25% of Babytalk Magazine readers call August issue cover inappropriate

[Kadie]

Is this really inappropriate?


'Breast' cover gets mixed reaction
By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer
2 hours, 14 minutes ago



NEW YORK - "I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one person wrote. "I immediately turned the magazine face down," wrote another. "Gross," said a third.

These readers weren't complaining about a sexually explicit cover, but rather one of a baby nursing, on a wholesome parenting magazine — yet another sign that Americans are squeamish over the sight of a nursing breast, even as breast-feeding itself gains more support from the government and medical community.

Babytalk is a free magazine whose readership is overwhelmingly mothers of babies. Yet in a poll of more than 4,000 readers, a quarter of responses to the cover were negative, calling the photo — a baby and part of a woman's breast, in profile — inappropriate.

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it.

"I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast — it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060727/ap_on_he_me/breast_feeding_cover_2



here is a picture of the cover




This photo made available by Babytalk magazine shows the cover of the August issue of Babytalk, a free publication distributed by subscription in doctor's offices or at baby gear and maternity stores. The magazine's editors were surprised when, in a poll of 4,000 readers, and its readership comprised almost exclusively mothers of babies, fully a quarter of the responses were negative, calling the cover photo inappropriate. (AP Photo/Babytalk magazine)

[Deja Q]

1. No worse than this one:

Or the other one where it's a grown man doing the same thing as that baby, called "Playboy".

[rfranklin]

6. Hey, I didn't know there was a Penis magazine!

Talk about shocking!

[Kadie]

23. I didn't even notice that until you posted.

LOL

I was trying to figure out what might be inappropriate about that cover.

:rofl:

[rzemanfl]

2. Do these yokels know where babies come from? What the

hell is offense about this picture?

[liberalhistorian]

5. That's a good damned question.

It always amazes me when people get bent out of shape about stupid shit like this, especially mothers, who should be the last group to be "offended" by something like that. God, don't people ever have anything better to do?

[Arkansas Granny]

52. Do these yokels know what breasts are for? Looks like the baby

in the picture has figured it out.

[Radio_Lady]

62. Breasts? They're for men to fondle and suck, not babies.

Jeeze............................

It's a sexual thing!

[Arkansas Granny]

70. You're right. What was I thinking? That selfish baby should be

ashamed for subverting that breast for his/her own use.

[Control-Z]

95. So has this one.

[rfranklin]

3. 25% who were offended are the same yahoos who support Bush....

I'll bet my boobs on it.

[salinen]

15. alright

I'll see your boobs and raise you a teste & scrotum

[peacebird]

4. what sort of twisted creature sees that image and thinks "sexual"?

:wtf:

it's an adorable infant looking up at mommy.....

[rfranklin]

14. Mommies who like Daddy to stimulate their nipples...

I've heard it feels good.

[undeterred]

37. I've heard thats how they get to be mommies

in the first place.

[Warren DeMontague]

64. Yeah, well, I use my hand to flip people off, sometimes.

It doesn't mean that's its only function.

[peacebird]

99. hmmm - you equate baby suckling at teet to foreplay with daddy?

:wtf:

wow. That type thinking leaves me speechless......

[Mnemosyne]

61. Dobson. n/t

[JuniperLea]

7. Not even a nipple showing!

Jeez! It could be a chubby elbow for all we know.

I'm about as prudish as it gets on breast feeding... having done six years worth myself under a carefully placed blanket... and this doesn't bother me at all!

[Monk06]

19. Not to mention jamming number 10 on the cute-o-meter.

[JuniperLea]

29. Very cute indeed!

I'm a sucker for baby pictures:)

[Monk06]

40. You're just a sucker. I'm an idiot. I have tons of BB pics. All species.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. OK, I'll say it, and I'll be blunt.

I live in a sane country.

You don't.

That'll be all. Have a nice day.

[Kadie]

32. ROFL

:hi:

[CrownPrinceBandar]

33. Okay.....

Can I come live with you? Portuguese shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

[rockymountaindem]

54. Pervert!

Repent Brazillian sinner, with your beautiful women and all your rum!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

67. Wrong commies. Rum is in Cuba. We have cachaça, which is much better.

Fidel hates us for that.

[rockymountaindem]

93. Well, if Fidel hates you

maybe you're not so bad after all!

[lukasahero]

66. LOL

Best. Response. Ever.

:rofl:

[Greyhound]

79. You expecting an argument?

One good thing that the coup has brought us is a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror of reality. Of course we hate it but at least a few more now know what a monstrosity we are to the rest of the world.

A psychotic giant armed to the teeth, with murder on his mind.

