HEY, FACEBOOK, BREASTFEEDING IS NOT OBSCENE!
These pages are dedicated to breastfeeding women everywhere. They provide what is needed in the start of life. Breastfeeding is a very important act in nurturing children, and often a highlight in the life and memory of women, as the photos below suggest.
GO TO PAGE 7 (more photos)
GO TO PAGE 9 (more photos)
GO TO PAGE 10 (more photos)
Here we present the first page of photos banned from the social utility Facebook, as well as a few that haven't been. With its tens of millions of users, Facebook still removes from its pages photographs of women breastfeeding, despite complaints about that practice beginning as long ago as June 2007.
Facebook claimed that breastfeeding photos violated its terms of service if they showed "an entire breast." Eventually it dropped the vagueness and the euphemism and claimed that all photos with a visible nipple or areola were "obscene," "pornographic," or "sexually explicit." This claim by Facebook is at odds with legislation, case law, and actual practice throughout the USA. In addition, breastfeeding itself is allowed in public, exposed breasts or not, in almost all states in the country. By its attitude and action, Facebook is wrong. It demeans and stigmatizes women and breastfeeding.
In May 2009, the same Facebook spokesperson responsible for the above claims said that Facebook removes only a small number of photos of naked women breastfeeding. That would be funny if it weren't so ignorant. Facebook also claims that images of breasts harm children. That's absurd. Facebook wrongly uses children as an excuse for its immaturity and errors.
Facebook is undoubtedly a great utility, both useful and fun. Its worldwide acceptance on the Internet confers upon it a responsibility to do better.
The protest against Facebook's removal of many breastfeeding photos isn't really about legality. It's not even about rights. It's about what is right.
No. of photos in this collection: 121. Of those, 105 have been banned, some more than once. The others are here for comparison. Comments from the photos' owners are often illuminating.
Our NON-DISCLAIMER re photos
Many sites would carry a warning: Keep away if you're under 18! NSFW!
We don't believe in that. Women's breasts in photos like these bother no one except those who have unfortunately been trained to be embarrassed by them or to control them when they have no right to.
Anyone wanting to send a banned photo or a series from which one or more were banned, please send:
-- Your photo(s), at Facebook
profile size or bigger;
-- Your name (and whether you want that indicated);
-- Your best contact e-mail address (will not be
indicated);
-- The date (month/year will do) when the photo was banned
(if it was);
-- Accompanying comments: whatever you want to say. Links
are possible to your e-mail address and/or your
breastfeeding-related site if you wish.
Unlike on Facebook, the photos remain your property. We will not use them for any other purpose whatever. They will be deleted on request of the owner or provider.
We post most of the photos at the same height. We acknowledge that some appeared on Facebook bigger, and a few smaller. The effect a photo has depends on size, among other things. Also, we cannot guarantee how things like colour or contrast appear, because they depend on individual monitors.
Photographs on this site are not to be reproduced in any location or in any medium or format without the prior consent of the owner of the photograph, except as permitted by law. Neither TERA nor its proprietors, members, or site host assumes any responsibility for what is posted, with which they may or may not agree. Comments may be edited for clarity or legal reasons.
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The photo above is the first of Karen's to be banned: on July 29, 2007. Two more are below. The main protest group on
Facebook remains "Hey, Facebook, Breastfeeding is
not Obscene!" It was started by Kelli Roman in June
2007; she had photos removed then. In the last few
weeks of 2008, the group doubled in size, from
about fifty thousand members to a hundred
thousand. "I took both of them
myself, lol. One [above, left] is
when we went on a family skiing/sledding trip in
January 2007. It was great having "The other picture
[above, right] is of particular
significance, because we were at Disneyland in
November of 2006, and it was When these were banned, on August 25, 2007, Facebook deleted Karen's entire account. The news went around the world in early September, 2007. Karen had written to Facebook, whose messages back to her grew progressively less sensible. |
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On December 31, 2008, Time magazine wrote a fine article about this issue but said of the photos on this page, "One or two are vaguely pornographic shots of naked women holding babies." Is there something pornographic about skin-to-skin contact with babies? About a woman breastfeeding naked? Pornographic?
