[...] The Sexualization of Breastfeeding When not Babbling about babies, she's doing recipe development and contributions for publications such as SELF and O magazines, or posting healthy recipes and occasional gratuitous photos of her dogs at DailyGarnish.com. Ceridwen Morris is a writer, … Read more on Babble (blog) [...]

[...] of boobs, I wrote a letter to mine this week. I also discussed whether or not a porn star should be able to breastfeed in [...]

Hell no. More power to her. All breasts are sexualized, not just the ones on porn stars or strippers. But that shouldn’t stop women from breastfeeding in public. Also, by Furry Girl’s logic, Young shouldn’t be allowed to give birth vaginally either…

I actually kind of know Furry Girl. #twodegreesofseparation Really love some of the early commentary on the Jezebel article-more thoughtful self-probing I’ve seen so far than irrational outbursts.

I’m surprised by how on the fence I am about this, personally. Not that she needs to not breastfeed in public-that’s not something that should ever come into play. I am a breastfeeding supporter, I nursed all my babies, even the one I had at 16. But I understand some people aren’t comfortable with it, and I think their comfort level with their children is critical, too. After working in child protection, I saw firsthand the long-term effects of poor bonding on a family and I think that can be a bigger problem than lacking the health benefits breastfeeding gives. I think its bizarre that breastfeeding is even an issue, honestly. It’s better for the babies, but formula is fine, to me. Do what you want, feed your baby where you want. It’s not my business. My business is to educate and prepare my children about and for what they will see in the world, including breastfeeding.

All that being said, my discomfort with this is more based on where these images are displayed. If alongside what is broadly considered porn, well, yeah, I don’t think that is appropriate. Not because of the breastfeeding itself, but because I don’t feel that children should be a part of that material. Aside from the obvious kids don’t belong in porn argument, there are legal issues as well. Firstly, there are laws commonly called 2257 that strongly regulate age and ID records for adult performers. A simple clerical error, even if all performers are over 18, can lead to large fines and even prison time for the record keeper. I wonder how that is being handled. And what about consent? The child can’t give his/her consent, and for the rest of his/her life these images will be out there. To hit the exploitation angle from another perspective, how ethical is it to use your child as a prop to further your agenda? It happens all the time, political figures staging family photo ops, for example, but doesn’t it kind of cheapen the message you are sending about personal freedom when you choose FOR your child?

To address what the performer here says is her message, I do think the idea of how motherhood and sexuality coexist is worth exploring. Yes, we are still mothers while we are expressing ourselves sexually, and there are some interesting dynamics in how we manage both in our lives, and how each affects the other. But respecting my children and their autonomy is more important than using them to further that agenda.

The REASON breasts are overly sexualized is BECAUSE of professions like hers. The pornography profession is high on the list of people to blame for this problem for ALL women. If the public is used to and has only previously been exposed to this woman’s breasts being used in a sexual manner, what else are they supposed to think!? I highly doubt that 150 years ago (before “pornography”) women were worried about breastfeeding or breastfeeding in public because of the possibility of their breasts being seen as sexual.
Note, that above I said overly sexualized. I would imagine that 150 years ago that husbands loved the sexyness of their wives breasts, just as they do today…however, I doubt that there were whispers and sneers when a woman breastfed her baby in public and I doubt that she was ever told that she needed to keep that “kind of activity” in private.

If pornography, play boy, etc, etc… ceased to exist, then this issue would become all but obsolete.

I think it may be helpful for you all to actually reference the art work and the artist statement to provide context to both this work and myself as an artist.

http://feminapotens.org/wordpress/artist-statement-for-becoming-milf/