Facebook breastfeeding pic takedown gets backs up

Sems like the usual...

American response to Breast feeding. Never quite understood why breast feeding scares them so much, anyone know?

I like to keep abreast of these things

According to "Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette and Modern Manners", one should never expel liquid from any orifice in public.

Here we go again/still

So, they're not exactly backtracking -- still using the same 'cover my arse' line of "Photos containing a fully exposed breast - as defined by showing the nipple or areola - do violate [the site's] terms on obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit material and may be removed."

Still able to see pics of paintings portraying (artistically done, of course) nekkid people but as that's not a photo then it's 'art'. The theme of some painitngs could also be called to question as there are scenes of rape and violence. Be a change to see a thought-out policy instead of one dictated by minorities - fat chance, but would be welcome.

Tittards

"The photos we act upon are almost exclusively brought to our attention by other users who complain,"

So why not throw them off Facebook for being ubermoralistic tittards?

Nah, it's not jealousy

It's just a matter of whether or not you've joined that religion. You know the one - where things that are wrinkly, discolored, and smelly are now "beautiful". Where one of the most painful and, erm, indecorous moments of a person's life is something to be filmed - 'cause let's face it, we'll want to watch that over and over again, right?

Could it be this is just another case of class and good taste taking a back seat to the inane need to publish every last detail of one's life. I'm sure junior will love it when he hits his teens and the pic of 'mom and him' is still in some google cache... And no, this isn't just the Y chromosome talking - none of the ladies I know well would be inclined to post pics of this sort. I'm not saying it's actually obscene mind you - a response of "grow up" would do the complainers a lot of good. But I can understand why one would get confused by the idea "omg omg omg I must be allowed to post these pics on this service of yours I leech for free"

Yes it is natural

But it is not obscene, nor cute or the slightest bit endearing, interesting, unique or worthy of note.

It's just a kid drinking ffs. OK the container from which it is drinking my raise of few snigger's from those with a school boy mentality, moral outrage from those who are sexually repressed or sexual arousal from those who are, well sick for want of a better word.

However it can be very funny, bitty anyone?

Re: More Obscene Nipples

That is a _UK_ site by a _Dutch_ company you insensitive clod. It is not destined for taleb^H^H^H^H^Hpuritan controlled audience.

@Sarah Bee

"Boobs have been sexualised" - Unfortunately so have huge steaming turds by a certain minority! (Not including myself).

On the whole breastfeeding thing I don't really have a problem seeing somebody breastfeeding, for those that do may I offer this piece of advice - DON'T BLOODY WELL LOOK THEN.

i followed one link

and the only thing i found disturbing about the pictures was the age of some of the breastfeeding "babies"

some of them look to be 4 or 5!

You gotta be pretty desperate...

...to post pics of breast feeding in a public forum. Try getting a LIFE.

bitty

Can't see the problem with breastfeeding at all myself. Mrs Bobbles nursed our son and will no doubt nurse our next child.

The problem seems to be that western societies have trouble remembering that we are still members of the animal kingdom. Mammals at that, mammals being distinctive in that they have mammary glands(breasts) and nurse their young. Facebook and the people that complained to them, should grow up.

A valuable lesson

Moral outage aside, what's the problem with... y'know.. following the rules? Are these supposed to be "instructional" photos? What the hell is so bad about keeping (unpaid) pictures of your jugs off the internet? Okay, you're breastfeeding your uterine parasite, good for you. But if you are in fact posting pictures of your boobs, then you're breaking the rules.

Sheesh, by those standards I could take full-frontal pics of myself taking a leak as long as I plunk an infant down there in the pisser to share the photo-op. Imagine *that* uproar.

ROFLMA

I find it very amusing that some of the commentators here have actually perused Facebook just to get a glimpse of what the fuss is about. If one has never seen a mother breast feed her child before, I can understand the curiosity. Even so, it doesn't take much imagination to picture such a scene. I myself don't find breast feeding offensive at all, nor pissing in public for that matter, providing it is done discretely and preferably on a flowerbed or grass, a doorway or the pavement is not the place to do such a thing. I do however find the sight of an obese person in a swimsuit offensive. But then, that's just my opinion, valid or otherwise. We have all had different standards conditioned into us during our formative years. So I ask who is right? Or do we just comply with what the majority think because it is the most accepted viewpoint?

@Gene Cash.. Disgusting? Even though your comment made me laugh, I can only guess that your conditioning damaged you much more than my conditioning damaged me.

For those who don't get it...

