Background
Last year, I wrote a post called Covering Up is a Feminist Issue after seeing yet another comment from a self-proclaimed non-judgmental woman asking why women can’t just cover up when they are breastfeeding. The presumption that her comfort level should dictate how other people dress or act irked me into action. The post was fairly successful in creating dialogue on the issue, so I decided to take the concept and turn it into a video. I’ve been working on it for a while and the recent comments from a Toronto police officer that women can avoid rape by not dressing like a “slut” prompted me to finish and launch the video.
Credits and Thank Yous
This video is a compilation of wonderful content created by other people. I would like to thank:
- Canadian singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume for giving permission to use her amazing song Out of Time from the 2007 album If You Never Live.
- The wonderful photographers who either made their work available through a creative commons licence or who gave me permission to use their photos in the video, including:
- Amy from Muddy Boots Photography (also muddybootsphoto on flickr)
- Desiree Fawn from So Fawned (also desireefawn on flickr)
HeidiL and Landslide Photography for the photo on the right, which is incorrectly attributed in the video (many thanks to HeidiL for permission to use the photo). See other beautiful nursing pictures by Landslide Photography.- Paige from Baby Dust Diaries and Nursing Freedom who has created a collection of breastfeeding photos on flickr, two of which I used in the video.
- The Indiana Black Breastfeeding Coalition, which has just created an amazing set of photos of black women breastfeeding and put them into the public domain.
- Sarah R. Bloom, a photographer whose work you can find at Sad and Beautiful, and who gave me permission to use her beautiful shot Merger.
- Other flickr users whose photos were made available with a creative commons license:
- niomix2008
- fabiogis50
- brookesb
- Helga Weber
- NATALIA PHOTOS
- jessica.garro
- LollyKnit
- mkorchia
- Stich
- Sagrado Corazón
- rachel sian
- ruumo
- adria.richards
- emilio labrador
- Master/Cyber
- deepwarren
- Emery Co Photo
- -Andrew-
- Magdalena O!
- Anita Robicheau
- Foxtongue
- jinglejammer
- Joe Shlabotnik
- jencu
- 150hp
- alpa kai omorfa
- littleREDelf
- jocelyndale
- jakekrohn
- Urijamjari
- mharvey.nyc
- Presidencia de la República del Ecuador
- Inferis
- Mike.Hanlon
- Alison Kramer from Nummies Nursing Bras for the inspiration to make a video and for her encouragement and advice.
- Stephanie Montreuil from The Lotus Pad for her encouragement and support.
Sharing
If you wish to share this video on your blog, please go ahead (you can get the embed code on YouTube). I would love link back here when you do and ideally a comment or an e-mail so that I can come and check out your post too.
Thank you for watching!
{ 131 comments… read them below or add one }
love!!
Well done – great work!
So many people tend to superimpose their own cultural identities on this topic, without proper regard for the “global village”.
WONDERFUL! I plan to share this on Facebook, as many people need to understand that my body is not theirs to direct (and so many others who know that need to be affirmed for their choice to respond appropriately).
I love love love your comment: “…many people need to understand that my body is not theirs to direct”! So right on!!!
Melissa,
Your comment is so well stated and accurately depicts what a number of us women believe…
I wish there was a “like” button for your comment
Your video is great! Thinking it’s going to spread like wildfire, I won’t be surprised to hear that you’ve been asked to be on Oprah. Best wishes to you and your family! Remember: One Day At A Time and Always #MakeItAGreatDay
Well done! And I’m so happy to be a part of this video (with my sleepy sling baby enjoying some milk!)
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos with the world!
Annie this is absolutely amazing. Thank you for taking the time to put this together. This video is going to go viral I know it! Your passion and public awareness through education and information is a true inspiration and I am blessed to know you! Thank You
Great job Annie!!!!
This is WONDERFUL. Thank you for taking the time to do it. Gorgeous and moving, and PERFECT.
Well done! Your message came across a lot louder and clearer than with words alone. Brilliant!
Thanks BusyDad! It was a steep learning curve, but now that I’ve done one video I hope to make more.
