Thursday, September 27, 2012

My Nursing Photos Got Creeped

Here is a snapshot from my evening. I'm a loving mother that bathes with her children and nurses until they are done. I'm not weird. I'm not extreme. I'm just normal. 


I share pictures throughout my day just like everyone else on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Some photo their lunch. Some photo their cars. Some photo their kids. I've had the same followers on Twitter and Instagram for a long time and they've grown to feel like they know us. They're friends and many are fellow parents. I never felt odd sharing photos of my kids with these moms, dads, and friends.

Then today some weirdness started.

Men making cat-calls.

Sites asking if they could show my pictures on their site for "hot girls showing their boobs."

What? I'm nursing. I'm nursing my BABY. She's 2 and NOT too old to be nursing. The WHO backs me up on this and I think they've done their homework. For a moment I questioned myself and wondered if I had asked for it. I was quickly reminded by iamnotthebabysitter that I had not done anything wrong. I was the victim. Actually, I was supported by a great many followers, new and old, including kellynaturally and the gentleman at mouselink. I need to stay strong and realize that only through this will breastfeeding become normal and accepted by all again.


6 comments:

April said...

Creeps. Don't doubt the wonderful lifetime gift you're giving your girls. Shame on those who objectify with disregard for what you are truly representing. I'm all for bewbs, but you're not putting them out there like that, so you shouldn't expect that treatment. Here.

Ky • twopretzels.com said...

I wrote about this on my blog a few weeks ago for a reason. There ARE creepers out there. And while it's your freedom of speech to publish whatever photos you choose, why would you want to publish photos that creepers want to see?

I think this has nothing to do with nursing or parenting styles, but it has everything to do with protecting yourself and your wee ones from the weirdos.

Unknown said...

I made my instagram private which I probably should have done initially. I thought I was under the radar enough to not have problems. I share with a number of other women.

Do you feel the hullabaloo that The Leaky Boob, Best for Babes, etc get on Facebook and their sites with creepers and trolls is self inflicted and they're not really trying to normalize? Are these pictures by attention seekers hiding behind a "cause?"

Ky • twopretzels.com said...

I guess I'm not extremely familiar with those sites that you mention because breastfeeding is no longer part of my daily life. (Does that sound bad? I'm just in a different place in my parenting journey. When I was nursing, it was obviously easier to think about it often.)

I think the causes DO need to exist for myriad of reasons: to spread awareness, educate, normalize... But this is where I get selfish: I'd rather it be someone else's photo being shown than my own -- in the name of the cause.

Also, I absolutely do not think that anyone who publishes a breastfeeding photo is an "attention seeker." It's part of their (your) everyday life! It's who you are! I get that. However, creepers scare me. The cause is important; but not as important as the safety of YOU and that child.

Ky • twopretzels.com said...

(I made my instagram private recently, too.)

Wendy said...

Did you have the creepers before your picture from Wednesday on Instagram? Reason I ask, is that your hashtag might have given your photo easy access to the creepers. When I searched that hashtag, I came up with a bunch of other photos of people that are NOT doing with their nipples what you are you doing with yours. There's nipples for breastfeeding on Instagram and there's nipples for nipples sake on Instagram. I worry that your #nip hashtag might have blurred the line and made it easier for the sickos to see your photo. Not that that makes it RIGHT - please don't take it that way, that's not what I'm saying.

I'm sure all of us are creeped on Instagram with the photos that we post of our children. Unfortunately you found out that you have creepers because they commented.

It all just makes me nervous, to be honest. We all have to be really careful with what we post and what comments we use when we post.