It's not about breast feeding, it's about posting inappropriate pictures in a PUBLIC forum, which is contrary to the terms of service. No one gives a rats azz if you breast feed or don't. The TOS of FB and other publicly viewed forums forbid the posting of inappropriate material including nudity. It doesn't make any difference if it's your breast, azz, or whatever, it's inappropriate and forbidden. Public forums are viewed by all ages and races. It should not take a rocket scientist to figure out what is appropriate behavior. If you need to ask what is appropriate to post in a public forum, you are not educated enough to be online or for that matter, to be having children. Let's not perpetuate the illness with braindead offspring.

What's explicit?

It's often-said in the US that the nipple and areola are defined "sexually-explicit". A women can go to a clothing-required beach and display every part of the breast except for the nipple and areola. Why? And why can men, who have the same EXACT breast structure (except for the milk ducts which are under the skin and therefore never seen anyway), show off their breasts without offense to anyone and nobody asking them to cover their breasts? And don't you dare say size -- there are a lot of (fat) men who would put most women, even well-endowed women, to shame in breast size.

So why is it that women must cover their breasts? If you're one of the people who claim that the breast is "sexually-explicit", can you please define that for me? Because I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't understand that. Other body parts, such as legs, buttocks (women are allowed to wear thongs in public), and earlobes are erogenous zones and are often sexualized and involved in sexual activities, but those are not required to be covered at all times. What makes the breast so different? Specifically, what makes the nipple and areola so different?

Perhaps if we didn't require women to cover their breasts at all times, and people actually grew up seeing women with uncovered breasts, then it wouldn't be such a shock or such a big deal, and it wouldn't be viewed the way it is today. Then again, a lot of good God-fearing Christians* still think that sex itself is the devil's work, so I'm not holding my breath.

* This is not an indictment of all Christians or religious people, only the puritanical and stupid ones. After all, if God created us in His image, shouldn't we celebrate our bodies instead of being ashamed of them?

Nudity is nudity

"Fine. I don't care. Breastfeeding isn't exactly pornographic, but if the rules state clearly "NO EXPOSED BREASTS" then why should some people be allowed to break those rules just because a baby's hanging off it?"

EXACTLY. I don't have any problems with breast-feeding I guess, but Facebook doesn't allow topal nudity. Your breast is out? THAT IS NUDITY. I would just prefer they allow all the T'n'A the viewer can handle, but they don't.

Women, please, go ahead and just go elsewhere, or put up your own photos on your own site. That is what I do, put my photos up with a photo serving software off my own computer. No censorship whatsoever. And keep in mind, noone is REALLY interested in seeing photos of you breast-feeding your kid.

"And why can men, who have the same EXACT breast structure (except for the milk ducts which are under the skin and therefore never seen anyway), show off their breasts without offense to anyone and nobody asking them to cover their breasts? And don't you dare say size -- there are a lot of (fat) men who would put most women, even well-endowed women, to shame in breast size."

Actually funny you should mention it, I have had people take one look and say "Hey, come on man put your shirt back on! Please!" My man-tits aren't THAT big though, it's my gut that does them in I think 8-).

"buttocks (women are allowed to wear thongs in public)"

but they cannot show the crack or the vag.

New protest

Time to start complaining about every single picture where a male nipple is showing. Or a beer gut. Now THAT'S obscene!

@Sarah Bee

"Besides, I don't quite know what scale of naturalness you're working from there to calculate that your morning loaf er, trumps milk dispension."

Well, the easy way to cover it is simply by plain figures. What percentage of people take a dump compared to the percentage of people who breast feed? If you want to take that further, what percentage of the animal world excrete in comparison to those who have some form of lactation? Either way the argument that taking a dump is a more natural process than breast feeding stands up on its own.

I'm not suggesting that I want to see pictures of people crimping a log by the way, that sort of thing can remain on the fetish sites. But for these women to claim that breast feeding pictures are non-sexual in any way, well I'm sorry but there will be a lot of men/boys who look at those pictures and notice nothing but the tits. I've been around on the net long enough to know that there are even fetish sites devoted to that precise purpose.

Not that it bothers me particularly, I like breasts, but I think it is naive of the women who post these pictures to believe that 'everyone' else sees them in the same non-sexual manner that they do.

What's really disgusting

I don't find breast feeding disgusting or obscene. However something I do find very disgusting, whenever I make the mistake of thinking about it, is drinking the milk of a cow.

It is funny the society we have created. A baby (or heaven forbid a five year old) drinking its mothers milk is seen by many as disgusting, even though it is a perfectly natural form of feeding. Whilst an adult human drinking the milk of a cow is doesn't raise an eyelid.

