What Do You Think of TIME‘s Breastfeeding Cover?

[julieisafemme]

I did not read the whole thread yet. I just had to chime in. I breastfed my daughter until she was 3 1/2. I initiated the weaning. She was not pleased. She still remembers it! I did not shroud my child in a shawl. My child did know that it was my body and she did not lift my shirt whenever she wanted. I see that as teaching a child boundaries. We all have our physical space.

I don't like that picture. It does not represent my experience of breastfeeding. As far as the acceptable age for nursing? Pfft! I support any Mother to make that decision for herself. I practiced attachment parenting in the way that felt right to me. Children are individual. I don't fault any woman's decision on how to raise their child.

[Beloved]

I agree the photo was meant to be provoking. There is something about her stance, the look in her eyes, etc. People are talking about the issue which is not a bad thing. The title makes me think the article has something to do with the "mommy wars."

I never nursed in public to get a reaction. I was just doing what needed to be done and at the level I felt was acceptable. It wasn't meant to be a statement or to shock. I do hope that maybe by other mothers saw me maybe it would encourage them to do the same. It's kinda like coming out of the closet, the more people that do it, the easier it is to do yourself.

I have nursed everywhere. Would you rather my child scream bloody murder in a restaurant or nurse quietly? I think most people would choose the latter.

A woman I used to go to a playgroup with was nursing her month old baby in the food court of a mall with a big nursing cover. Someone at the table next her asked her is she could do that someplace else! Unbelievable! He couldn't even see anything. She said no and stayed but said after she left she cried.

It's not up to mom's to make other people comfortable with breastfeeding. It is not perverse, obscene, or sexual. Get over it.

[Medusa]

I think there is a reason they used a standing male child in the photo.

How do you think the general public would have reacted if the child had been a girl?

[girl_dee]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I think there is a reason they used a standing male child in the photo.

How do you think the general public would have reacted if the child had been a girl?

Excellent point, not to mention the mom is easy on the eyes.

i feel that the men in the world thing our tits belong to them and that nursing babies ruin their fun/fantasy.

[The_Lady_Snow]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I think there is a reason they used a standing male child in the photo.

How do you think the general public would have reacted if the child had been a girl?

I think it would of had the same kind of comments and they would of been just as ugly. Her son being in the pic (she has 2) I feel scares the binary thinkers and leads them down the road of perverse crude thoughts and comments.

We seem to hypersexualize children a lot for some odd reason.

[The_Lady_Snow]

Originally Posted by Cajun_dee

Excellent point, not to mention the mom is easy on the eyes.

i feel that the men in the world thing our tits belong to them and that nursing babies ruin their fun/fantasy.

Exactly, womens bodies are not their own, patriarchal shenanigans and impositions would have you believe that a womans body is for men's enjoyment and we have holes to fill and a set of titties for them to do so as they please.

[Quintease]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I think there is a reason they used a standing male child in the photo.

Um yes, she had a male child. It happens.

[aishah]

http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/1...-lynne-grumet/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shanno...b_1510510.html

two really good articles about the model and her kids.

[girl_dee]

The mom model was breastfed until she was 6. She had this to say about remembering it.


What’s that memory like?
It’s really warm. It’s like embracing your mother, like a hug. You feel comforted, nurtured and really, really loved. I had so much self-confidence as a child, and I know it’s from that. I never felt like she would ever leave me. I felt that security.



Her son in the photo is almost 4, she also has an adopted 5 year old. Interesting woman.

[girl_dee]

i also love this

"But people have to realize this is biologically normal. It’s not socially normal."


thanks for the links aishah

[JAGG]

No one can dispute the fact that a mothers milk is what is best for the BABY. Any BABY! Any baby animal until they are old enough to hunt for themselves or eat solid food. And when a baby is hungry it should be fed. No one should take issue with that. That's what breasts are for, but breast feeding a 6 yr old? I find this very disturbing, alarming and beyond strange.Once a child has teeth, they no longer need substance from breast milk, they can get it from food. I haven't read the article , nor do I care to. If it's ok to breast feed a 6 yr old , why stop there ,why not a 16yr old ? Or a 26 yr old? There are plenty of ways to nurture and bond with your kids ,that doesn't involve breast feeding a child who no longer needs it for substance. I find it disturbing, on many levels.

[aishah]

Originally Posted by JAGG

No one can dispute the fact that a mothers milk is what is best for the BABY. Any BABY! Any baby animal until they are old enough to hunt for themselves or eat solid food. And when a baby is hungry it should be fed. No one should take issue with that. That's what breasts are for, but breast feeding a 6 yr old? I find this very disturbing, alarming and beyond strange.Once a child has teeth, they no longer need substance from breast milk, they can get it from food. I haven't read the article , nor do I care to. If it's ok to breast feed a 6 yr old , why stop there ,why not a 16yr old ? Or a 26 yr old? There are plenty of ways to nurture and bond with your kids ,that doesn't involve breast feeding a child who no longer needs it for substance. I find it disturbing, on many levels.

the model states in the article that she breastfed her older son (who is i think 5 or 6) because he was adopted and the process was really traumatizing for him. she only did it for a short amount of time to help him adjust and connect while he learned english and got settled in. makes sense to me.