[kestrel91316]

89. Gee, thanks a lot for rubbing salt in the wound...................

[dubeskin]

9. Is that even real?

I mean, how does anyone know it really is infact, a breast? I mean, a large enough elbow or knee could look exactly the same! Also, I mean, they don't get this mad over Playboy and such magezines, but I mean, there isn't any nudity on the front neccesarily.

[uppityperson]

10. yep, that looks sexual to me. Protect those teens!

"I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast — it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."
"I'm totally supportive of it — I just don't like the flashing," she says. "I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."
:sarcasm:

I do not care if my son or husband sees a breast, actually I like them to be comfortable enough with the human body to not particularily care if they see one.

[conflictgirl]

75. The second part of that quote jumped out at me, too

"I'm totally supportive of it — I just don't like the flashing," she says. "I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."

Can we say, hang-ups?? It sounds to me more like she doesn't want her son to see a breast (because, really, is there a breast a 13-year-old boy *doesn't* want to see?) and that she doesn't want her husband to see anyone's breasts but hers. It sounds to me like she's the one who can't see breasts as functional, and that they're only sexual. I've noticed that most people who freak out about breastfeeding are not only the ones who didn't do it, but are also the most uncomfortable with the idea of breasts being used to feed infants. They are typically much more comfortable with the idea of breasts as sex objects, instead of viewing them as functional. And how ironic that most of the people objecting to pictures like the one on that magazine cover don't freak out over beer ads showing women in skimpy bikinis.

If our society wasn't so uptight about breastfeeding and it was more commonplace for women to nurse in public, boys would grow up from a young age seeing breastfeeding as a non-sexual act (because that's what it is) and might not be so titillated (no pun intended) by the slightest glimpse of a breast. Really, sometimes it seems like the majority of the nation are like especially immature 11-year-olds. :eyes:

I nursed all of my kids, my youngest two each for more than a year. I nursed in public and most people never knew it. I didn't cover up with a blanket (I felt like that would be equivalent to draping a sign over me that said "HEY! NURSING BABY UNDER HERE!") and didn't flash people either. And I never nursed in a public bathroom - how disgusting! I loved the stores that had the separate "lounges" off the bathroom where moms can sit and discreetly nurse. Many, many more women nurse in public than most people ever notice, because when it's done discreetly, you can't even tell. It just looks like the baby is resting in your arms.

[calico1]

11. A breast is not a sexual thing for a baby!

What a stupid comment. Do these women not have breasts or not know they are used to breastfeed? This is what happens when the human body is treated as something dirty and shameful to people like this from the time they are young. All they can think about are the "sexual messages.":eyes:

[Bjornsdotter]

12. Small-minded people

Who probably think nothing of letting their children watch violent movies....but a naked breast...HORRORS!

Words cannot truly describe the contempt I feel for people like these.

Cheers

[CottonBear]

13. I wonder how many Playboy magazines Mrs. Ash's son has viewed?

These people are freaks. It's a baby being fed. Get over it.

[Iniquitous Bunny]

16. This is how nature designed mammal babies to eat.

Breasts can be sexual, yes, but they have another function. I'd have no problem with my boys seeing this. I think it gives them a realistic, healthy attitude about women's bodies.

How much you want to bet that Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas lets her son watch movies that show people get blown up? But a breast? Gasp! The horror! :eyes:

[arcane1]

39. I'm offended by the word "mammal"

since it clearly refers to the act of breast-feeding... I urge everyone to write their congressmen to pass a law changing this pronographic taxonomic term to something more wholesome

:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

[Beaverhausen]

17. That's hot

[Solly Mack]

18. feeding a baby is "shocking"? "gross"? "sexual"?

a picture of a baby being fed on the cover of a magazine about babies and parenting is "inappropriate"?

You know, becoming a hermit is beginning to sound really, really good.

[robertpaulsen]

20. My initial reaction?

AWW! How cute!


Seriously, WTF is wrong with this country? Can we get over Puritanism already?!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

21. My first thought was

What a great picture...purity and innocence.

Amazing that there are folks who can actually see smut in this sweet pic.

[sarge43]

45. Yup

The look of love and contentment on the baby's face - beautiful.

[panader0]

22. "News of the Weird" by Chuck Shepard today

"Conservative legislators in Ottawa became enraged in June when they learned that the Canada Council for the Arts had given 9,000 Canadian dollars to performance artist Jess Dobkin to stage "Lactation Station," a bar serving human breast milk from six contributors in a setting similar to a wine taste."

[SmokingJacket]

24. Sheesh, it looks like elbow.

Only a quarter of the responses were negative. Probably a lot of the same people who wear "modest" clothing to the beach. (http://www.wholesomewear.com/page-4.html)

People used to freak out about ankles, too.