"I can only presume the complaint was made by a lactaphobe who was following the protest posts. It was up for such a short time, and deleted on December 28th [2008], a few hours after the protest finished. "My
husband and a few others have had the same photo up
for some time. No others have been deleted, as,
presumably, no one has complained . . . yet." |
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"I am a tandem-nursing mother whose photo was deleted (without warning) and whose account on FB has been threatened with suspension as a result of my uploading this photo. At the time this photo was taken, I had just given birth to a whopping-great 9.5 pound nucchal-armed baby. I imagine my bare, 6-hour-old postpartum belly and my bare legs may have contributed to offending someone's sensibilities, along with both of my breasts being suckled by my daughters---breasts which only became offensive, I imagine, once they were seen to be functioning in their primary, non-sexual role! This photo was in my private photo album (set to "friends only" for viewing), but I also posted it to the MILC event page. I do believe it was someone trolling through those photos who reported it (rather than someone on my friends list). "The photo was deleted by FB on December 28, 2008, under the pretense that my posting it thus renders Facebook "unsafe for children." "As an aspiring midwife and a tireless advocate for the rights of childbearing/-rearing women, I run a lively discussion group on Facebook, called Informed Choice: Birth and Beyond. "If they were to ban me entirely from Facebook, it would be a terrible shame. Indeed . . . How incredibly sad for humanity that human flesh frightens us so." Emma Kwasnica had her
entire account deleted from Facebook at 10:50 AM
(Eastern Standard Time) on January 1,
2009. "This was
deleted [December 30, 2008], I
am sure, because Anna is a 'big' kid (she
had just turned 4 in this photo). This is
getting ridiculous. People need to
see that 'big' kids nurse,
too!" The World Health
Organization agrees with Emma, as do
mothers and children in many countries.
For interesting reading on ages of
weaning, go here. Emma Kwasnica
had her entire account deleted from
Facebook at 10:50 AM (Eastern Standard
Time) on January 1, 2009. After
complaints from her, it was restored
without explanation on January 19, 2009,
at 2:54 AM. Below is a
photograph of Emma and her family at the
Montréal Breastfeeding Challenge
(Défi allaitement) in October 2008.
Emma is a major force for women's,
mothers', and breastfeeders'
rights. This photo has
been widely posted on Facebook and
elsewhere. The article accompanying it is
titled "Pour vaincre un tabou" ("To break
down a taboo"). Ironic, under the
circumstances. |
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Morgan Gallagher found this on the Internet, doing image searches. "I have a store of them that I use for writing and speaking about breastfeeding. I simply uploaded my cache into the MILC site, as it was such a good archive for others needing such images. "I'm not sure what was most offensive: the breast or the pregnancy. My experience is that pregnancy photos cause more outcry." This photo was shown censored on ABC TV's Good Morning America program (in the USA) on January 3, 2009. ABC claims, "We cannot show these photos without blurring. them out." Of course they can, unless they believe that the Federal Communications Commission has a legitimate role as national moralist, a role beyond its mandate, with concomitant unfettered rights to impose crass censorship. At least ABC doesn't call the three photos it took from this site obscene. The other two they broadcast are here (the one on the right) and here. |
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Banned by Facebook on December 28, 2008 |
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Christmas 2008. Photo banned by Facebook. |
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HEATHER FARLEY was the organizer of the on-site protest at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, California, on December 27, 2008. Bravo, Heather! This photo of hers was banned by Facebook in early November, 2008. |
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On December 31, 2008, Time magazine wrote a fine article about this issue but said of the photos on this page, "One or two are vaguely pornographic shots of naked women holding babies." Is there something pornographic about skin-to-skin contact with babies? About a woman breastfeeding unclothed? Pornographic?
This photo represented a video of still images of breastfeeding by Judit Reyes Griñena in Spain. Both the photo and the video were removed by Facebook on December 27, 2008. |
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Banned December 28, 2008 |
Photo from Karen
Speed
"Breastfeeding: a guide for
mothers"
Photo from Emma Kwasnica
Photo from Emma
Kwasnica
Photo from the Journal de
Montréal
Photo from Kelly Geddes
Photo from Claire Gannon
Photo from Heather Farley
"Un regalo para toda la vida"
("A gift for a lifetime")
Photo from Kendra Wivell|
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On December 28, 2008, good old
Facebook banned the first and third photos. Rather ruins the
narrative, don't you think?
