Count Little M & I in..we added another number to the roll!

This morning, breastfeeding mothers & supporters of breastfeeding gathered outside the Dublin Facebook headquarters on Hanover Quay to peacefully protest. Well we were hardly going to get violent now, were we?!

Organized by Friends of Breastfeeding, this was part of a wordwide protest taking a stance against Facebook deleting a number of breastfeeding photographs. Protests took place in Toronto, Paris, NYC too.

News-reporters were there a-plenty!

Over the course of the day, I’ve heard a million different reactions…

‘fair play’

‘hippies’

‘Why would you want to put a picture of your breasts on Facebook?’

‘How awful for the child’

‘I wouldn’t want my 15 year-old son to see breasts.’

‘Go protest about real issues!’

‘earth yummy mummies with nothing better to do.’

Apart from the sheer ignorance of most of the above comments… apart from one lovely Facebook man who asked what it was all about & replied genuinely with ‘fair play!’ … what’s behind these attitudes…?

What’s behind the scenes?

BREASTS CAN ONLY BE SEXUAL?

No, untrue…not all that sexy breastfeeding throughout the day & night to be honest! Powerful, yes. Loving, definitely. Healthy, absolutely. Not sexy though…

Who says they are only sexual? Powerful companies, our patriarchal society and those of us who choose to subscribe.

WOMEN SHOULD ONLY BREASTFEED IN PRIVACY & WITH UTMOST DISCRETION?

Uh-uh? No again. Why? So that nobody sees breastfeeding, ever? So that women are afraid to go out of their own homes? So that breasts are kept for looking sexy, only.

I, for one…do not fancy interrupting a fun girlie lunch to head off to some smelly, lonely corner room just to breastfeed for 40 mins (which is how long Little M fed for months & months in the early days!) I’ll have my lunch, chat away, lift my top & multi-task…us women are great at that you know!

WHY GET IN A FLAP ABOUT BREASTFEEDING PICTURES?

Oh, it’s not just about pictures. It’s about rights. Women and children will not be sidelined in society to make room for business empires & the idealized sex-symbol body image of women’s bodies to be upheld. 

Go find something decent to protest about???

Go find something decent to protest about?????????????

Apart from the zillion health reasons I could go on about…

Breastfeeding in our culture is being discriminated against. Breastfeeding families are being segregated into different areas of public places. Breastfeeding is laughed at. Breastfeeding is seen as extremist. Breastfeeding is seen as hippy.

Dis. crim. in. ation.

Hear that Facebook?

Áine-andmybaby-who-I-do-the-very-best-I-can-for-&-who-is-breastfed,-aged-27-months…oh-ya,-he-also-likes-broccoli-but-I’d-better-not-post-a-picture-of-him-eating-that-or-having-breastmilk-on-Facebook-ya-know-just-in-case-Mr.-prude-from-down-the-road-who-likes-boobs-to-be-on-display-Wonderbra-shoved-into-top-style-sees-it-can-you-imagine-offending-him-?