Titstorm: Facebook Bans Breastfeeding Photos, Inspires Protests

Facebook has drawn ire from and inspired protests by women’s groups after its decision to ban “offensive” photos of women breastfeeding their children. The site claims that some of these photos show too much breast and violate Facebook’s terms and conditions. Those who continue to post such photos risk losing their accounts on the site.

Explains Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt:

“Photos containing a fully exposed breast (as defined by showing the nipple or areola) do violate those terms (on obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit material) and may be removed. The photos we act upon are almost exclusively brought to our attention by other users who complain.”

Is it not the case that, usually, photos can only be viewed by one’s friends? Some friends, man. Not exactly…. bosom buddies… are they? Chortle.

One of the women who had photos removed was new mom Kelli Roman, who subsequently created a petition called “Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!” Others chose to create a virtual “nurse-in” on the site, flooding it with photographs or nursing mothers.

One mother put Facebook’s decision into perspective, saying:

“I find it offensive that (Facebook) can remove my photo but not the close-up picture of a thonged backside I have seen on a friend’s page – or remove the “what kama sutra position are you?” quiz application.”

We, personally, don’t find either offensive and believe comparing a thonged backside to a nursing breast only serves to further sexualize the act of breastfeeding. Instead, wouldn’t a better argument be to make the point that breasts aren’t inherently sexual and that the act of breastfeeding is nurturing and a bonding exercise between mother and child rather than being solely (depending on what you’re into) erotic?

Of course — and this is from someone who has never had a baby — we can’t really fathom posting our child’s pictures on Facebook without his or her consent in the first place. The way we see it, nursing is neither beautiful nor offensive - it just is. We do, however, view it as something private shared between a mother and her baby - something special between the two of them. Posting photos of mothers nursing is, to us, akin to posting photos of proposals, post-coital embraces, the moment you learn you are pregnant or that a parent has died, or other some other such moment some think best to keep folded neatly in one’s own memory. The corrosion of that line between personal and public, sharing and exploitation, is the one thing that makes us most wary about sites like Facebook. Of course, this shouldn’t mean those who enjoy sharing those moments should be banned on doing so based on the argument that its somehow offensive or obscene.

They become old enough to cause us grief, we retaliate by posting potty training photos on a social networking site. Tit for tat, you know?

Mothers protest at Facebook ban on ‘offensive’ breastfeeding photos [Daily Mail]