Great video, great message. Could not agree more. Will be sharing.
There was recently a lady here asked by a store owner to stop “doing that” because it was offending the other customers (in an otherwise empty store…huh). Vancouver Sun columnist Shelley Fralic wrote an editorial in response, equating nursing a baby in public with “wear[ing] a bikini to a funeral, or say[ing] the F-word in front of Grandma, or wear[ing] a hat at the dinner table, or walk[ing] naked through a children’s playground.” She also proposed to give a breastfeeding etiquette lesson to breastfeeding mothers, ordering them to “cover up”. What disgusting ignorance. Oppression indeed.
As a random side note, I used to work for Amanda’s dad when I lived there.
Excellent song choice!
Cynthia:
I saw Shelley’s editorial (I think at least ten people sent me the link!) and sent her an e-mail with a link to my previous “Covering up is a feminist issue” post. She said thank you and promised to look at it, but never got back to me on whether it swayed her views or not.
Good for you. Her history of slamming breastfeeding mothers who don’t “cover up” makes me think it’s not so likely, but one can always hope she’ll come around eventually.
By the way, this entry would make a great submission to the link-up at the bottom of my most recent post on Breastfeeding…just saying.
I love the video! Great work. I posted it on my blog so some of my friends and family that are awkward about public breastfeeding will see it too.
Annie!!!!! What an amazing video! AMAZING. I love it! Thank you for making it.
I’m 38 weeks pregnant with my 2nd and this game me that sensation of ‘let down’. Great vid.
WOW Beautiful video!! Love it!
Yes, it is. And you are awesome. Nice work!
I absolutely agree with the message! Very nicely done! Sharing it on Twitter now.
Beautiful! Just Beautiful! The message is so clear too. I have to admit, when I read the title I got a different impression about what the content was going to be, but knowing you I should have known better. I see a future appearance on Ellen in your future
I’m going to post this in FB right now. Now I really need to get my blog up and going so I can post it there, too. Wonderful job! Love it, love you!
Annie – beautiful video!! Would you share what software you used to create it?
Dionna:
I used Animoto: http://animoto.com/. Very easy to use (follow the instructions carefully on optimizing images — mine were getting cut off initially), but you give up a lot of flexibility/control. It took me a long time to make because I made mistakes and played around with it a lot, but now that I know it inside and out, I think it would be much quicker next time. It was recommended to me by Alison from Nummies Bras. Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) used it to produce her “Reflections of Motherhood” video: http://www.reflectionsofmotherhood.com/
Thank you! (I tried to say thanks once before, and I don’t see it – hopefully I’m not spamming you with thanks
)
Wonderful video. It was very thought provoking. I must say that I had my own thoughts about how much skin should be shown by women and have often made unfair judgements on other women based on my standards. I had never really thought of it in this way before. Yes–the woman should decide how much skin she shows, whether breastfeeding or in her clothing choice. Thank you for this video!
I cried at how beautifully you made the point . Amazing thank for making this.
Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to make this.
I. Love. This. Seriously. AMAZING job! I will be posting this on my blog. Thank you!
Love this!
What a beautiful video! I’m constantly amazed at how much our society seems to want to dictate the actions of others while still trumpeting the individual’s rights.
Thank you for a well thought out, well presented professional video. Children/ teenagers should use this as part of their sex-ed programs to counteract the sexualisation of the breasts. Thanks to all the mothers and babies who starred!!
i love you. not in a creeper way just in a “thanks for saying it all for me” kind of way.
What she said!
Wonderful video great message!
I remember breastfeeding DD in public a couple of times under a breastfeeding smock thing. Even though it was lightweight cotton it got quite hot, especially because it was summer. As a first-time mom and so a first-time breastfeeder, I didn’t feel empowered enough to just whip that cover off. (I did lift it a bit though to cool me and DD down.)
Society always seems to have something to say about the way women do things. Mostly negative. This video is a wonderful reminder to women to do what feels right for them, their bodies and their babies.
Love it!!