Breastfeeding involves latching on and latching off, and
drinking in between. Which part of that doesn't Facebook
understand?
Although it claims to support
breastfeeding, Facebook demeans and disparages it and women
by telling them that their "whole breasts" "I guess that what bothers them is that
my son isn't a baby, but a 3-year-old toddler, but
they should know that WHO recommends giving the
breast at least till the age of 2, and still longer
if the mother and child wish." Y en
Español: "Creo que lo que más
molestó es que mi hijo no es un
bebé, sino un niño de 3 años,
pero deberían saber que la OMS recomienda
dar el pecho por lo menos hasta los 2 años,
y aún más si la madre y el
niño así lo desean." Josefina's blog is here.
It makes lively reading (in Spanish). Hey,
Facebook, amamantar no es obsceno!!! Banned December 29, 2008 Banned December 29,
2008 "So what if part of my
areola shows? What's more important is that
it's a beautiful photo of a peaceful, well-fed
baby." Banned December 29,
2008 "I got a warning and my
photo removed from Facebook today, December
29th [2008]. I have my photos and my
profile both set so that only friends can
see them. "I had this in an album
called Breastfeeding, with one other
picture---which was left alone. The funny thing is
that the only difference between the two photos
(besides the angle) was that the banned photo had a
bit of areola showing. "Oh no, not the dreaded
areola! It's shocking! "What I love about this
whole thing is that I didn't realize just how
passionate I was about breastfeeding until
now! I've fed in public before, sometimes with a
cover, sometimes without, and I've never gotten a
dirty look. Then again, my baby is only 3 months
old---maybe the nasty looks will be more frequent
when she gets to being toddler age and more people
think it's 'weird.' "My personal newsfeed
right now consists almost entirely of things
relating to breastfeeding. Ha!" "Obscene? Really? No way!" [Drinks
cheerily . . .] That's our
imagined caption. Here's what this little
guy's mother (Anne Hinze) wrote as a
caption for it: "Yes, this is a nipple. If
you are offended, don't look! I eat here!
It's normal. Get over yourself and grow
up!" Wyatt is 6 months old in this photo.
It's a heart-warming indication of why
banning images like this is
thoughtless. Banned December 28, 2008 Madeleine, a few hours old. Her mother
(Anne Hinze) took this photo and the one
above it. She's a certificated lactation
counsellor and educator in northwestern
Florida. Read
her enlightening essay, "On Breastfeeding
and Obscenity," here. Banned December 29, 2008 I'm the super happy mother of Layla,
almost 16 months. Today [December 30,
2008] I added a photo---of me nursing
Layla while taking a bath---to the group
Hey Facebook, Breastfeeding is not
Obscene. Four hours later my picture was
removed. My
blog and my
social network (both in Spanish) are
passionately dedicated to attachment
parenting. I think it's super sad that an
important social tool like Facebook
wouldn't co-operate to inform women about
the only perfect food for babies: la leche
de mamá [mother's
milk]!! Abrazos [Hugs] and thanks for
your work! "Photo of Dahli, aged 2 years, 3
months, enjoying her 'bibs' in the
sun." Banned December 30, 2008 Message to
Facebook after this photo was banned on
December 30, 2008: "Hi
there. "You just deleted
one of my breastfeeding pictures because
you said it violated the terms of use.
