Time Out for Time

Ya' know who needs five minutes on the naughty step?  Time Magazine.  Jeepers Creepers what a debacle.  

Any mom who's ever dealt with a whining child in aisle three of the supermarket ("But .... I neeeeeeeeed those cookies nooooow!!!) knows the cardinal rule of communication.  It's not WHAT you say ... it's HOW you say it. 

Is an article about attachment parenting worthwhile?  Absolutely.  Is an article about extended breastfeeding in the United States intriguing?  Sure.  Is a sexy woman in skinny jeans, one titty out, all smoky-eyed attention towards camera while her mega-tall toddler nurses during his apparent break from changing a light bulb (why is he on a chair?!) - an image that should accompany either topic?  "No, no, Time Magazine!" I say with my Outside Voice.  "Please, go to your room."

Sexualizing nursing is gross.  However long a mother chooses to nurse (in some parts of the world it is considered normal to nurse until a child is as old as 6 when their immune system is fully developed) the primary function of her breasts is to nourish her child.  Sure, they're available for private time with her sexual partner too, but for crying out loud, let's not undo all of Gloria Steinem's work in one photograph. 

What is that image trying to convey anyway?  Hot moms nurse tall kids while seeming completely disassociated?  Cause, if that's the point - then point taken. 

Of course, that is not the point.  The article discusses a gentle and nurturing style of parenthood that is gaining popularity in the United States.  You'd never know it though, from all the hoopla that horrendously inappropriate image has caused.  I find it irresponsible journalism to introduce one topic with the image of another.

What is happening in our media today that in order to sell anything we must sexualize everything?  It was hard enough to nurse in public to begin with;  now everyone's gonna be expecting us to look like Playboy models while we do it.   I thought the swimwear competition in Toddlers & Tiaras was bad ... but this takes the cake. 

I'm all for being sexy.  And I'm all for nursing babies as long as the mother and baby see fit.  I am not in a position to judge any mother's loving choices.  Just as I am not in a position to judge any mother's sexy poses.  However - I cannot help but judge this mother's sexy pose during her loving choice.  

How about this for an image of a nursing mother?   She's nursing lots of toddlers and appears to have fallen asleep while doing it.  Not sure if it'll sell a lot of magazines, but it seems much more on the mark to me.