I hope that this and the response helps those mamas who are nervous about NIP, I just wish it wasn’t needed.
I am a Muslim woman who chooses to cover. I really appreciate you including pictures of covered Muslim women. I also appreciate how the message that the amount of covering is up to the MOTHER.
I am extremely pro-breastfeeding, but I am sick of seeing comments on breastfeeding blogs/forums/websites that imply (or just say outright) that woman who cover while NIP are somehow hurting the breastfeeding movement by “hiding” their breastfeeding. No, I am hiding my private parts. When I have a large cover hanging from my neck and baby feet kicking out from under it, everyone knows what I am doing, trust me.
Can’t we all just agree that breastfeeding is best, and support every woman in whatever way she chooses to make it work for her? To each her own……
Umm Ayah:
Thank you for your comment.
I do have to say that my feeling on this issue have evolved over time. As a breastfeeding mother who didn’t want to cover, I did often feel that society was less likely to be accepting of my choice if everyone else was covering up or going to the nursing room. From that perspective, I did feel that it would be better for the breastfeeding movement if women didn’t cover.
However, I now think that as long as there is a good variety of women who do cover and women who don’t, that both options will be accepted by society. The problem comes in when everyone goes in one direction or another, which makes those who are different stand out. For a breastfeeding mother whose baby will not accept being covered or who finds it awkward to use a cover, that could mean that she opts not to nurse in public, which could make her more likely to supplement, to feel like she has to go and hide to nurse, or result in her choosing to wean early because it is just too difficult to nurse in public.
Excellent. I work at WIC and am planning to share this with the high school classes we will be speaking to about breastfeeding.
Thank you Marge!
Annie,
Much appreciated video that clearly expresses the message!!
Enjoyed it!
Love it!
Yes, yes, a million times yes! Exactly!!!!!
OK to post on my blog? Thank you!
Cin:
Yes, please go ahead and post it to your blog. I would love a link back here when you do. Thanks!
Did so! And you inspired me:
http://ready-aye-ready.blogspot.com/2011/02/wherever-we-go-however-we-dress.html
http://ready-aye-ready.blogspot.com/2011/02/wherever-we-go-however-we-dress-part-2.html
BRILLIANT!!! Thank you Annie. Just like in the post you had written about this, I am so struck by how much more skin women show ALL THE TIME than when we are breastfeeding.
Email THIS to that Shelley Fralic
!!
Love the video! I used it on my blog (with a link back to here). Thanks!
Annie! THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting together this beautiful video! You have identified and presented this issue with tenderness, beauty, passion, and class. I’m sure it will help to open eyes. You rock!
Love it!
Great video Annie! I’m so glad you included women from different ethnicities, including one from my homeland Ecuador. I translated the words into Spanish and wrote them on my post. I linked back to your site as well. http://bit.ly/gH7fJy
Love it! Have written a post about it on my blog. http://www.fertilefeminism.com/our-bodies/the-bare-truth-on-covering-up/
I’m very lucky that I’ve never encountered a problem with NIP and even in the future there’s this very little chance because of my location. It angers me that there are people who have the audacity to tell nursing moms to cover up. Love! Love! Love this video! Well done! Posted it on my FB wall: http://www.facebook.com/TheLazyMama
thank you for this annie! sharing on FB
Awesome video! I’ll be posting it on facebook and on my (sorely neglected) blog.
Annie,
I loved this video. It is so well done. Thank you!
Love it!
Love it and love to be part of such a great cause. I was nursing my 3yo on a very popular trail in a national park. I’ll definitely be reposting on facebook.
Thank you Jocelyn! I’m so glad you found my video. Thank you for your beautiful picture.
I nursed my daughter for 13 months and never did so in public. I even felt too shy to breastfeed in front of family. I deeply regret all the times I made her wait. And all the crying we listened to. I wish I had been confident enough to just feed her! Your video brought a lot of those old feelings to the surface for me.
Thank you for your good work.
Bravo! What a gorgeous video and a beautiful message.
S.P.
