advice to you would be to close up this thread and then do whatever you need in order to make DU a better place for you, even if it means hiding images or whatever else.

Someone has to be the adult here...

[hlthe2b]

294. Your embedded graphic image certainly captures the discussions on this....

and probably good advice for the poster. Time to let it go.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

291. NSFW was the norm on DU when it was moderated. Just goes to show how much common courtesy to

fellow DUers has devolved since the inception of DU3.

[redqueen]

305. This is what gets me - other stuff has been hidden for the same reason, right?

Why is it that this time it has resulted in a mass freak out?

The hidden OP was fucking stupid anyway.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

306. Exactly.

As hard as jobs are to come by, can we not respect the fact that fellow DUers in good standing may be employed by very conservative
companies.

Do we really want to jeopardize another person's job just to prove some point which I am not sure what was even the point ...

The Nipple Point ... really ?!

Nipplegate.

jberryhill and Michgander will be forever linked in the annals of DU History for Nipplegate.

cool.

[Blue_Tires]

320. +1

[BainsBane]

292. I remain astounded at how little compassion so many have

over a fellow DUer's concern about keeping a job. Would it kill people to show a bit of empathy?

[randome]

293. You should be forced to print your subject line on a t-shirt and wear it for 7 days!

Just kidding.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]

[lonestarnot]

295. Good gawd.

[yellowcanine]

299. "I was the nipple alerter." Probably want to leave that off your resume.

[Agnosticsherbet]

301. So you are asking for a litle consideration from others? That's cool by me.

If I should post a nipple enhanced picture here, I will mark it NSFW.

[TexasTowelie]

308. Mr. Berryhill had another thread hidden:

Open Carry Supporters, Check In Here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025093218

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

YOUR COMMENTS

Jberryhill needs to give up on the provocative crap. His previous thread was hidden because of a bait-and-switch thread title and this thread isn't any better. He is making DU suck.

JURY RESULTS

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Fri Jun 13, 2014, 12:18 PM, and voted 4-3 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: This is the kind of crap that blossoms anytime there's a crime with a gun. If you can't argue your POV intelligently find another subject to obsess over.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation:
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: It would be okay if posted in the Lounge. Otherwise, needs a NSFW warning.

Thank you.

[Michigander_Life]

310. Wow, is he just trolling?

[Capt. Obvious]

309. Nipplerter™

[arikara]

313. You could look on sites like CBC, CNN and the Guardian

and still run the risk of spotting a boob or a nipple or two... with no nsfw tag. Why not just do what anybody else does who comes across something they don't want to see online and just quickly click off the page. If a person hovering over your shoulder accidentally saw it too, just say something like "sorry I didn't expect to see an infant having a meal on that page. I hope you weren't offended."

#ffff

You learn something new every day as they say, until I looked at this inane thread I never knew what nsfw stood for. Now that I know what it is, I can understand it used for things like brutality, gore, outright porn... but breastfeeding?

Here's a good story about a bus driver's response to a breastfeeding complaint.
http://www.sodahead.com/living/babys-hungry-a-daddys-perspective-on-nursing-and-nursing-in-public/question-4174317/

[Rex]

316. Seriously, DU the site should not have to worry about our surfing habits.

This thread is amazing in that you did something wrong and got a lot of people to agree with you! ONLY on DU!

[Michigander_Life]

317. It's not about the nipples

It's about a poster mocking, and refusing, a request from several DU members to add a NSFW tag. It's a simple courtesy.

[Sissyk]

318. Okay, everyone!

Just admit it. You all keep arguing over NSFW/don't care about NSFW just so this thread title can stay on the front page.



I admit. I smile every time I see it.

[retread]

319. WTF is a nipple alert?