Moms Changing Society: Breastfeeding in Public & On Facebook

Published February 12, 2009 @ 12:06PM PT

Breastfeeding in public is not illegal in any state. Moreover, there are 40 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgina Islands which all have laws specifically protecting a woman’s right to breastfeed in any public and private location. Furthermore, there are thousands of benefits of breastfeeding, including reducing risk of cancers, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases. There are no risks of breastfeeding except in very unusual circumstances (for instance, when the mothers has AIDS). Finally, through laws and education, breastfeeding is no longer shocking to most of society.

In November, actor Brad Pitt took photographs of his current partner Angelina Jolie breastfeeding for the cover of W Magazine. Just today, Time Magazine reported that Salma Hayek nursed a starving baby (not her own) in Western Africa while being filmed by ABC News.

Nonetheless, the social networking site, Facebook, has been intertwined in a controversy that has lasted for over a year by banning photographs of women breastfeeding. On December 27, 2008, there was a “virtual protest” when 11,000 Facebook users changed their profile photograph to a breastfeeding photograph and changed their status updates to “Hey, Facebook, Breastfeeding is Not Obscene.” Simultaneously, one woman led a 3-hour march in front of the Facebook headquarters in California.

Last month, breastfeeding moms had a big triumph when Facebook changed their policy. Facebook’s new official policy is to remove photographs that show “a fully exposed breast,” which it then defines as showing any part of the areola or nipple. The result is that photos where women are wearing nothing but pasties are allowed, but photos where women are breastfeeding and exposing a tiny part of the areola are banned. Thus, while this change is positive (before women, like Karen Speed, had their entire profile removed for photographs that showed no skin), it is insufficient.

A woman’s right to breastfeed in a private place such as a shopping mall is protected in all 50 states. Furthermore, her right to show a picture of her breastfeeding at that same private shopping mall is also protected. In 1980, the United States Supreme Court acknowledged that shopping malls had become equivalent to public squares of years ago.

Today, Facebook and other social websites are fulfilling that same role of shopping malls. While they are privately owned and privately run, they are considered “public squares.” To ban a women’s breastfeeding photographs from being uploaded because they show a tiny bit of her areola or nipple is as outrageous as banning a women from showing the same amount of skin breastfeeding in public.

Above is an example of an image banned by Facebook (banned January 10, 2009). It shows detail from "Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels" (ca. 1450) by Jean Fouquet. The painting is in a museum in Belgium. Below is a drawing from a Facebook user; it was also banned last month.

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Comments (16)

Women should clearly have the same rights on Facebook as they have in public. Too bad the guys running Facebook don't see it that way. I wonder how Chris Kelly, their Chief Privacy Office who's planning to run for Attorney General in California, plans to defend his stance when it comes up during the campaign.

Posted by Jon Pincus on 02/12/2009 @ 03:34PM PT
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May be it is not legal but it could save Babies' lives !

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,25039172-7485,00.html

Posted by Amal Korrida on 02/13/2009 @ 01:47AM PT
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What do you mean that it isnt legal ?

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 07/17/2009 @ 05:10PM PT
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"To ban a women's breastfeeding photographs from being uploaded because they show a tiny bit of her areola or nipple is as outrageous as banning a women from showing the same amount of skin breastfeeding in public."

No it isn't. Breastfeeding has obvious benefits for the baby, pictures of breastfeeding do not. The act and the picture are completely different. Facebook are not stopping people from breastfeeding, just as they aren't stopping people have sex. They are merely banning pictures of it. They would ban a picture of fully exposed breasts in any other situation.

Posted by Ian Calvert on 02/13/2009 @ 02:50AM PT
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Mr. calvert...What possible harm can there be in banning pictures of mothers breastfeeding ?

To me there no worse than pictures of mothers bottlefeeding and in fact are far better simply because they show a more natural way to feed children.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 07/17/2009 @ 05:08PM PT
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I apologise...I meant to say "not" banning pictures of mothers breastfeeding.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 07/17/2009 @ 05:27PM PT
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The more women feel comfortable with breastfeeding, with seeing others breastfeed, the more women will do it. It's important to understand that equating breastfeeding with any sort of sexual act is what makes people uncomfortable.

There is nothing sexual about breastfeeding for the woman or child involved, sadly some who "watch" or "see" us doing it don't have that same perspective.

Posted by Lisa Smolen on 02/13/2009 @ 11:39AM PT
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I agree miss smolen-jenkins.

To me theres nothing sexual about a mother feeding her baby...Its just plain beautifull.