[Hans Delbrook]

69. Off topic but I swim 3 times a week and I gotta' ask

How the F*** would you possibly swim in that shit? And I notice men have no need to be modest, right?

[Sydnie]

25. I think that is a beautiful picture

I breastfed both my kids. I have to assume that the women that complained didn't. I loved the time it afforded me with my babies and the bond it created. You can see that in that baby's eyes too.

Some people amaze me that they have survived this long without a feeding tube. They don't appear to have enough sense to feed themselves, as Dylan would say.

[Hippo_Tron]

26. BREAST BREAST BREAST BREAST BREAST BREAST BREAST BREAST

I guess I need to go wash my mouth out now.

:eyes:

[Nikki Stone 1]

27. There' s more frontal exposure on a Cosmo cover

This breast is so innocuously photographed that it is almost unrecognizable.

[xchrom]

28. "A breast is a breast — it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

and that's the problem right there -- a woman raises a son and is over protective about breast-feeding.

i'ld hate to think about what kind of shit she is filling that boy's mind with -- and whoever winds as his partner later in life -- i feel sorry for them.

[Pastiche423]

74. That son of hers

could end up like my ex-husband. I had to beg him to take a photo of me breastfeeding our daughter. I wanted at least one (and one is all I got) photo for the memory of the loving and connecting moments I shared w/her while feeding her the best and most nutritious food a baby can eat.

He thought it was gross.

I thought he was warped.

[xchrom]

77. it is warped -- and the pics were for your memories.

why rain on your parade?

[NC_Nurse]

30. Some people are so F$%^d up!

It's a BOOB, people! Get over it. :wtf:

That woman's poor son is BOUND to be messed up thanks to her weird squeamishness about bodies and sexuality!

[WildClarySage]

31. "Special Report: Why Women Don't Nurse Longer"

Perhaps because we live in a society that discourages nursing as something nasty and sexual so much so that 25% of those responding to that poll think a baby nursing is something offensive and shameful???

[ulysses]

35. we have a winnah!

:thumbsup:

[HockeyMom]

46. Nursed until daughter weaned herself

at 20 months. Yes, she gradually stopped all by herself. You are correct I got a lot of negative remarks from everyone, including family members, when nursing went beyond the newborn stage.

[KoKo]

48. In Modern world we have access to other "milk" And there's TEETH

PROBLEM which makes nursing after a certain point kind of "painful" for modern women.

Not saying that's a problem for "all women" but having a "teether" chewing one's breasts takes alot of patience that many working mothers at home or elsewhere would find a hinderence in our modern lifestyles. Having a three, four or five year old needing to nurse would really be very time consuming for the amount of milk needed to digest for those larger bodies to have proper sustenance.

:shrug:

[WildClarySage]

71. Other milk isn't tailor made for the baby consuming it.

Nursing moms quickly learn how to stop bites. And a 3,4 or 5yr old isn't usually nursing for nutrition but for comfort and security- so not a lot of milk is needed- it's usually just a once-at-night bedtime routine thing by that age.

[KoKo]

81. That works and is comfortable for some...but for others a bed time

story and time alone together, plus soy or rice milk or the other substitutes available today can get around the problems of milk allergies in helping the mom who has to work. :shrug:

[conflictgirl]

86. I nursed each of my youngest two until they were almost 2

They definitely had teeth by then, and had gone through teething, and have to say that they NEVER tried to use my breasts as teething toys. I was very dedicated to nursing and had many, many friends who were similarly committed to nursing their kids, and I have never ever heard of anyone who felt that teething presented a problem for nursing.

Most of the beliefs about nursing older kids are just myths. And people who nurse toddlers aren't still providing their sole source of nutrition, like they would when the child was still a young infant. It's the same as it is with any other type of milk for toddlers - it's a supplement in addition to regular meals.

I believe that most toddlers (maybe not as old as 5, but between ages 2-4 is still very very reasonable) can benefit from nursing as a supplement to meals. I'm sure you've heard the slogan "human milk for human babies". Most people think it's weird or wrong to breastfeed a toddler, but have no problem giving the breastmilk of another species to the same kid. What's the difference? The only difference is that one is designed to be fed to that child. There is absolutely nothing in cow's milk that is somehow more suitable or appropriate for a toddler than mother's milk. If you think about the fact that most toddlers are notoriously picky eaters, having them drink milk is a great way to fill in the nutritional gaps.

Quite honestly, I had a much bigger problem with nursing being uncomfortable in the first month after birth, when the baby was learning how to nurse, than I did with any of them teething as toddlers.

