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Breastfeeding Ad Sparks Controversy
Friday, April 20, 2012 by Kim Shannon from Buzzworthy Bulletins
When you see a woman breastfeeding in public, how does it make you feel? Correction: When you see a woman breastfeeding in public without a cover, how does it make you feel?
An Oreo Cookie ad, labeled “Basic Instinct,” was recently released by a South Korean marketing and communications agency, showing a “baby at his mother’s breast with the tagline, ‘Milk’s favorite cookie.’”
There is some speculation on whether or not Nabisco has actually approved this ad, but many are firm when they say that, due to North America’s censorship standards, it would never appear here.
The article also mentions a recent public statement made by Facebook after they removed one mother’s “sexually explicit” breastfeeding photos.
"The vast majority of breastfeeding photos [on Facebook] are compliant with our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Facebook takes no action on such content. However, photos which contain a fully exposed breast, do violate our terms and may be removed if they are reported to us. These policies are based on the same standards that apply to television and print media. It is important to note that photos upon which we act are almost exclusively brought to our attention by other users who complain about them being shared on Facebook."
Who was complaining about this woman’s personal photos? Other mothers? Men? Teens, or the parents of teens? Grandparents? Was her profile public?
Breastfeeding in public isn’t illegal … but it isn’t exactly accepted either. If it was, would ads like this potential Oreo ad begin to appear in our magazines, televisions, and billboards? Would you be okay with it?
All debates over the appropriateness of this ad aside, I like this ad – it’s clever, and it made me smile! I wonder if America has over-sexualized women’s breasts to the extent that we have placed a veil of fog over Mother Nature’s intended purpose of the breast. I wonder if the way a woman’s breasts are used in pornography is more accepted than a mother nursing her child in public without a cover.
I nursed my daughter on an airplane (I was in a window seat, and I had a cover). I nursed my daughter in restaurants (I would run to the bathroom and stand in one of the locked stalls). And I proudly say to all of you, I even nursed my daughter in a moving car, an achievement made by few (While she sat, buckled, in her rear-facing car seat, I – also remaining buckled – leaned over the edge and plopped my breast within reach. Still covered.). Even with my impressive attempts at covered, public nursing, I still received wide-eyes, or squinted, beady eyes, from onlookers (Are you really that shocked, or horrified? Do you ever think about just not looking?).
Are we too uptight, or should we be more proactive to conserve the sanctity of a woman’s nude body? While I personally preferred to remain covered, I have many friends who let it all hang out. I am not embarrassed, ashamed, horrified, nor looking for the closest exit for which to make my escape; to each her own!
What do you think? Are your boobs in, or out?
Kim Shannon
Kimberly Shannon is a wife, a mother, an editor, a writer, a Pilates instructor, a dance teacher, a choreographer ... She is always working to find the perfect balance¹!
After Kimberly received her bachelor’s degree in Journalism, she worked on two master’s degree...Read More