I love this. Nursing in public is such a strange, crazy hot-button issue. I appreciate the way you shared your perspective in a new way. The video was compelling and, frankly, after a long day of talking about breastfeeding… seeing those nursing in public pics of moms breastfeeding their babes made me emotional. Thank you for doing this.
“Discreetly avert your eyes.” Yes, this! Great video, Annie.
Oh. boy, you did it this time! Gorgeous vid! I am inspired!
My new blog is up next week and then I will capture it and share it!
WOW!
Great job!
I really like this, thank you! It makes me angry when people formulate an opinion on the appropriateness of how, when, where, etc… I nurse my son. He’s my child and we’re doing nothing wrong! I do feel the oppression, it’s all around us everywhere we go. It’s even worse in the summer, when I’m wearing a tank top (non-nursing style) and I nurse my son in public. I can just feel everyone glaring at me like I’m so hooker doing a show on the sidewalk!
Thank you for drawing out the similarities between women being criticised for choosing to cover their faces and women being criticised for NIP, it’s all the same problem, the belief that a woman’s body is public property. Let’s all of us vow to challenge *any* judgement of how a woman dresses. We simply don’t hear the same said of men.
Just to add, in the UK, although NIP is rare to see it has never been a problem for me and I hear the same from other bf mothers. Most Brits just don’t notice or don’t care.
YES!! Victory at my house. I watched the video with my sons ages 5 and 7. Their responses “awww, those babies are so cute”.
I feel like the normal at my house is exactly where I want it to be.
Beautiful Annie – and thank you for the shout-out
xo
Awesome! Loved it. I’m actually choked up now.
reposted this on FB via kelly mom. thanks for putting this together. i was sort of shy about public nursing in the early weeks after by baby was born. when he was 6 weeks old i received my first rude comment for nursing without a cover and realized that this was a feminist issue and just how important it was for me to take up space and nurse anywhere and anytime i (or my child) wanted to. we are still nursing in public at 20 months.
Just wonderful! Thank you so much for putting this together. I know so many people who will appreciate being able to share this with both the bold and the timid breastfeeders in their lives. It seems as if there is a flurry of activity within my circle right now about NIP and the accusations of being “discreet” and “decent” and “having enough respect for yourself and others by covering up” and worse yet…”staying home for the sake of others’ comfort”. One of my friends recently said “Nursing in public isn’t the problem, it is really the solution” … this generation of babies will grow up seeing nursing and then when we are all great-grannies this can all be ancient history!
great video, great message. thank you, annie.
Love it!! Shared it on facebook: http://facebook.com/AMothersBoutique
wow!!! This is fantastic. Very well done.
I love the video, excellent message and very well executed. I will share everywhere.
I wanted to add I remember something I had forgotten (my son is 16) I was traveling in Florida. I was at a shopping mall. I was nursing very discreetly on a bench, all covered up. A older woman actually had the nerve to stop in front of me and stare at me disapprovingly. Now why is that ok?
Brilliantly done, Annie! Absolutely love it. Thank you for this!
SWEET!!!!! Posting to my FB page now….
quadruple love! posted to my personal blog
http://vosefamily.blogspot.com/
and soon to be published on mothers of change dot com, a website I’m a co author for….just waiting for another post to have a chance for some readers to digest before publishing this amazing video~love it! Also shared on my FB!!
I’m a huge fan of your blog in general…official DELURK!
Well done, definitely gets the point across. Thanks for bringing this forward.
I love this! Thanks for putting it together!
Annie! I love this video… and the message is perfect. Thank you for sharing!
This is wonderful! Love love love this.
Fantastic video! Mind if I include this in the occasional “Friday Favorites” feature on my blog?
Kate:
Thank you! Please do go ahead and share it. I gave info at the bottom of the post on how to share. Thanks!
Love this Annie – beautifully done. And I’ve shared it on facebook too!
At Christmas time, I was breastfeeding my baby and my cousin was horrified about what my uncles would think to see me that way. When she showed her husband, he didn’t even realize I was breastfeeding until after she pointed it out; he even had to move within two foot of me to even see what she meant.
