Mom Enough? Honestly?

by Ashley Weeks Cart

The most recent cover of Time has the Internet in a tizzy. From annonymous trolls to “mommy” bloggers, it seems everyone has an opinion on this image.

I agree that Time missed the mark with this photograph. I don’t need to repeat a lot of what has already been said. It presents both mother and child in a defiant stance and looses the aspects of Attachment Parenting that stress the nurturing and love and connection that comes from extended breastfeeding.

On the flip side, of course the editors at Time and the photographer knew all this when selecting the cover. They knew that this image would get the entire country talking and sell a heck of a lot of magazines. And it sure has. Yeah, it was selected for shock value. Do I agree with the choice? No. But it has put breastfeeding at the fore of today’s national dialogue. Which is both a good and bad thing.

What I always find most disturbing about conversations in the U.S. surrounding breastfeeding is the sexualization of something that is anything but. Speaking from two rounds of first hand experience, there is nothing sexual about feeding your child. Yet media outlets are blurring out the breast in this image and commenters are calling the mom pictured a child molester.

It’s pitiful. And disappointing. And shows how wildly skewed our country’s perception of the female body and maternal experience truly are.

If I were to select an image for this story, it would be something like this that so perfectly captures the relationship, bonding, and connection that comes from breastfeeding your child. But we all know that this wouldn’t sell nearly as many magazines, now would it?

Image: Courtesy of WWMD