Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene! (Official petition to Facebook)
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Common Interest - Beliefs & Causes
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Welcome, and thank you for your support of this group and the normalisation of breastfeeding. Prior to posting on the wall or discussion board, we encourage you to take a moment to read our recent news section and browse some of our discussion threads to familiarize yourself with the purpose of this group and the incredibly diverse range of opinions and topics that we share and discuss. Debate is welcome, provided it is kept reasonably civil and free from personal attacks against other members.... (read more)
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Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene! (Official petition to Facebook)

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Name:
Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene! (Official petition to Facebook)
Category:
Common Interest - Beliefs & Causes
Description:
Welcome, and thank you for your support of this group and the normalisation of breastfeeding. Prior to posting on the wall or discussion board, we encourage you to take a moment to read our recent news section and browse some of our discussion threads to familiarize yourself with the purpose of this group and the incredibly diverse range of opinions and topics that we share and discuss. Debate is welcome, provided it is kept reasonably civil and free from personal attacks against other members.... (read more)
Privacy Type:
Open: All content is public.

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News:
Breastfeeding is normal. Women have breasts to produce milk for their babies, and babies are born to be breastfed. In most of the world everyone knows this, and breastfeeding is “no big deal”.

In North America, however, and some other parts of the “developed” world...we seem to have forgotten this very simple truth. Womens' breasts have become a symbol of sex. They are used to sell everything from cars to clothes to beer....they have been deemed obscene, sexually explicit and indecent for view by Facebook. Ironic, isn't it? that in the context of sex, we are inundated with images everywhere we look of womens' breasts as commodity, but see practically no examples of them shown in the normal context of breastfeeding. Why is is?

For the past several decades, artificial breast milk substitutes (infant formulas) have been the norm in infant feeding in North America. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), formula should be the fourth choice when considering optimal feeding methods for human babies, yet more babies are fed formula for their first year, than are exclusively breastfed. Infant formula, is a multi-billion dollar industry. Sadly, it is not mothers and their children who are profiting.

We have created a culture of myths surrounding breastfeeding. Myths such as: It's too hard, it's too painful, it's too messy, some babies don't like it, most women can not produce enough milk, unless you have a perfect diet your milk won't be good enough, it's too inconvenient, you can't breastfeed and work, dad will not bond with baby, breastfeeding “ruins” your breasts, breastfeeding is "yucky", should only be done in private, is "gross"...and "formula is just as good"...etc.

Many have come to believe these myths, including many health care professionals. This needs to change.

It is a fact, formula keeps those babies unable to receive human milk from dying, and thank goodness it is available for those who truly need it. It should be reserved for those who need it. It is not a “lifestyle choice” to breastfeed your baby, it is what is meant to happen just like giving birth when you are pregnant is not a lifestyle choice, it is the biologically normal conclusion of a term pregnancy...so is breastfeeding the biologically normal conclusion of a live birth.

Breastfeeding is not obscene. Breasts (especially in the context of breastfeeding) are not obscene, and this regardless of whether nipple or areola is showing. Until we have the opportunity to see more mothers breastfeeding in every day life, until breastfeeding is no longer compared to a sexual or private act, until more women breastfeed more babies and for longer and in the public domain...these myths and barriers will continue, and it is women and their children who will suffer for it. Not to mention our health care systems...

When corporations and social groups (like Facebook) create and uphold policies that label breastfeeding as obscene or objectionable, the myths that breastfeeding is private, socially inappropriate or sexually explicit are perpetuated and this has a detrimental effect on societal perception and attitudes surrounding breastfeeding. This in turn has a detrimental impact on breastfeeding initiation and duration rates and stigmatizes and demeans women who are doing nothing wrong. This group is one small step in the effort to normalize breastfeeding and to break down barriers that make it more difficult for women to do so. Thank you for your support.

M.I.L.C. EVENT A HUGE SUCCESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On December 27th, 2008 over 11 500 people participated in our first ever M.I.L.C. (Mothers International Lactation Campaign) event. Participants from around the globe joined our virtual protest of Facebooks discriminatory practice of arbitrarily and randomly removing breastfeeding pictures from member profiles and albums, classifying them as obscene content. We raised our collective voices in opposition to Facebook by posting a breastfeeding image as our profile picture and changing our status line to: Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene! In addition to our virtual nurse-in, a live nurse-in was held at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto CA. Both events caught the attention of media world wide. Many members received warnings and had photos removed during and after the event. Some examples of these photos can be found here:
http://www.tera.ca/photos6.html

Some additional links:

Help Build the Breastfeeding Photo Mosaic at:
http://pregnancy.healthguru.com/applications/petition/breastfeeding
http://www.breastfeedingmanifesto.org.uk/
http://sandiego.momslikeme.com
http://losangeles.momslikeme.com
http://sanfrancisco.momslikeme.com
http://seattle.momslikeme.com
http://www.circleofmoms.com
http://bit.ly/14On9
http://www.breastfeedingcommunity.co.uk/
http://www.mommytalk.com/index
http://www.fitpregnancy.com/capture
http://global-breastfeeding.org/
http://www.llli.org/
http://www.kellymom.com/
http://breastfeedingwithcomfortandjoy.blogspot.com/2009/02/read-what-stephanie-muir-has-to-say.html
http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com/
http://www.breastfeedingsupportnetwork.co.uk/
http://www.onemillioncampaign.org/
http://www.tera.ca/photos6.html

Suggested reading:

*Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives by Katherine Dettwyler, Patricia Stuart-Macadam
- you MUST read this book, absolutely astounding.

*Fit to Bust by Alison Blenkinsop.
(Proceeds from each book go to support Baby Milk Action).

*The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer

*Milk, Money, and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding by M.D., Naomi Baumslag and Dia L. Michels

*Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy: A Photographic Guide for Mom and Those Who Help Her by Laura Keegan
www.TheBreastfeedingBook.com

*Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding
by Jack Newman, Teresa Pitman

*Fresh Milk: The Secret Life of Breasts
by Fiona Giles

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