Time magazine, long suffering from decreased sales, seems to be following the lead of magazines like Cosmopolitan, Playboy and Penthouse, but stopping short of Hustler.
I have no problem with Mothers breast feeding, even in public. I believe if she can, breast feeding babies if preferable and beneficial for the baby. I also think Mothers can breast feed in public and be discreet, not just flopping the boob out, but gracefully cover themselves with a baby blanket as they have done for so long before.
Of course, different people have different views on just when a baby should stop breast feeding and move towards more solid food.
A controversial bill & debate came up in Tennessee about government setting an arbitrary age limit on public breast feeding, an obvious over reach in my estimation. Such decisions should be left with Mothers, not politicians.
But this cover Time chooses to promote the issue is, in my estimation, tasteless. Not because a child is breast feeding, but because they choose a young attractive Mother, with her 3 or 4 year old standing on a chair sucking on her boob.
There is no discernment, no discretion, no legitimate reason to feature such a photo, other than to titillate to sell magazines.
I personally feel the child shown is a little too old to still be sucking on Mommies boob, but if a Mother wishes to breast feed until adulthood, that’s her business, if done at home.
I’m sure 12 year old boys all over will be flocking to magazine stands to stare endlessly at the very attractive Mom letting her son suck on her boob, being too young to buy Playboys that are hidden from public view in most areas.
I’m also pretty sure older boys will go home with the vision in their heads and wonder why they were cut off as youngsters.
The Atlantic Wire’s Adam Clark Estes labels the cover trolling.
I label it soft porn to sell magazines, not to promote better caring for a child.
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4 comments:
test
Darn! I just let my Time subscription expire a month ago.
Seriously though Lew, I mostly agree with you but in regarding to 12 year old boys wanting to suckle at their mother's breasts, that is the last thing on their minds. No way.
Personally going up to 2 years to suckle is plenty long enough. That boy in the picture is almost 4 and the same mother has an adopted child who is 5 and she breast feeds him as well. The mother herself was suckled until she was 6. That is just not necessary though I understand in many third world countries, it would not be considered unusual. In our western society however, if a kid can walk, talk and fed himself at the table, he is beyond suckling.
Canuck, I wasn't suggesting that 12 year old boys would want to suck on Mommies tit at home, far from it.
However, with such a sexually suggestive photo on news stands, they might see it as okay behavior with a sister or neighbor girl who is developing.
The way the photo is posed has little to nothing to do with nurturing your child, but is sexually suggestive, I feel to ramp up sales of the magazine.
I fully agree with you on when it is time to stop. My ex-wife always said, once they developed teeth, it was time to stop ;-)
I can only imagine too how embarrassed this boy will be when he is a young teen should someone find the photo and spread it around his school.
You are right about the picture being sexually suggestive. It turned my crank. Makes me a perve I guess.
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