[girl_dee]

the model herself was breastfed by her mother until 6 and she weaned herself.

[girl_dee]

2 things came to mind a while ago

1) Pacifiers, do people who have issues with "extended" breastfeeding (only called that in America) have a problem with a pacifier? Or is it just the child on the breast that seems bothersome when the child wants to suck ?

2) In this country we drink cows milk. The child stops drinking breastmilk and goes to cow's milk, sometimes at 6 months - a year. Again is it the child attached to the breast that is the issue? Seems like mothers milk would be the better choice, so is it the child's independence we are trying attain?

[princessbelle]

I never breast fed and the reason i didn't is because i went back to work 6 weeks after giving birth, both times. I did not want to "pump" due to the inconvenience quite honestly and that was the only reason. My kids had formula and they were healthy and i don't really have an issue with either way. I think as long as the child is healthy and thriving, keep doing what you are doing.

Now a pacifier, that is another story...

My oldest never would take one, he actually gagged when i tried to give it to him. My youngest was over 3 before i got him off of that. He called it his "ossie-wass" no clue where that came from but it was comfort to him and he would panic when it wasn't around. So would i . Not positive that him getting braces was because of that or not, but that is something that i've heard. The suckling need in every baby is something that they have to have and is an ingrained way of staying alive.

As i've said before, whether you breast feed or not and whether you do so until whatever age YOU see fit as a mother and child dynamic, it's YOUR business. Given the context of feeding and nurturing, there is no wrong way in my book.

[girl_dee]

Belle i was wondering if the breastmilk/formula would come up. It's not the issue at hand, attached parenting is but i do not like when formula moms are judged!

i believe in "nurturing", i believe a mom feeding her baby a bottle can be just as nurturing as a mom breastfeeding.

[RockOn]

I do not have children but think breast feeding is a normal thing some moms choose to do.

feel free to correct me:
By age three, aren't children well into eating on their own? If this is true, I am not understanding the purpose of this photo.

My curiosity made me wonder. What if this child on the cover were female ... Would it bring out gay-haters in the U.S. to rant this could create lesbians? I do believe the child's gender in photo was selected with tremendous care.

[The_Lady_Snow]

So after watching a few interviews, learning more about the intent I can now really voice what I strongly feel about this particular way of marketing, because it's what it is marketing.

The magazine stirred up tons of controversy the way the child is posed, it's put Moms against Moms regarding who's the better parent or not. The picture is misleading since I thought it would be about when or when not to breastfeed a child and how Mom's that choose to are literally being bullied in society and shamed for doing what feels right to them.

It's a OLD MAN telling women how to *parent*, how to be *better* Mom's. What the hell does this old guy know and most importantly WHY are we as women listening to this MAN telling us or giving us advice on how to better parent.

I'd rather seek advice from a Mom before some old guy who they could not put on the cover because let's be honest, Mom on the cover is the sexist ideal of a *hot mom*

Thin, blonde, pretty he's not gonna sell covers like she is, throw in a stool and an almost 4 year old child posed into the mix and you have controversy and this magazine sells a bit more, women are dogging out one another on Mother's Day.

It's disgusting sometimes how we allow *men* to display images of us (women) in ways that can be, are demeaning especially to something as important as.

Motherhood.

[RockOn]

I came into work today. I used my cell phone to reply. Since I am at work, I was only able to read a couple of posts above mine.

I do want to come back when home and read all the other posts.

thanks ...

[The_Lady_Snow]

Originally Posted by Brock

I do not have children but think breast feeding is a normal thing some moms choose to do.

feel free to correct me:
By age three, aren't children well into eating on their own? If this is true, I am not understanding the purpose of this photo.

My curiosity made me wonder. What if this child on the cover were female ... Would it bring out gay-haters in the U.S. to rant this could create lesbians? I do believe the child's gender in photo was selected with tremendous care.

I think and feel people would be just as ugly, how anyone can sexualize a child is ridiculous to me since children up to the age of puberty are pretty genderless unless we as parents are enforcing the binary of what boys and girls are "supposed to do"


Anything we do as parents don't "make our kids gay/bi/trans they are either born this way and if they don't know right away they should be given the chance to express or experiment with their sexuality without shaming from a parent.

Anyways that's what I think I could be wrong.. She was selected because she is a parent with 2 sons who practices attachment parenting, it's savy the way the war on women continues in the tiniest of ways especially in the media....