Friday, August 04, 2006

babytalk


babytalk
Originally uploaded by katzeye.
Oh Brother!!!! Is this a shockingly, disgusting, and gross photograph. Not at all!!!

I am one of those people who is not immersed in popular culture that much. I do not subscribe to PEOPLE, I think the tabloids are sources of amusement during waits in supermarket lines, on those rare occasions when I actually go into a supermarket (I usually shop where there are no magazines and no toyfoods). I am not much of a TV watcher. I seem to live in an alternate dimension. Perhaps this makes me qualified to speak on this issue because I am not brain-washed as to current societal norms.

And so, when I see certain immoral and immodest types being role models to pre-teens, to me that IS shocking. When I see pseudo stars gaining popularity by accidentally producing and selling sex videos featuring themselves as accidental porn stars, that to me is disgusting.

When I hear people explaining why they had five children, each by different fathers (or mothers), to whom they were not married, at the time, and, in fact, when all were actually elsewhere committed, to me that is gross. (“It just happened!” They say as an explanation as to why they screwed up their lives and those of a trail of innocent victims. Or “I fell in love” to explain why they abandoned family and/or destroyed another family. When feelings and impulses rule us, the society is doomed!)

When I read of people who destroy or even murder for gain or power, I feel discouraged and I feel contempt for such acts.

So, read the article and come back and tell me what you think:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060804/od_afp/afplifestyleussocialbreastfeeding

Shocking? Disgusting? Gross?

What is happening in our world where what is pure and beautiful can be seen by some as being ugly and unspeakable, and what is ugly and unspeakable is seen as being worth our attention and focus?

Some people have it turned all around backwards and inside out.

To me, this is a truly beautiful photograph! This is a loving moment that is pure and inspiring. Look at the baby’s expression! This is what mothering is all about and this is what produces a human being who will be kind, moral, and decent.

I applaud BABYTALK.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

RIGHT ON! You are so right about this, the world is all screwed up when it applauds and emulates women walking around looking like hookers, but is shocked at a baby at the breast! what is wrong with those people anyway?

Anonymous said...

Totally agree in that. This photo shows a baby/mother doing a natural thing. Still continue asking myself what will happen to our world if current social norms stay. What kind of people will become the next generation?

... said...

jbl-I couldn't agree more!

... said...

Jean-paul,

You make a very good point. What kind of people will become the next generation? People who are shocked at breastfeeding but turn a blind eye to pedophiles?

Anonymous said...

I agree with you, Kat. When I was younger and my wife had newborns, and her friends had newborns, everybody was nursing their kids as we hung out and no one felt uncomfortable, nor "wierd" about the fact that boobs were sometimes exposed. We were adults, not leering teens. We were mature.

Cosma

... said...

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, "Mature." I keep thinking of the things that those people said in the article about having to tear the cover off the front of the magazine because it made them uncomfortable! I wonder if they had a COSMOPOLITAN magazine or a Victoria's Secret catalog on the table that was under the radar of offensiveness to them!

Sus said...

*shaking head* I'm not even a parent nor do I have any desire to have my own children and yet I THOROUGHLY support a woman's right to breast feed their child. It's a completely natural part of being a mammal for gods sake!

"I was offended and it made my husband very uncomfortable when I left the magazine on the coffee table."

ummm....so I take it her husband has NEVER seen her breasts?

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

soooo this mother is sick of seeing her baby AND her own breasts?

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

boy these husband have been missing out on seeing their wive's breasts! Poor dudes! *lol*

"Babytalk executive editor Lisa Moran...'"But in this very natural context of feeding your child, a lot of Americans are very uncomfortable with it."'

BINGO! She hit the nail on the head. This issue runs parallel with the situation in America where it's perfectly acceptable for there to be violence on TV or movies or whatever (against whomever) but the minute you add sex/lovemaking to the mix and show more of the human body in all it's glory (or not!) the conservatives come out screaming that's it's pornography.

No wonder I and millions of other women grew-up feeling ashamed of our bodies and have body and eating issues.

Thanks for putting this on your blog, I'm gonna have to rant about this on my political/social blog as well.

... said...

Sus! Funny and intelligent commentary. I'm pretty conservative, myself, however, and I am not sure that it is a conservative thing that much (maybe there is a stereotype that they are this way, and maybe a lot are). I guess I was seeing it as a kind of double standard, where it's okay for women to be used as sex-symbols, to be draped over items that are being promoted for sale, and to walk around dressed provocatively, but a mother nursing her baby is seen as gross and disgusting. I agree with what you say, and yet (not quite getting my finger on it), I sense something a bit more, or more complex or something. In other words, I don't see it as simply puritan-conservatives having a hissy fit over what they think is a pornographic photo (although it may very well be that that is all that it is). I am exploring the thought that there may be more to it in a kind of: does society have it all backwards? kind of way (violence is okay, nudity is not, ever?). I see mothers who promote their daughters in dressing like britney spears, being in beauty contests, overly sexualizing their children and some of these same mothers might rant about a cover like this. Just some thoughts.

... said...

aj-
I know what you mean. This has had me thinking. I don't think this is necessarily about "conservative values" versus "open-mindedness." As I said, I am not much of a TV watcher, and haven't watched a sit-com in probably decades. But on the occasion when I have seen some part of one recently (in a room where someone is watching one, never by deliberate choice), what astounds me is that they are so much about illicit sexuality. Hence, I may be forming the opinion that immorality is gaining in popularily while the natural and good things: marriage, family, breastfeeding, are beginning to seem taboo in some perverted way. Am I unto something here?

Anonymous said...

What kills me is that there are boobies that are sexualized all over magazine covers... yet one is shown being used to nourish a child and THAT is controversial?! Give me a break.

... said...

Leave it to you, Liza, to put it in a succint and direct way! That is just what it is that I am trying to say! Thank you for being so articulate!