MySpace Says Baby on Boob Must Go (Edited - Now with MORE INSANITY!)
It never fails…. You’re sitting at your computer wondering what you’re going to blog about today and just when you’re about to give up and go eat something junky and yummy instead, you come across yet another absurd story that makes you wonder how the United States ever became such a “superpower” because we’re so goddamned backwards in this country.
Behold the instant blog fodder provided courtesy of MySpace and brought to my attention by Linda Thomas over at the Seattle-Post Intelligencer.
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You’d think a major player like MySpace would have learned from those who came before them (like the Pork Board, Delta Airlines and Fred Meyers stores) that bullying breastfeeders and those who support breastfeeding is just plain bad business. But noooo…
It appears that MySpace’s attitude can be summed up in two lines:
Boobs for fun and profit = VERY, VERY GOOD!!!
Boobs for breastfeeding = PORNOGRAPHIC and OBSCENE!!!
In a nutshell, there is a mom over on MySpace who is a breastfeeding advocate. On her page, she has the above photo of her baby breastfeeding and you’ll note that you can hardly even see her breast but MySpace has already deleted it three times because it “violates MySpace policies against nudity and sexually suggestive images” and has threatened to boot her off MySpace.
WTF? Do the people at MySpace EVER look at their own site??? There is nudity and “sexually suggestive” imagery all over that beyotch. And they want to pick on a breastfeeding photo? It’s so ludicrous that it’s almost funny.
According to Linda Thomas, the mom put the image back up on her MySpace page and is ready to take on this challenge. YGG!
EDITED TO ADD: This other story was just sent to me by a reader/friend about a woman in her hometown being told to leave a mall because she was breastfeeding. That’s not as insane as some of the comments, particularly ones left on the follow-up story here. What kind of lunatic-ridden country are we living in???
ALSO EDITED TO ADD BECAUSE TWO TALES OF MADNESS ARE JUST NOT ENOUGH!!!!: This story is from Jennifer over at The Lactivist — There’s a mom in Central Ohio whose day care center was charging her an extra $10 a day for “handling” breast milk. She eventually pulled her child from the center and she’s now prepared to take this story national. Apparently, the center may be putting a new policy in place to refuse to even accept breastfed children. You can read more about it here.
AND (Yes, there’s MORE!!!): Today I received multiple “Death to IzzyMom” and “Die IzzyMom Die” comments on this post about breastfeeder harassment (all from the same person). I deleted all but one. Unbelievable…
If you’re writing about these stories, let me know so I can link you here:
Rock ON, Sistahs!
A Mom, a Blog and a Life In-Between
Diary of a Reluctant Housewife
We have a myspace page for our business. The content of some people’s pages and the ads…oh, the ads! Horrible. There is even a website called Tom, change the advertising http://www.tomchangetheadvertising.com/. The fact that that picture was removed is beyond ridiculous.
If she were 18 in a g-string with her boob showing it would be fine. It’s because everyone on myspace is 12. Gack!
I moved BTW. I think I may have to partake in some of your blog designing skills soon…because I suck at wordpress.
jesus CHRIST! i don’t even know what to say. except to say i’ll be following the story and hopefully joining in any rally cry. oh, and i’ll be b.f. a whole lot more in public. asshats.
Wow, considering MySpace, that’s one of the most ironic things I’ve ever read. So if she put a pic of herself wearing nothing but a g-string and pasties, it would be OK, but showing just a little bit of boob while breastfeeding (and I see no pink nipple area in that picture) is obscene?
Sometimes I wish I could move to Europe.
Oh. Jesus. I can’t take it. All those tits on that site and a healthy breastfeeding woman is banned. What the hell?
I can’t take it.
That just leaves me stunned.
did you decide on a place to move? I’m super curious now. (especially since we talk about where we might end up someday too and NC is a possibility…)
That just pisses me off!!!
Tried to comment re: other places to live but was distracted (by something shiny I’m sure). I was going to suggest the Research Triangle too. NC seems to be the best of both worlds. I love DC, but agree it may be too cold for you. We do have long Springs and Falls!!
By the way, thanks for the encouragement today. I really appreciated it!!
MySpace is really LostinSpace. JayZues!
Man, what a hottt and sexy photo! Is it getting steamy in here?
No, really, that baby could be sucking on someone’s fist for all I know. Crazy.
Sigh. It almost makes me want to get a myspace page just so I can post photos of all my nurslings over the years. Dolts.
Not yet. I plan to present Husband with all the possibilities after I go through and sort through all the areas everyone suggested but I have to say N. Carolina is looking pretty good right now.
Insane. I’m getting hit up every other day by nearly nude chicks with sexcams on Myspace, and they’re worried about pics of women breastfeeding? Please.
Remember when Mr. Stapler said something about it being a photo of someone EATING, and what was offensive about that?