[Liberal Veteran]

34. What an appalling and shocking thing.....

....that 25% of people find a picture of a baby being fed the way nature intended is inappropriate.

[Pugee]

36. Soooo, 75% of the responses were positive?

Why does media focus on the negatives and not the positives?

[eppur_se_muova]

87. "Positive to enthusiastic." nt

[KoKo]

38. It's a Fundy Ploy to get mothers all upset that Breast Feeders

are being hurt by the MSM. Rove and the Christians using us.

Breast feeding movement goes back to 60's .....but most of us were "discreet" and didn't flaunt "popping our breast out in public places" for all to view so that we could "get a reaction."

There are "emergency situations" of course where one might need to do this...but only in the event of a TERRORIST ATTACK would that maybe come into play. :shrug:

I'm sure there are other views than mine on this, though. I'm not a person comfortable with displaying "private parts" in public...and would seek "privacy" for me and my baby for my "breast feeding moments."

[arcane1]

43. first, I doubt most moms do that just to "get a reaction"

second, most of the civilized, sane world doesn't even consider it a "private part"

seek all the privacy you need, but you shouldn't judge the motives of those less-uptight than you are

[KoKo]

50. Woo Hoo...I have a right not to "flaunt my breastfeeding" just the

same as those who want to do it in PUBLIC do also. But, if you are talking about "Modern Times" here in America...I wonder the motivations for someone not going to the "ladies Room" or seeking a "private space" to feed one's baby...

I would be happy feeding openly in a "Village Community" with supportive groups if that was my "culture" to do it...but it just isn't something that in "Modern Times"(in American culture) one has "village support for" in the middle of a Shopping Mall or Airport, or on a street corner.

There are places where one can go ...not to make things public. And there are ways to do this in public...discreetly.

[arcane1]

53. can't someone just "do" it, without it being considered "flaunting"?

the motivation for most people doing it in public is simply because they don't let other people tell them how and where to feed their child, that would be my guess. I highly doubt it's all some big ego-trip on the mother's behalf

I utterly fail to see what is so offensive about this... it's been done forever!

to each their own, I say- if you prefer to do this in private, do so! But it's prejudice to presume some ulterior motive just because someone doesn't do it YOUR way.. and if they do it in public, I can guarantee it's not done simply to offend you

[KoKo]

58. Yes...but when it's cleverly disguised as a Fundie Issue then I

have a problem with it. It's a "manipulation issue." That was my point.

BTW...did you breastfeed? I did...so if both of us were breastfeeders then maybe we can reach an agreement on how we feel about the issue and what our experiences with it were.

[arcane1]

60. I'm not following the fundie part

I couldn't grasp what you were saying there... Fundies are the ones offended?

I'm a guy, but I was breast-fed, and it wasn't treated like a dirty family secret. I can certainly understand wanting to do it in private, however.. hell, if it were me, I'd probably do it in private too.. I'm just not offended when I see it in public

then again, I live in a city where people can run around naked, so my mileage may vary :)

[KoKo]

76. lol's wherever one lives is probably important....

:D.....I see it as a fundie issue in that there's nothing the Fundies want more than to force women to stay in their homes and home school and be "servants" to their lord and masters (hubbies).

So, any time I see issues that cause us to argue with ourselves on the LEFT, I figure in today's Manipulated Media, Publishing world that it means it's "planted." Women are on the "outs" unless they are Repug women like Condi (no children) and Coulter (no children) who can go out there and attack all Democrats for their beliefs.

Where I live it just wouldn't be appropriate to whip open one's T-Shirt or Blouse in a public place and sit down and whip out my boob. But, the fundies really would love to have this as a new issue because it would be the "Right to Choose" in a new venue.

I don't have a problem if someone comes from a culture where sitting in a mall, a store or an airport and they need to feed their baby and the whole family is there with them. Or, if in an emergency one can't get to a "private place" and that baby needs to be fed.

But, with all the stuff one can do today to be "mobile" in our society if one has to be at a job where the baby can't go...and women deal with it with "breast pumps" or "supplemental bottle feeds" when they can't be there...it seemed odd to me that national magazines would make an "ISSUE" of this...given that most are owned by Mellon-Scaifes or Rupert Murdoch type folks who really aren't all that interested in whether their third, fourth, fifth wife or their mistress is interested in "Breastfeeding rights" one way or the other.

I know it's a complicated issue but we women worked it out years ago...and to see it now in Parenting Magazine as an Issue (and there's been other articles lately on this) makes me think it's another Right Wing way to 'create dissentions and promotion' on a female issue and then let the RWingers start to do legislation whipping the voting crowd up in the churches.

