Repeat after me... Breastfeeding is not OBSCENE!!
...and yet, the breastfeeding witch hunt rages on... And very strongly on Facebook again!
More breastfeeding pictures have been removed, people's accounts have been blocked or suspended and there is much confusion about what Facebook's actual policy on breastfeeding photos is or if they even have one.
You would think that they do have one based on this response from Facebook's own Help Centre.
But in an article published in the Vancouver Sun yesterday, Facebook's Canadian publicist said that,
"...although Facebook does not have a specific policy regarding breastfeeding images but given that Facebookâs policy is no nudity it would be best not to post (breastfeeding images),.."
The mixed messages from Facebook are enough to make my head spin!
For the whole back story and media updates I will direct you to my friend Jodine Chase's blog. She has been chronicling this most recent battle daily since it all started on Sunday when Emma Kwasnica, founder of the Human Milk 4 Human Babies milk-sharing network (which ironically started on Facebook), had her breastfeeding pictures flagged, removed and her Facebook account suspended for 24 hours and then another 72 hours after that.
In a show of solidarity with Emma and ALL breastfeeding mamas and their rights to post these photos on Facebook and as a kind of virtual nurse-in (and yes, I will re-address my stance on nurse-ins in general in another post), I asked my fellow mamas and followers on the Natural Urban Mamas Facebook page to post their breastfeeding photos.
And the response was amazing...
All night long and well into Monday mamas posted amazing, beautiful, funny, newborn, toddler and everything in between BREASTFEEDING photos all over the Natural Urban Mamas wall!
But I wanted to do more.
And so I made this.
I hope you like it.
I hope you will share it.
And I hope that not one of you backs down or ever feels like you need to cover up or "do that somewhere else" while breastfeeding, whether in real life or virtually by not posting or removing your nursing photos from social media sites like Facebook.
This is for you Emma and for all of the breastfeeding mamas out there fighting this battle and working tirelessly every day to make the sight of a breastfeeding mother the normal, commonplace, not-really-a-big-deal, just-a-baby-eating, thing that it really is!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdvVVAtTo4Y[/youtube]
Give those babies some Booby Snacks Mamas!
Natasha~
Video music credit goes to:
The Star Wars Theme by John Williams
Booby Snacks by Moorea Mallat, www.songsforbreastfeeding.com
Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine, www.florenceandthemachine.net