The only time breastfeeding becomes sexual is in the case of Adult Nursing Couples where the female partner breastfeeds her partner which then places it in a whole different category...Pity a lot of folks dont understand that.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 07/17/2009 @ 05:13PM PT
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A misconception exists that these women are showing a "fully exposed breast"; they are not. I have seen countless photographs that were banned by Facebook and while a small part of the areola may be visible, the photographs are not obscene. Despite belief to the contrary, more media attention of Salma Hayek's courageous act of breastfeeding a starving baby (and photographs on Facebook) are both a legal right, and beneficial. Education and awareness of breastfeeding is lacking in our community. Many women never see another mother breastfeed until they birth their own children; this lack of exposure creates ignorance and frustration as they attempt to learn how to nurse their own child at the same time that they must teach their newborn to nurse (all of course happening within moments of giving birth). Breastfeeding is challenging (and each day presents new challenges) - a fact many people do not appreciate until they have their own child.

Beyond this question as to whether there are benefits of breastfeeding, it is important to note that a person could arguably show pictures of mothers breastfeeding in a public area (including a privately-owned shopping mall); this right is protected under the First Amendment's right to free speech. Under that same line of reasoning, Facebook is a public square and if mothers are showing breastfeeding photographs in protest of Facebook's policy, such photographs are protected under our Constitution. Thank you for the comments, both from people who agree and from people who disagree with my analysis.

Posted by Shel Lyons on 02/17/2009 @ 03:12PM PT
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Facebook just created a new group for discussions about a "Bill of rights and responsibilities", and the longest discussion thread there is on breastfeeding -- 1000 posts and counting at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=69048030774&topic=7661

Posted by Jon Pincus on 02/18/2009 @ 04:12PM PT
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I am actually doing an expository essay on the benefits of breastfeeding. I am a mother that breastfed and plan on breastfeeding my son that is due in May. Hopefully these guys learn that women have rights. I wonder if they were breastfed as babies?

Posted by Ashley Searcy on 02/24/2009 @ 03:04PM PT
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I agree all women should be allowed to nurse their babies whereever they want! One thang that always bothered me about situations like this is when you join social networking sites or any site for that matter theres a long list of user agreements that you have to check as read before the site will let you be a member. So..... why did'nt she just leave facebook and go to another networking site? The owners of facebook are completely within there rights if you violate the user agreement. I just sorta think this is fake outrage instead of getting a bunch of people to boycott facebook some stupid group gets started. I just get tired of point and click activism. so instead of hurting face book they gave it publicity and people joined just to leave comments of how outraged they were and facebook made more money..... and if you read the user aggreement closely they still have the option of changing the rule back.

Facebook is not a public square its a privately owned company....... you don't have to sign a contarct to enter a mall.

Posted by withrow newell on 04/05/2009 @ 12:18PM PT
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Thank you for your comments. A mall is a privately owned company and can enforce rules, such as shirt and shoes required, and can refuse to serve customers. However, the basis for refusing service cannot be discriminatory, and the right to breastfeed is protected. Almost every online site requires its users to sign an agreement to use the site. However, that does not mean that they have the right to discriminate based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or age. Similarly, I argue that they cannot prohibit women from "online" breastfeeding, either. If Facebook wanted to enfoce these rules, it should have made its site less "public-square" like. If it had maintained a website that was only for college students, its argument would have been stronger. It opened its website to the general public, like a college restaurant that opens up to the general public, and in those circumstances, it cannot prohibit breastfeeding. In contract law, we learn that a contract that cannot be modified and can only be "accepted" or "refused" with no other options or ability to negotiate, carries less weight in court. Although facebook does make you sign an agreement, as does every other online social network, it cannot put unenforceable requirements into its agreement (such as taking away a mothers' right to breastfeed in public) and expect the court to enforce it. In other words, Facebook is not necessarily within its rights based on merely a violation of a user agreement. However, the right to breastfeed in public is unquestionable.

Posted by Shel Lyons on 04/07/2009 @ 09:08AM PT
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Facebook needs lessons in community management. Now. has some good pespectives on this as well.

Posted by Jon Pincus on 05/11/2009 @ 08:27AM PT
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One thing that bothers me is that we still see an exposed breast and by extension, the whole nude body as sexual and pornographic no matter what the context its presented in and to me this is wrong...

In porno mags, I can see naked women pictures being considered soft porn but what about medical text books or books teaching some form of healing such as massage therepy ?

Should the naked pictures in those be considered pornographic as well ?

I bring this up because I have to further wonder if it wouldnt make breastfeeding more universaly acceptable if we stop applying a blanket term of pornography across the board and used it more contextualy instead.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 07/17/2009 @ 05:22PM PT
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A friend of mine just posted a link about a potential like between bras and breast cancer ... and FB deleted it.

Maybe they just have issues with breasts in general?

jon

Posted by Jon Pincus on 09/13/2009 @ 04:42PM PT
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Author

Shel Lyons is a lawyer, advocate, and mom with a focus on birth rights and family issues. She is a former Honors Attorney with the United States Department of Justice. In 2004, she received a clerkship with the Honorable Judge Sharon Prost. In 2005, she was awarded Harvard Law School's Heyman Fellowship for dedication to public service. She gave birth at home and is breastfeeding her cloth-diapered daughter. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently resides in the greater Washington, DC area.