That's what I was trying to say, in the main. :shrug:

[arcane1]

90. ah, ok, I see what you're saying

and very good points, too!!

:toast:

[WildClarySage]

68. Why on earth would I want my baby eating his lunch

in the john? I wouldn't eat mine there.

[Iniquitous Bunny]

100. "I wonder the motivations for someone not going to the "ladies Room" "

Perhaps people don't want to feed their infants in a toilet stall because it's dirty. :shrug:

I was a breastfeeding mother and did so as discreetly as possible but because I was not raised to believe there was anything shameful about something so inherently normal, I didn't feel the need to possibly compromise my baby's health (and my own comfort) by feeding them in bathrooms. I'm frankly shocked to see a suggestion like this on a progressive board (and from a woman no less).

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

41. WTF? When people have sick attitudes about sexuality

and probably flunked biology, they freak about about BREASTS, even when used for their actual purpose. You idiots, if you hadn't flunked biology you would understand that people are mammals and this is how mammals feed their babies.

Like this:






No difference. It isn't sex, it's lunch.

[Mnemosyne]

65. Pornographer!

:evilgrin:

[RC]

92. You just hit on the real problem.

Some people do not consider people as animals, let alone as mammals.

[otohara]

42. Yum Yum -

that's what I see - a happy baby, eating.

[Lautremont]

44. Here's another fine quote from Gayle Ash of Belton, Texas:

"I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."

Oh yes, thirteen year-old boys and husbands of prudes are the last people who'd want to be surprised by the sudden appearance of a breast.

[arcane1]

49. LMAO, no kidding!

her, son and I bet her husband too, have never seen a breast they didn't want to see :)

[karlrschneider]

47. Human females have teats? Who would have ever known???

jeezus...

[Deb]

51. What kind of Mothers are these women??

I see a baby eating, they see a sex toy. How sad for them and their children.

[arcane1]

55. self-loathing mothers, that's my guess n/t

[hedgehog]

56. You know, I wonder if it really is so much a sex thing as

discomfort at being reminded that we're really animals, too. Some of us may say that humans have souls as well, but the fear of having a body is ingrained in our culture right back to Roman times. Not all Romans feared the body, true, but the ones who did seem to have had the most influence down through the ages.

[Warren DeMontague]

73. I think there's a lot of that going on

Denial aint just a river in Egypt, as they say.

[brook]

85. I think that's somewhat true.

I have heard people make disparaging comments about multiple births- *twins, triplets, etc.- comparing the mother to a brood mare or to the babies as a litter. In fact, 30+ years ago, it was common to hear such remarks in supposedly 'polite' society. I guess it's tied up in our Puritan heritage.

[Cleita]

57. Somebody really needs to take the pencils out of those

people's asses. It makes them unreasonable and cranky.

[JerseygirlCT]

59. Oh good grief

That's adorable!

Why is it that our f'd up culture hasn't got a problem with some celebrity twit showing this much skin, but a nursing mother, using that thing for what it was made for, is a big problem?

[Warren DeMontague]

63. At least it's only 25%.

Morons.

[porphyrian]

72. Yeah, that's so much worse than war exploitation...

:eyes:

[Greyhound]

78. Ain't puritanism grand? And to think of all the other benefits it has

given us "In God's Name".

:puke:

[Redbear]

80. Two Horrible Facts in One: We don't breastfeed enough and we are messed up

about sex.

Breastfeeding MUST become second nature in this country. It is a huge public helath issue.

Our society is so hung up about sex we are teaching people to fear sex, hate sex, and have your live determined by other people's ideas about sex.

[Telly Savalas]

82. Locking

No sex threads.

[Catchawave]

83. ...heh....

[TheCowsCameHome]

84. Could be a baby pic of Limbaugh kissing Bush's ass.

[bleedingheart]

88. How sad that a female breast...would be offensive to some people

the breast that nourishes and feeds infants would be "gross" to some??? those folks have either a puritanical or pathetic background...

meanwhile the same person will watch some disgusting tv show about people who are dared to eat spiders and goat testicles to win a prize....and they find a woman's breast disgusting...

[LincolnMcGrath]

91. This is front page stuff. Let the world see these kooks out in the open.

K & R
K & R
K & R
K & R
K & R
K & R
K & R
K & R

[madmusic]

94. "I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas

[long_green]

96. Lucky little bastard

it's inappropriate that I can't do that whenever I want.

[MrsT]

97. That little feller is really working it!

[readmoreoften]

98. That could be a knee or an elbow.

It could be anything, it's a sort of semicircular airbrushed mass of flesh.