I'll Never Understand the Hangup with...
 

Breast isn't best: readers tell US parenting magazine

by Jocelyne Zablit
Thu Aug 3, 10:39 PM ET


WASHINGTON (AFP) - Readers of a US parenting magazine are crying foul over the publication's latest cover depicting a woman breastfeeding, with some calling the photo offensive and disgusting.


"I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one woman from Kansas wrote in reaction to the picture in Babytalk, a free magazine that caters to young mothers. "I was offended and it made my husband very uncomfortable when I left the magazine on the coffee table."
Her reaction was part of some 5,000 letters the magazine has received in response to a poll to gage reader sentiment about Babytalk's August cover photo, which shows a baby nursing.

Several readers said they were "embarrassed" or "offended" by the Babytalk photo and one woman from Nevada said she "immediately turned the magazine face down" when she saw the photo.

"Gross, I am sick of seeing a baby attached to a boob," the mother of a four-month-old said.

Another reader said she was "horrified" when she received the magazine and hoped that her husband hadn't laid eyes on it.

"I had to rip off the cover since I didn't want it laying around the house," she said.

A national television program also ran a segment on the controversy, interviewing several people in New York who expressed disgust over the cover photo.

The picture in Babytalk was aimed at illustrating the controversy surrounding breastfeeding in the United States, where a national survey by the American Dietetic Association found that 57 percent of those polled are opposed to women breastfeeding in public and 72 percent think it is inappropriate to show a woman breastfeeding on television programs.
Babytalk executive editor Lisa Moran said though most of those who responded to the poll about the cover photo gave the magazine a thumbs up, she was surprised that some 25 percent expressed outrage.
"There is a real puritanical streak in America," Moran told AFP. "You see celebrities practically baring their breasts all the time and no one seems to mind in this sort of sexual context.

"But in this very natural context of feeding your child, a lot of Americans are very uncomfortable with it."

She said the controversy is all the more surprising in light of concerted efforts by the US government and health professionals to encourage women to breastfeed.

"Everyone is saying that breastfeeding is best for baby but there is so little support for it in public," Moran said.

She said the Babytalk cover photo marks the first time a major parenting magazine in the United States dares to break the taboo about showing a woman's breast and the outrage it has prompted is not about to discourage editors from doing it again.

"This hasn't scared us off at all," Moran said. "We're thrilled and hopefully this will help women get more support for nursing."

but vanity fair has demi moore and maxim has half a breast on their cover every month and no one gives a crap?!...these people that are complaining or "tearing the cover off" need to go see a doctor to have their rectal-cranial inversion syndrome treated.

They are just being good Christi.....

err... nevermind.

more breasts on magazines please

I'm glad to see we've come to a point in the US where pretty much everything is considered offensive.

I'd hit it.

(had to be done)

What kills me about this is not that it's normal and natural and healthy, it's that it could just as easily be a fat person's elbow or a knee. Without seeing nipples (which of course, the baby is suckling), it could be many a body part. HOW OFFENSIVE! :rolleyes:

/tk

How about that side boob, does that turn you on?

Well, it shouldn't.. because that's MY side boob...

[quote=Subby"I was offended and it made my husband very uncomfortable when I left the magazine on the coffee table."
[/QUOTE]

dola..

Yaaa... riiiiiiight....

Too bad SideBoobTV isn't a real channel. :D

i was trying to remember how the lines went...you beat me to it.

She had to rip off the cover, LOL! I wonder if she wears a bra when taking a shower because it is so horrible!! OH NOES, A BREST!

Dirty DIRTY titty!!!!

Funny. My 3 year old just walked into the room while I was looking at the screen and said, "Hey, look at that baby. That baby is sucking on an elbow."

:D

Fixed.

Now that's embarrassing and offensive.

the scariest part to me - these are not random idiots freaking out over a mom feeding her kids in a Starbucks. these are people who SUBSCRIBE TO BABYTALK MAGAZINE.

I'll agree with this. I'll also add that while I have NO trouble with a mother breast feeding an infant in public, I do get more than an uneasy feeling when I see some toddler(eithteen months plus) walk over and attach him/herself to their mother's breast. I've seen mothers breast feed up to four year olds, and that just ain't right.