Thanks for this. Absolutely awesome.
Very clear message, although I haven’t quite made up my mind whether I agree with said message or not.
I mean, I’m definitely pro-breastfeeding. I’ve breastfed in public (and actually participated in a so-called breastfeeding challenge). I don’t use a cover and never have after discovering that was the absolute best way for me to end up displaying a whole lotta anatomy I’d rather keep more private.
So I sort of expected that I’d be completely in agreement with your video. But it sort of boils down to “women should be able to show as much or as little skin as they want, whenever and wherever they want”. And I actually don’t agree. I think there are times and places where breastfeeding is inappropriate. Usually these are places where an infant that might get hungry is not really appropriate either! (I know, I know… I clearly don’t belong to the group of people that thinks that having a child shouldn’t mean that they have to make any adjustments to their lifestyle whatsoever!)
I also think that there’s a time and place for requiring a certain dress code.
So I didn’t exactly agree with the video’s message. But I don’t exactly disagree with it either, especially when considering that way too many people seem to think that breastfeeding is a “private” act that ought to be hidden away in toilets. Complicated!
I wrote a post on the video and shared it on my blog and linked back to you here.
hey Annie, great video & important issue! I blogged about it here:
http://ambersparkles.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/showing-my-support-covering-up-is-a-feminist-issue/
Love the video! And thanks for the info on animoto, I will use it with my students. They’ve all been sharing my personal macbook to make school project videos.
I agree with almost everything in the video. I do struggle with the Burka though, because I’m not sure it’s truly a choice for many women.
I’m going to write a post about this, will link back and comment again afterward.
Here’s a link to my post with this video.
http://www.urbanmoms.ca/multiple_musings/2011/02/sunday-surf—covering-up.html
Beautiful. Thank you.
This is a beautiful video. I love it!
I do get the sense from most of the comments, though, that deciding to cover up while nursing is somehow a less-feminist choice. I chose to cover up most of the time when I was nursing in public not because I was ashamed of what I was doing or didn’t think it was “natural” or best for my babies. One big reason I covered up was because my introverted personality does not enjoy being the center of attention. I would never not breastfeed in public because I didn’t have a cover, but I don’t like the idea that I am somehow less of a breastfeeder for choosing to cover up.
Amy, I’m a proud supporter of women breastfeeding however they feel most comfortable. Covered, uncovered, in private, on a public bench~I don’t think you’re less of a breastfeeder because you cover up at all!
I felt that the video itself was pretty good at supporting womens’ choice in that matter, and I hope most nursing moms would be the same. I know I am!
=)
I agree–I thought that the video showed your support of all breastfeeding mothers and choices. Thank you!
linked to at “rude truth!” thanks!
Beautiful video. I posted it on my blog too. http://schmoopybaby.blogspot.com/2011/02/covering-up-is-feminist-issue.html
This. video. rocks. =D
Beautiful! I plan to share it on my blog and hope it continues spreading this positive message everywhere
Well done! You made the point so wonderfully! I’ll share it on my new blog next week. I’m sure it’ll be the first of many things I’ll share from yours!
Áine
Great video but there is a photo that Baby Dust Diaries DOES NOT have permission to use. Not even sure where she got it from. I’m so upset.
Heidi:
I’ll contact you via e-mail.
Just wanted to add a note here for anyone reading this that the issue has been clarified via e-mail and I do now have permission to use the image in the video.
Great video! I posted it on my blog.
Here it is on my blog: http://ichigomeansstrawberry.blogspot.com/2011/03/this-is-fantastic-video-from-annie-at.html
i don’t know how baby dust got ahold of one of my photos and made it available on her own flicker, i don’t even have this photo available online in a color version, which is even more disconcerting, but the woman in the photo wrote today and requested it be removed, not only has it not been removed from the slideshow, it is now posted individually on this blog post with MY business name now portrayed. . . i don’t want credit, i want to know why these images were illegally obtained by baby dust and being used without photographer permission or individual permission!!!!!! please remove the photo by landslide photography immediately!
