INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY & FACEBOOK'S MISOGYNY!!

        Today, I awoke to a blocked Facebook account - on INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY! The irony is palpable.

Because, after a day of international protest, a vast amount of publicity, a media spat with The Guardian, and further coverage regarding their unsavoury outsourcing practices, Facebook are unrepentant. They are still removing breastfeeding content as offensive and obscene, they are still upholding complaints with regard to breastfeeding pictures, and they continue to block and suspend accounts of those who dare to post images of breastfeeding women.

Facebook has suspended my ability to post at all, following my adding of a beautiful Amazonian nursing dyad. This IMAGE is both beautiful and educational; it shows a powerful, proud, strong woman nurturing her child. This is exactly the kind of image that women need to see, when faced with the crazy onslaught of hyper-sexualised breasts, nursing covers, and formula advertisements. This image, and images like it can redress the balance.

However, why we want to share this image is irrelevant, whether it is to consider the beauty and nature of the body adornment presented, or to mull over the shape of the nipple, or to marvel at the robust health of this dyad, or - whatever! It doesn't matter. The fact and principle is that this picture is neither offensive, nor obscene. If someone deems it as such, then Facebook ought to be reminding them of this fact - not reprimanding me for obscenity!

The fact is that Facebook has appointed itself prime censor - censorship that includes children pretending to feed their dollies, fully covered breastfeeding women, images of active nursing...
....inoffensive and natural mammalian life.

The Mummy demographic is BIG, Facebook, and we are not going to stand for this.

NOT!!

I apologise to all of those people with which I cannot converse, regarding breastfeeding chat, information, education, or advice.

Please register your displeasure by sharing this picture, by posting support on my Facebook page, and by sharing any breastfeeding image from my account.

Facebook's actions are misogynist, harassing, discriminatory, bullying, and singular - they have removed pictures that have appeared in international newspapers, in galleries - they have even removed images of statues that adorn cities across the globe!

For a moment, I would like to consider how Facebook makes people feel when they do this.......well, it is almost a kind of adult "time-out", isn't it? It is a shaming, a shunning, and an isolating; it is a cutting off of community and support. I dread to think what a new mother, proudly posting her new breastfeeding baby might think. Her enthusiasm, pride, elation, happiness may be seriously dented by this kind of action - which both breaks my heart and angers me immensely!


When Facebook decide to reinstate my right to use their facility, I will be continuing my work, my sharing of information and imagery.
And, well .... their office is only a couple of tube stops away - I could always pay them a visit to attempt to discuss breastfeeding imagery in-depth!

Lastly, here is evidence of Facebook's bullying that causes women to "self-censor" - since when did society become so afraid of nipples??
This shows the hesitant thoughts and worries engendered by facebook policy....

"... ♥ ...I actually edited that photo so that the child's hand was over the mother's nipple because I knew FB would go nuts if I posted it. "

 
This problem is far from resolved.

I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT WEANING!!!!

I am not a patient person. I don't do platitudes, much. But, I find infinite inner resources in order to nurture my daughter - many of you will be nodding in recognition...Now, when it comes to weaning, I will let my daughter get on with it - she can wean when she wishes, in the manner that she wishes; she will be four in April - her call. After all, she is the one needing the milk and nurture - so, who am I to try to tell her if she needs it? After all, good AP parents know not to override their child's own ability to know if they need clothes, a coat outside, if they are tired, hungry...same for nursing, right??

So, when I hear or read of people wanting to know how to wean their eighteen month old, six month old, two year old, I wince, my stomach knots, and I think of that child.

It is almost a taboo in these times to suggest that weaning may not be the best option...these times of support and mommy wars, and breastfeeding zealots and bottle/breast arguments raging, because any breastfeeding is good breastfeeding, and that is right enough.


But - why should I encourage or assist someone in their quest to wean their child?? Why should I, in the name of support, offer them a hand up and suggest the milk of another species as a viable alternative to the best thing that a mother can offer? Why should I nod and smile and agree that a stroke on the back is fine when there is a child begging for the breast?
Should I not tell them of the engorgement and mastitis that can ensue from sudden weaning, not to mention the hormonal dip that can occur? Ought I not to enquire what they plan to muster when their child goes into meltdown, and there is no soothing booby to offer that will quell the storm in moments..?
Should I not pass on the idea that if their child asks, then there is a need??

So, don't expect me to burst into momentous applause, say "Well Done!! You have done your bit as you perceive it, thus you deserve to wean your child."

Because I won't. 

I make no apologies - I advocate for the child.
And, if you didn't want this response, then go and find someone who will nod and pat you on the back.

A child is not born culture-specific, aware of fashion or fads, or knowing where is public or private, and neither do they know about modesty or appropriateness; they know about milk and love, and that is all mothers need to consider.

(Along with reading Kathy Dettwyler's "A Natural Age of Weaning")