My wife and I both agreed it wouldn't start getting weird until our kids would be old enough to have words for it, but both stopped long before that happened.

Unless you're the 4 year old, and then it's just GREAT!

People are fucking idiots.

The woman expressing moral outrage about this are married to men who write the letters complaining about the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue every year, as though they just fell off the turnip truck and subscribed to SI without knowing they do a swimsuit issue.

WTF do these people think tits are for?

Am I the only person who thinks that breast feeding should be private and not put on the cover? I mean people who are walking past the magazine rack shouldnt have to see it. Would people be ok with a male hand wrapped around a stiff penis for the magazine Sexual Health?

Or shouldn't I ask that here?

If you can't tell the difference between the two, then no, you shouldn't ask that here. Or anywhere else for that matter.

I think those women are just jealous their boobs didn't look as good when they were breastfeeding. I mean c'mon - that side boob is smooth with a creamy, healthy skin. Where are the stretch marks and bulging blue veins so common with breastfeeding?

Beneath about 6 layers of Photoshop...

:D

Worst. Second Post. EVAR.

Yeah, that was definitely a ridiculous 2nd post. The picture is not a girl fondling her nipple. She's breast feeding dammit. Plus with a name called Noddadropp, I have a feeling that this is someone's joke account.

And it ain't even close to the prior holder of that record.

Wait a minute, I think my wife subscribes to that magazine now.

*runs off to search the house*

They're not there because that's a picture of my ass.

Yes, or so it would seem.


Why not? Why can't they look at something else? why can't they look at a magazine they'd rather read? Why the hell must every individual cowtow to the few, the ignorant, the people who can't get a grip on their sexuality and thereby take it out on the rest of us with inane demands like "I shouldn't have to see that"?


I personally wouldn't give a shit less what was on the cover, thats the whole problem, far too many people with FAR too much time on their hands feel they have some right to force their views and social requirements on everyone else.

If you honestly think your comparison makes ANY real sense whatsoever, then perhaps you need to start studying pregnancy, birth and babies, because there is nothing on that cover that should be offending ANYONE.

People need to grow the hell up and show some maturity about sexuality in this country.

Interesting... Considering your name.

I think that breastfeeding shouldd be in private, but if a woman uses a cover in public it is fine. I also think a baby breastfeeding is a beautiful and natural thing. The fact that people have hangups about it is strange.

For a magazine of this format, I find absolutly nothing wrong with this. Look at that baby's eyes staring at (presumably) its mother. There is something there that is what life is all about.

With all that said, I have to say that the first thing I wanted to post was "Got Milk?" :D

Thanks for making me feel crappy just because I don't agree with you guys. Very welcoming.

For SOME people, a breast is a sexual organ as is the male penis. Just because you guys are liberal and interested in seeing boobies on a cover doesn't mean that it isn't as offensive to some people as seeing the male thingy. Some people don't get off on semi-pornographic material.

Now, go ahead and rip on my 3rd post.

Oh, and my name is because I don't drink alcohol. Not a drop. Get it?

Vikings fan?

Vikings fan? Not really. I like the Broncos for NFL and Jazz for NBA. When I go home (Utah) after missionary work I'm going to buy season tickets.

Interesting, you have a problem with this type of health magazine about breastfeeding at the checkout stand, but not the half nude Vogue, Glamour, or Maxim magazines?

Yes, because when I think of breast feeding, I think of sex. This is perfectly healthy and natural, as is my rational fear of breasts.

Who are you to tell me what magazines I do or do not have a problem with? That's pretty assuming, I think.

Uh oh.


I have a sister in Utah. They are some nutty people out there. Reputation 100% deserved.

There are nutty people in every city. Quit feeding stereotypes.

Yes. Except in this case, in this state, the reality exceeds the stereotype.

Isn't Massachusetts the state that legalized gay marriage? And you're going to rip on Utah for being nutty...

I'll try not to laugh for the rest of the week about that one.

I was suckered into a gimmick account, nicely played sir.

Hey your name is an anagram for dd porno pad!

or porn pond ad

Or dp porno dad.