Facebook Breastfeeding Photo Protest

[Sakamachi25]

Facebook is a private company. They can do whatever they want. It doesn't matter if it's legal or not, facebook can regulate what they allow and don't allow. if you've got a problem with something they do, then don't be a customer of theirs. This isn't about breastfeeding, it's about what facebook is allowed to do with their own servers (BTW, the answer is: whatever the hell they want). No rights are being violated here.

[debn31]

And finally - bfing is perfectly legal in almost ALL places (a few states lag behind). So if an activity is legal why are the pics not?

The only reason FB has gotten away with things so far is because internet law is still catching up. Wait for it. It will happen.

And finally - making these pics out to be something shameful sends an awful message. Bfing can be a tough job as it is. I've known women so shamed, they quit. THAT is unacceptable. Some people really need to grow up.

[debn31]

And why do they leave the others up and take down the bfing pics? Because FB can't make money off the bfing ones....breasts with a solely sexual purpose make $ and attract male members for FB.

Also, the sooner society, including its' younger members are at ease with breasts first being for feeding and secondly for any sexual purpose, the better off we'll ALL be.

Society needs to be desensitized just like they were to overtly sexual images/violence (only in this case, it'll be positive)!

[debn31]

Anyone who says they are protecting "the adolescents" (or whatever) because it can be sexual, must have their head in the sand.

Porn is easily available to them, and even just looking at magazine or billboards of your garden variety can net you about as much boob as most breastfeeding pics contain. Give me a break....the point is, Facebook does not care if bfing pics stay up or go down. They take them down if they feel like it but leave up the others that really ARE sexual/risque...

[4y6857]

I am a 50-something yo male, happily married for 30+ yrs to the same woman. We have reasonably successfully raised four kids, all of them breast fed as infants. She is a WIC Certifier and lactation consultant who counsels new moms that the best start they can give their new babies is to breast feed them. Doing so is incredibly better for the child than formula feeding. That should give you some idea where I stand on the issue of breast feeding. Its good! All new mothers who can should do so!

[4y6857]

The primary issue that started this protest was not Should mothers be allowed to breast feed their babies?, it was Does Facebook have the right to control the content of their website? My immediate response is Of course they do.

They set up the site, they pay for all the equipment that makes it possible, they pay the salaries of the employees who maintain it. Its their site.

[4y6857]

As I understand their current policy, they do not ban all images of children being breast-fed, only those that display a bare breast/nipple(s). So their issue is not with breast feeding, per se, but with the display of the female breast. Again, I have no problem with that.

With regard to the issue of the female breast being an erotic trigger: anyone, male or female, who says that it isnt either doesnt know or doesnt remember what its like to be an adolescent male in this society.

[4y6857]

Should you, the breast feeding mom, be allowed to post images of yourself breastfeeding that new baby that you love so dearly. Of course you should. But realize: that image of a warm and wonderful experience of bonding with and caring for your child, is, at the same time, a powerful, sexually arousing image for almost all adolescent males. It is not a case of either - or, but both at the same time. Ignoring that is ignoring a reality that will not go away and cannot be argued away.

[4y6857]

(Note: Im not commenting on the various brands of others who would look at these videos for the singular purpose of being aroused. Im sure the vast majority of nursing mothers do not choose to feed that appetite. But , again, saying that it shouldnt be there doesnt make it go away.)

And until you pay the bills for operating and maintaining FB, you cannot require its operators to post any and all images that you submit. Its their site and their standards, not yours.

[destituteillusion]

this is hilarious..and pathetic. nothing better to do?

[random514]

Wow, you all are never gonna get those rights, facebook is extremely strict and I'm surprised they didn't call the police on you all!