Just wanted to add a note here for anyone reading that the issue has been clarified via e-mail and I do now have permission to use the image in the video.
and a third note. . . apparently permission was granted by the mother in the photo. . . therefore, I give my permission for the photo to be displayed, but do hope that there is resolution on how the third party this photo was obtained from, came by the photo for her own personal use and is not giving credit to the photographers. And that you will check on all images before use in the future, gaining permissions ahead of time.(I think photographers would also like to know when their photos are being used, even if submitted by the subject/model themselves). many people think this is a beautiful video, but situations like this bring down the credibility of the creator of such works of art.
timbra:
I appreciate you and Heidi being willing to work with me on this. I had no intention of using people’s work without permission. I was very careful to only use photos that are available under a Creative Commons license or to obtain permission directly from the photographer. Unfortunately, I did not consider the fact that other people may be making the work of others available for re-use without obtaining their permission first.
This video was a lot of work to put together and many of the pictures selected are from people who live in other countries and don’t even speak English. I love that it allowed me to add a global flavour to the video and appreciate the fact that creative commons allows something like that to be possible. I wouldn’t have been able to make this video if I had needed to have direct contact with every single photo owner. It just wouldn’t have been feasible. But that is why creative commons, when used properly, is great.
In any case, I’ve learned a lot from this experience and will think hard before making another video based on creative commons content.
The video is beautiful, and I think your intention is obvious. You gave credit, you only used photos that were supposed to be creative commons.
I agree that photographers should receive credit for their work, but it was obviously not your intention to take credit yourself or profit unjustly from anybody else’s work.
We are all human, no project as big, time consuming and obviously well-intended as this one could have gone on without a single hitch.
I think a little slack and grace are in order here.
The video is beautiful, and I hope this doesn’t turn you off of making more in the future.
Amy:
I really doubt that I will make any more videos based on Creative Commons content. While Creative Commons is a wonderful idea, I have learned that it is too easy for people to take other people’s work and pass it off as their own. Or, even in cases where full permission has been granted, the people giving that permission don’t always understand what they gave permission for.
I will continue to use Creative Commons images in my blog posts, using due diligence to try to ascertain the legitimacy of the photo ownership. It is really easy to replace/remove an image from a blog post if anyone does get upset (either because an image was illegally made available or because the person didn’t understand what they were giving permission for).
However, I don’t think I will use them in videos again because it isn’t possible to go back and just remove one pic from a video once it has been rendered. With all the work that goes into producing a video like this, that is just too much of a risk for me. I would be extremely upset if I had to remove a video that I had worked really hard on (resulting also in broken links from other people’s blogs where it had been shared) because an image was inappropriately uploaded to flickr. Although it is quite clear in the flickr terms of use that the responsibility lies with the person uploading it there, the consequence of them not doing their due diligence could still be that I would have to remove (and lose) my work. That is not something I’m willing to risk. This has been very difficult for me.
I love the concept of this! So eloquently expressed – a summary of how I felt when I was struggling to nurse my son and was awkward and unsure. I will be much more assertive in my right to feed as I deem appropriate here in 6 weeks when I have a new one to nourish!
Truly well done. My wife wrote a blog on this subject 2 years ago. There is nothing more natural and beautiful than a mother feeding her child. As a society we send very mixed messages about breastfeeding. On one hand, you have experts saying that every mother who is able should breastfeed – it’s best for the baby and for the mom and for society at large to have healthier, happier babies. But then when a woman goes to feed her baby via the breast, people can’t handle it saying it’s provocative. It’s not sexual! Sex and breastfeeding are mutually exclusive concepts! So many women say that they are made to feel like they are doing something wrong – even perverse – by feeding their babies in public. Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed a child. If you want to get to the finances of it – it helps lift some burden from the health-care system because breastfed babies go to the doctor far less than those who are not. These babies are better adjusted developmentally and wind up using less resources in general. People should be walking by thanking you for breastfeeding. Not that I feel strongly about this or anything.
~Michael
So beautiful. I cried. I am posting this to my livejournal. Thank you.
