I have a feeling that somebody has been testing Newton's 3rd law :P
Anyway, I had no intention to scribble anything on this topic but then I saw the article & yes I was curious as to how people are reacting. As usual people have reacted badly as they think Time Magazine cover went too far. Yes they have gone a little too far & this has worked for them very well. All of us are talking.
I have been amazed by some of the comments.
"Breast feeding is a natural thing to do, but standing on a chair and having mom stand there like she is a water fountain isn't the way to portray this," Yahoo! reader, San2, wrote.
I think the pic is not that offensive as people are painting it to be but at the same it’s not all that natural & maternal. I believe all this publicity is bad for her two kids. Honestly speaking, I don’t even like to see this pic. Whatever it is, we don’t like to think about our moms in this way.
"As a pediatrician, I believe that every mother should breastfeed her child for at least six months, preferably a year (even longer if they like)," KP.MD commented. "This, however, is extreme. And the photograph -- everything about its composition - sends a message that I find tasteless and more than a little disturbing."
You have the right to find it tasteless but we live on a planet where disturbing things happen on a daily basis. Why don’t we raise our voice against all of that? Why do we have to criticize this particular mother? Just because we find the pic tasteless doesn’t mean we have the right to torment the other person for her choices.
"That is not the look of a loving and caring Mother, but the look of a defiant woman, daring you to tell her to cover up and/or wean her child," Yahoo! reader Can't Deny Truth added.
This is being biased, cause just by looking at the picture, no can say she’s not a loving or caring mother. I don’t like the picture myself but I’m not as disgusted as these people. Yeah it’s strange to see a woman standing & feeding her 4 year old kid. As I said yesterday I find it really stupid how they are both staring at the camera.
Anyhow, this is what the photographer Martin Schoeller says that the photo:
"When you think of breast-feeding, you think of mothers holding their children, which was impossible with some of these older kids," he told Time. "I liked the idea of having the kids standing up to underline the point that this was an uncommon situation."
The point has been clearly made. Yes this is uncommon, but he could have given it a maternal touch by giving better directions. After all, real mom was posing with her real child & still that maternal instinct is missing. That is weird.
However, I think people love to raise storms just for the heck of it. They are more disgusted by the picture than by the idea of breastfeeding kids that long. And 5 or 6 years is too long. Some of us have been fed just for 6 months & I think we are all doing fine.
We all have been kids & I don’t remember the things that happened when I was two year old, but I can recall certain things that happen when I was three or four. Of course the memory is not that vivid, but I still remember bits & pieces. I just hope you get the idea what I’m thinking. I just don’t want to say it.
I believe only a child who has been breastfed this long could tell you about the exact picture. Right now we know the story of one side. I don’t think any such mother is deriving any sexual pleasure or molesting her child. Although Jamie Lynne Grumet herself has experienced this but no one is taking her word seriously. People are more or less concentrating on the cover pic. In fact people are shocked out of their wits by hearing this:
"I don't consider breast feeding immodest at all," she told Time magazine. "I'm not shy about doing it in public."
You have to look at it with an open mind instead of judging her. She’s not asking anyone of us to do that in public. Yeah she doesn’t feel shy or immodest about the whole thing. It’s her life. It’s her choice. Who are we to judge her?
Another comment worth pondering over:
"While this picture is gawk-tastic, I'm more disturbed by the title of the article. 'Are You Mom Enough?'" Yahoo! reader Chrissy from Conroe, Texas, commented. "I'm sorry...'Mom Enough?' So this woman is deemed more of a 'mom' simply because she chose to breastfeed her child until he was damn near as tall as she is?"
Actually what I find more disgusting now is how people are reacting. There is an educated way to say things. You have the right not to agree. I didn’t like this question either. It’s like you’re challenging every other woman who doesn’t believe in breastfeeding her baby for 5 or 6 years but that doesn’t make that woman a bad mother.
This is the kind of situation in which you can’t side with any party, because all of them have valid points. However, in the long run this interview & cover pic may not be liked by her 4 year old son. There is a huge possibility whether the mother likes it or not.
But I believe people are hypocrites...they see one woman breastfeeding a much older kid, they are all dead against her. Since many approve of birth photography, they find all those who don't believe in it weird & curse them not to have babies. What's the god-damn logic behind it? I'm so sorry to say but I had difficulty watching those pics rather than this cover photo. However, this doesn't mean I approve of it or I like the pic. I don't...
