Myspace: "Breastfeeding is Offensive"

Go to Myspace, and click on some random profiles. Chances are, you'll come across some things that could be considered offensive: Pamela Anderson clad in nothing but a thong, a girl who can't be over sixteen in a provocative pose, graphics that look like road signs showing stick figures in various positions performing sex acts, a mother feeding her baby.

Wait a minute-what did I just say? A mother feeding her baby? Actually, that's the one thing I listed that you probably won't see, because the people who are in charge of deciding what's offensive on Myspace are deleting photos of breastfeeding infants, in the name of decency.

Lisa Marie Gittings of Asheville, NC had her photos removed without any explanation. As she was nursing her eight-month-old son, her three-year-old snapped a picture. In support of the breastfeeding community, Lisa Marie posted the picture on her Myspace page. I didn't see the picture myself, because every time she reloads them, Myspace removes them, but I can tell you from my own experience in nursing, far less of the breast is exposed during breastfeeding than in some of the photos I've seen on Myspace. When a baby nurses, his head covers almost the entire breast. If you are large-busted, you might show as much skin as you would in a modest two-piece bathing suit. Not only is Lisa Marie a mother trying to feed her child in the healthiest way possible; she also offers professional breastfeeding support to new mothers, in an attempt to ensure that more babies in the US are as healthy as possible. Lisa Marie wrote to the administration at Myspace asking for an explanation of why her photos were removed, but hasn't heard back, as of this writing. She says, "I feel that by banning these images, Myspace is telling young mothers that breastfeeding is an unnatural and disgusting act, and therefore they are not promoting the health of children and families...they are violating our rights by censoring these family photos."