I wanna say thank you! I love the different women, all shapes-sizes-colors-and even all the different ways to cover up or not cover. I only cover when not in my house, but that is simply because my lil girl will not nurse like that, she gets super distracted when we are nursing out of the house very easily. I am going to share this with everyone I know. I would love to show this to my WIC counselors and see if they could show this as part of their breastfeeding classes. Wish it had been out when I had my first baby girl and I was new to nursing and scared!!
Thanks again!
Amazing so well said got goose bumps awesome
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, appropriateness is in the eye of the baby holder!
Love your video. Thanks so much for what you do!
Just wanted to let you know that the video is amazing and that I shared it on my blog. http://sashabreeze.blogspot.com/2011/03/covering-up-is-feminist-issue.html
Thank you for making this video available for everyone, it says so perfectly what I have seen so many of us trying to say for so long.
Congratulations on a very interesting and thought provoking video. I very much support breastfeeding and feel strongly that women should be respected and strong in society. However I feel that this video muddles up various issues. I think that women are overly objectified and sexualised in society and that dressing in an appropriate manner would be one way that women can stand up against this. I say ‘appropriate’ as this will vary in different contexts. It’s undeniable that men find women, and certain parts of a women’s body attractive. If a women chooses to wear scanty clothes then surely a she is attracted male attention whether she likes it or not. Billboards, advertisements, films, tabloid newspapers all feature women who are wearing clothes which are created for men and by men. I think women are doing a great disservice to themselves and to other women by dressing provocatively in public.
Breastfeeding and the issues surrounding this are completely different from women wearing extremely short skirts and bikini-tops in the shopping centres. They are doing it for different reasons and my problem isn’t with women who nurse in public but with the general sexualisation and objectification of women.
Faz:
I appreciate your perspective, but I disagree.
Women are objectified and sexualised in society. That is absolutely correct. And yes, some of their clothing choices may result from them being a victim of that objectification.
However, the assumption that nudity = sexual is a societal construct. I don’t think that the way to get rid of that problem is to force women to cover up.
It’s all related. It’s not muddled. Making a woman feel uncomfortable for feeding her child is quite related to the demands we put on women on how to dress.
If its a hot, humid Saturday at the local pool, I see a lot of boobs bigger than mine. On overweight boys. I don’t WANT to go topless at a public pool, but the fact that it is ILLEGAL for ME to go topless, and not for them, is WRONG. It’s sexual discrimination.
Telling a woman to cover up while feeding is very similar pressuring a woman to dress provocatively. Women are expected to be sexy. In general, when the public sees a woman’s tits, those tits are expected to be sexually attractive. So when we expose them in a way that is NOT sexy, THAT’S when we are accused of making people feel uncomfortable. Western society (in general) looks down on cultures that cover women, even though there are many women who WANT to cover their heads. They take pride in the practice. If a woman expresses her devotion to God by covering her head, we should respect that. And in the same way, we should not feel it necessary to critique whether or not someone’s neckline is an inch too low. The western feminist is supposed to wear form-fitting power suits that expose waxed knees under control-top nylons. That outfit is “appropriate” for the most professional of occasions. But even dressing that way doesn’t help. It STILL perpetuates the pressure to conform to an unfair and oppressive expectation. Can’t win for losing.
So the point, in all these issues, is to let the woman decide.. and let her be. Because THAT’S what’s “appropriate.”
Thank you for all of the work that you’ve put in to make this slide show, I understand how difficult sourcing images can be. I have shared this via my business facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/karritreelane
Best wishes
Beth @ Karri Tree Lane (Australia)
Great statement, beautifully made. I’ve put http://eurolac.blogspot.com/p/films-en-presentaties.htmlit on to my blog at
Wonderful. Succinct, well-said, and classy.
This got brought up after today’s Babble article. Thanks for having a great video to link to!
Love your video!
Love it!!!
It’s funny, I’m so small minded that I really can’t even grasp WHY PEOPLE CARE if a woman feeds her baby in public. There is nothing indecent about those breastfeeding pictures. I really don’t get it.
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