This whole breastfeeding is obscene thing is OUTRAGEOUS. Unfortunately, even if all the Mothers shut down their MySpace pages, there are enough twelve year olds to take their place, so i doubt MySpace would suffer.
You’re right. I have some disturbing images now permanently implanted in my mind that I would have rather not seen thanks to myspace. And they are banning this??? That’s nuts!!!
Tom’s an idiot and myspace SUCKS ;)
so are we all organizing and putting up breast feeding pics? Of course mine would be way mor e”lewd” as I have tremendous nipples and a baby of an ordinary head size. Has someone made a hotbutton to put up too?
I hate people
I hate that myspace doesnt delete drag queen wang pictures but is concerned over a boob with a baby’s head in front of it
This is just stupid.
I just want to add that as long as there are half-naked women on the streets and on TV, on billboards and on buses, mothers have the right to breastfeed anywhere. I say we start asking for sponsorships, put ad tattoos on nursing boobs. Windows Vista, the WOW starts NOW, right on my left boob. See what they say about that.
Thanks Izzy. Seeing what people in my hometown think about this makes me think I need to move too.
Hard to understand their reasoning. Have they even looked around at what’s on MySpace? Why does breastfeeding arouse such feelings in people? I mean I’m not really comfortable nursing in public myself but I wouldn’t come after those who did like that.
It is amazing that MySpace doesn’t get sued more than they do. Especially with children lying about their ages on their pages and impersonating adults.
This just adds to their long list of problems.
There are just not words adequate enought to express my disgust with MySpace and all the other anti-breastfeeding twits out there!
Well, actually, I have adequate enough words, but they tend to be of the vulgar variety, so it’s just best left unsaid. I wouldn’t want you to ban me for my potty mouth.
We just cannot get it right in this country. The government decides that the best way to encourage moms to breastfeed is by equating formula feeding with riding a mechanical bull while pregnant, you know, instead of actually doing something important like making a six-month paid maternity leave a guaranteed thing so moms and their babies can actually succeed at nursing. And I’m so damned tired of all the people getting their panties and boxers in a wad because of mothers breastfeeding in public. What message are we sending? By all means breastfeed, just don’t leave your house for the length of your lactation!
We’re so messed up.
I’ve never been inclined to have a MySpace page, but I think I’ll go and create one just so I can post pictures of my kid on the boob… Every breastfeeding mom should do it! I think I’ll start recommending it to every breastfeeding mom I know… We freak out MySpace with all of our boobs!
Speechless, I am. What a world we live in…
I had no idea breasts were still so controversial.
I am relieved, though that myspace still allows 13 year old girls showing off their thongs to dirty old men and that it remains perfectly acceptable in their eyes to do so. Lovely.
Seriously? We get the luxury of seeing Britney’s cha-cha uncovered. We’ve all seen the video links of Paris’s romp in the sack(s). And this week I’ve been seeing pic’s of that Antonerella (or whoever) girl from American Idol either going to the bathroom or giving a BJ.
A breastfed baby…that offends me though. I’d much rather see a pic of some 13 year old girl half naked trying to get abducted by a pedophile off MySpace.
Sic ‘em Izzy and all breastfeeding moms! I really hate stupidity.
I can’t help but laughing at death to izzymom…over…breastfeeding? As in something that undisputably does a body good.
Well then I say, death to Richard Simmons! Death to makers of low-carb bread! Death to all the states with a seatbelt law!
and oh, do I looooove your response to jackass!
Oh my god! Now I want to make myself a t-shirt that says, “Boobs! For Fun and Profit. (Ask me about my breastmilk.)”
This country REALLY needs to get over its issues with nudity, especially with breastfeeding. Give me a break.
I think we’re getting just about as stupid (as a society) as we can possibly get now… and this is a prime example of it. Sexualizing breastfeeding? Penalizing women who are using the equipment they were born with for - gasp! - its intended purpose (lactation)? Outstanding.
Jesus. Sometimes I am in favor of having blinders on, since it allows me to believe we live in a different world than we apparently live in. Just as I thought EVERYONE understood that breastfeeding is what breasts are FOR, and that the concept of “babies eating” is GOOD and also REASONABLE, we get THIS crap. Why are there so many stupid people? I know we have to have SOME, just to balance the gene pool, but must we have so MANY? and must they be in power-wielding positions?
Does anyone have the url of her myspace so we can see it?
I just added some breeastfeeding pics to my MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/cynanne
Lets see what happens! Cindy
GEZZZZZZZZ~ this is ridiculous, I just added more breastfeeding pics to My MYSPACE
http://www.myspace.com/cynanne
Cindy
We have the same the same debate going on over at my blog- it’s absurd!
Stupid is alive and well in this country. It’s awesome that when breasts are used for something OTHER THAN OGLING that we have a problem. Yep. Totally makes sense.