BTW, notice how above qualified the 'perfectly natural' with the word feeding. Yes defecating, urinating, masturbating may be perfectly natural and normal bodily functions, but they aren't generally done in public. The difference with breast feeding is that eating and drinking is something which we all do in public.

Thank the lord

That these hormone-ravaged-beauty-of-nature crazed females that can't keep their personal lives to themselves didn't think to post pics of their post-natal placentas

Oh crap... if they're reading this they prolly will now...

Breasts have been sexualised...

For some reason it is now assumed that nothing can perform more than one function, I think this is because we've all been dumbed down to the point where so few people can think of even one thing at a time that it's a reasonable assumption.

Yes breasts do perform sexual functions, but they also perform other functions. Do you let your child read, because they could read porn if you do.

Quote from a midwife friend:

"Breasts, like women, can multi task"

re: @Breasts have been sexualised

"Breasts, for most of their lives perform a sexual function of attracting a male, that's why they are large even while not nursing..."

Wow. I had to do a double-take there. Do you realize how completely fucking retarded you sound? Talk about ignorant. Since you obviously live in your own little fetish world, please, allow me to let you in on a non-secret -- breasts are not universally large. Since the posters on this site seem to have an obsession with Paris Hilton, she's the perfect example. She has very small breasts. And while you may get the impression from watching porn that most women have large breasts, that is, in fact, not the case. Get out of Second Life long enough to have an actual peek at First Life (aka Reality).

And since you obviously need someone like me to point out your total ignorance, let me burst your "Breasts... perform a sexual function of attracting a male" bubble by merely pointing your direction to the various tribes in Africa, the millions of small-breasted women (less than a B cup) in loving committed relationships all over the world (probably many even in your own town/city), not to mention the rest of the animal kingdom).

As for AC "@Sarah Bee" -- "Not that it bothers me particularly, I like breasts, but I think it is naive of the women who post these pictures to believe that 'everyone' else sees them in the same non-sexual manner that they do."

Since you claim defecation is "more natural" than breast-feeding, and you admit that some people have a sexual fetish for defecation, then do you also think it's naive of people who defecate to believe that 'everyone' else sees defecation in the same non-sexual manner that they do? If you don't believe that's naive, then you're obviously a hypocrite for thinking it is naive when pertaining to breasts or breast-feeding which you claim is "less natural".

Personally, I'd rather see a woman, any woman, openly breastfeed a child as opposed to seeing someone trying to feed mashed food from a jar to a baby who's screaming, spitting up, and making a mess of everything. Yet the former is considered "disgusting" while the latter is considered acceptable.

@ steogede

I appreciate the sentiment mate and normally I wouldn't stoop so low but ... ah what the hell it is a New Year and I haven't been censored yet...

One does not normally associate the consumption of milk by humans as being typically conducted directly from the cow. If you want to walk about town with a Holstein-Friersian on a lead and drop down in public periodically to stick one of her teats in your mouth then by all means, be my guest. but if I were you I'd avoid holidaying in India - just in case.

It's fairly simple

There is a biological imperative to feed a small child when it's hungry otherwise it will scream and then eventually become comatose and die.

There is a further imperative for mother of small child to get out of the house to do stuff like pay the gas bill and nip to the super. These things may frequently take longer than the length of time the baby ape is not hungry - other people in the vicinity either then have their ears assaulted by screaming of hungry child or can eyeball the (usually reasonably discreet) breastfeeding of child, from which they can avert their eyes and get on with their lives. If, during this (usually reasonably discreet) episode, tit falls out of young ape's mouth, bystanders are required to ignore, sigh and avert their eyes or whatever (usually reasonably discreetly).

Anyone who doesn't acknowledge the biological imperative of child to eat is stupid. Anyone who subverts second imperative with 'someone else should do the shopping' or 'feed the kid from a bottle' needs to get a life. Thus, with some small amount of acceptance and decorum, we will all get by. I spent six years of my life breastfeeding a succession of sprogs in a reasonably discreet fashion and they appear to have grown up fine.

As for the facebook debate? Frankly, given the second imperative and the chance that involuntary exposure happens and everyone must just get over it...I'd go with get over it. And the complaining offenders should really look back into themselves and wonder what's wrong with their sad selves that they care. And the mums with boobs should just purge their friends lists and accept that not everybody likes them.

And 'think of the kids': I couldn't care if my sprogs see breasts, regardless of their age. They appear unfazed by normal stuff. If they see a new mother breastfeeding, the male offspring fail to see/ignore and the female offspring go 'aw, look at that cute baby.' But whatever. I'm past caring. I spent six years fighting these people's battles for them, now they can do what they want with it. I don't think there's any pictures of my nekkid breastfeeding going around t'internet though but who knows.

Yawn.