Well, I object! There is absolutely
nothing obscene or pornographic about
nursing a baby. Here is a link to the
picture: [link provided to the photo
above] "If you can point
out the pornographic, sexy, or obscene
part of it, then please point it out to
me, because I don't see it. The picture
shows a new mom feeding her newborn baby
for the first time. Yes, it does show my
breast. But it shows it doing what it was
made for doing. You can thank the breast
for the survival of mankind, you
know. "If you are
unable to see the difference between
showing a small part of your breast when
nursing and showing your breast just for
the purpose of showing your breast, then
it is your ethics that need to be looked
at. There is something really sick with
this world when breastfeeding photographs
are considered not okay. It is just
twisted that people actually see something
wrong with such a natural and beautiful
thing. "Why don't you
help us turn things around, and help the
world to see breastfeeding as the
beautiful act it really is." Another poster banned by Facebook (on
December 30, 2008). This is from INFACT
Canada (Infant Feeding Action
Coalition), "a national
non-governmental organization that works
to protect infant and young child health
as well as maternal well-being through the
promotion and support of breastfeeding and
optimal infant feeding practices." The
small print: "You've got what it takes to
make a healthy baby. And it doesn't cost a
thing." Morgan Gallagher adds: "That Facebook can delete INFACT's own
promotional material just goes to show how
unthinking this company is. But as they
act on their private club in cyberspace,
they can do as they wish with human
rights. They can delete Canadian and
Argentinian health promotion [the
Aregntinian poster is near the top of this
page] and breastfeeding protection
posters, and claim they are obscene. If
they did this in actuality, in California,
with actual physical posters, they'd be
breaking the law." The same poster was banned by Facebook
from Gina Merlin's account on February 21,
2009, another day of protest against
Facebook's deletions. "I know he isn't actually
feeding but had just finished a feed.
The photo was titled "All full up," or
something like that. "How come they can have pictures of
topless men and not of breastfeeding women
. . . men have nipples too! One rule for
one and another for another --- it's
pathetic. "We are using our bodies for their
actual purpose. Does someone find it
obscene when a puppy is suckling the
mother? No, they see it as cute . . . So
what difference is there really?" Banned December 29, 2008 This is the first photo we've put here
that was banned (December 29, 2008) from a
man's Facebook pages. But that's not a
man's breast. Men as well as women were invited to
participate in the December 27, 2008
protest, which some men did. Notable
favourable comments were made about this
photo, which Sean found on the
Internet. "I too was
'reprimanded' by Facebook [on
December 29, 2008] for a breastfeeding
photo. They've done the breastfeeding mom
brigade a favour, however, in doing
so. "I thought twice
about posting these pics. I have a lot of
male friends from church whom I post with
on FB and worried about "I've been
proudly nursing at least one of my four
blessings whenever, wherever, for the past
7 1/2 years!" We played "Guess
the no-no." One of these loving photos
(above, not below) was banned from
Facebook, but the other two
weren't. Visitors guessed
which was banned (no reason needed). -------- 2009 January
03. The "contest" mentioned above was
over yesterday. 36.5% guessed no. 1 was
banned; 18% guessed no. 2; and the most
votes, 45.5%, were for no. 3. If we get time,
we'll post some comments that came in with
the votes. Thanks to all who wrote in, and
special thanks to Chelle Geden,
(meaning nipples and areolas, actually) are always "obscene,
pornographic, or sexually explicit."
These photos must then all be examples of child
pornography!
Photo from Josefina Schatz
Photo from Julie Archuleta
Poirier
Photo from Brandie
Mailand
Photo from Ashley
Fuller
Photo from Anne Hinze
Photo from Anne Hinze
Photo from Laura Bernhein
Photo from Gabrielle Pestinger
Photo from Linda
Björk
Eiríksdóttir
Photo from Morgan Gallagher
Photo from Mel Graham
Photo from Sean Turvey
Photos from Chelle
Geden
Photo
no. 1
Photo
no. 2
Photo
no. 3
I'm ticked off!! And when I'm ticked off,
I'm mouthy. I will be keeping an eye out
for any possible protesting,
petitioning,
and/or civil action more than I normally
would. Thanks, FB, for making this momma a
more active lactivist!
what they might think about parts of a
breast being exposed. Then I realized that
these men and their wives and children
wouldn't be harmed by seeing anything
shown in these pics, because my breasts
are doing what God intended them to
do.
So up the pictures went.
Deadline: January 2, 2009, noon
Eastern Standard Time (in North
America).
The only prize was the fun (or maybe
aggravation) in guessing, and eventually
learning the answer.
The correct answer is no. 1. That suggests
the best way to figure out what Facebook
bans is to toss a coin.
who okayed this bit of fun/aggravation
with her own photographs.
Photos at the left fromGO TO PAGE 7 (more photos)
GO TO PAGE 9 (more photos)
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