This is not the first time MySpace has fought this fight… I was involved in a similar MySpace hullabaloo in 2006. The e-mails from the company made it blatantly clear that they didn’t get the difference between breastfeeding breasts and sexual breasts.
Now you’re getting threats? Geez, who knew breastfeeding would stir up so many idiots?
Thanks for the link to the Lactivist. I didn’t know about the daycare issue going on in my city - I’m going to have to get involved in that one.
There are some sick puppies over at Myspace. This picture is considered nudity or sexually suggestive? They are sick and perverted. Idiots!
Wow! THat is astonishing. I always think that everyone’s “friends” photos look like strippers…
Lisa
Great post. I’m with you. I nursed my daughter for two years. I never could master it in public and never felt a need to, but that was simply me and my choice. My daughter and I were as discrete as could be, but that didn’t stop the nasty naysayers (beloved family) from telling me I was primitive and it was disgusting. What’s with that?
Good grief. Seriously, this is perverted. Underage boob in girls gone wild. Boobs to sell the overpriced highrise going up near ym neighborhood against my will. But nursing OH GOD HELP US, a BREAST being used for its INTENDED PURPOSE. ARGH! You said it well. And it’s outrageous.
Hey head over to my place. I tagged you with an award.
Why oh why oh WHY do people even CARE if other mothers breastfeed or not? How in the world does it affect them? Because they have to explain to their children what that mommy is doing? Life is FULL of sights that may require explanation - frankly, I’d think that breastfeeding would be one of the easiest and least painful to explain.
Just gt over to The Lactivist. Yeah, I had some daycares I checked in with while PG with #1 tell me the same thing. One had an outright ban, telling me they wouldn’t “risk their worker’s health” by handling “hazardous bodily fluid” and so refused to give breastmilk to babies in their care. One had an upcharge and a limit. A couple of the daycares pushed early feedign as well. This was a big reason why I sought more expensive private childcare.
Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Iz.
The whole thing just makes me laugh. Otherwise I’d cry. Pathetic. Breastfeeding is beautiful and if I’d have been able to I would have done it EVERYWHERE.
Also, death-threats? Sister, you’ve finally made it to the top!
unFUCKINGbelievable. Really. Takes my breath away.
Anyone who says that the battle for women’s rights and equality and blah blah blah is over needs to consider this: until we have the unfettered freedom to PUBLICLY MOTHER OUR CHILDREN WITHOUT FEAR OF PERSECUTION WE ARE NOT FREE.
Un-freaking-believable.
Hope you are feeling better soon! Cause YIKES!
OMG!!! This is crazy - what’s wrong with people? My Space has some of the most freakin weird junk on there and they’re taking this off?
I think my dog just gambled my house away playing poker last night too.
People who complain about breastfeeding are usually the ones who rarely feel the warm embrace of another human, and spend their nights alone with one hand in the Haagen Daaz and the other on (in) the naughty bits. Yay boobies, bugger off MySpace. - OML - Babies Make Me Drink -dot- com
In my little Atlantic Canadian City, a similar picture was pulled from the cover of the free weekly arts magazine last year. It’s unbelievable that this keeps happening and then it happens again and again and again. It’s enough to make a gal want to cry or hold someone’s head under water.
a breastmilk handling fee??!!
I just can’t even begin my tirade on that, it’s so unfathomable…gah!
I can’t even read posts like this because they fill me with such rage and such an awful feeling of helplessness that it physically hurts.
People like those behind MySpace, that daycare center, and the mall make me feel like we live in the most ass-backwards nation in the world.
Like many commenters have stated, this kind of ignorance makes me rage. Why is it that MORE examples of this ludacrisy and not less of it are sprouting up? Time for action, my friends.
I’m many years past the breastfeeding stage but the attitude of MySpace and others with the same mindset still set my teeth on edge.
Well damn it, I cracked and had to post about this. Enjoy!
http://tere-tere.blogspot.com/2007/02/breastfeeding-is-not-wrong-or-ob scene.html
My 6-year-old son has the same suck-ass flu. I’m waiting for his younger sibs to inherit it. Than I’ll have more soiled watery poopy pants to wash in a huff. Ew. I posted about the breastfeeding thing at MySpace too. It’s important to keep these issues at the forefront, even on my fledgling blog.
After reading this, it makes me angry. I just went to myspace and reported one myspace page with an almost naked girl and other pictures posted up with a lot more showing than the breastfeeding picture shows. I never wanted a myspace page and never will. How long do you think myspace will last? haha
I have just discovered your blog through the MomBlogs community, and I just had to let you know how much I enjoy your blog! Nice to meet other informed, educated Moms. I am blogrolling your site on mine, and I will be coming back often to visit. I also think you might be interested in the whole censorship debate over the book “The Higher Power of Lucky.” You can check out my take on that at my site, http://www.coolmomsrule.blogspot.com. Bet it will make you as angry as it did me. Great blog! Keep up the good fight. Love ya!