I’ve been asked my opinion on the Time magazine cover depicting a mother breastfeeding her three-year-old son. My view is that women should be able to breastfeed for as long as they wish and be supported and encouraged to do so. However Time Magazine’s cover of Jamie Lynne Grumet breastfeeding her three-year-old son, does more to sexualise breastfeeding than to promote it (could it even put some women off?). Most breastfeeding mothers cuddle their children in their arms while feeding. Here, Time has Grumet standing up (a better view of the breast perhaps?) and, somewhat unconventionally, depicting her child accessing her breast using a small chair. Both are staring at the camera in an impersonal image devoid of warmth – hardly the best advertisement for attachment parenting. Then of course there’s the headline ‘Are you mum enough’? which sets women up for competition and judgement. Mothering is challenging enough already, thinking they might not be ‘mum enough’ contributes to feelings of inadequacy.
Bitch Media echoes my thoughts on this image. And on three other magazine covers as well – two from Newsweek and one from Foreign Policy – in this May 10 piece by Kjerstin Johnson.
18 Responses
“Bitch Media echoes my thoughts on this image. And on three other magazine covers as well – two from Newsweek and one from Foreign Policy – in this May 10 piece by Kjerstin Johnson.”
The link for the article mentioned in this section doesn’t work.
Thanks for letting me know Carz, link is now fixed.
I do not see how this image sexualises breastfeeding. The image is deliberately confrontational, inflammatory, and yes, totally devoid of any warmth that usually exists between a child and mother during breastfeeding. But I just do not see that it sexualises breastfeeding. For the first time ever, Melinda, I disagree with you on this point.
Disagreement is allowed Cobralia – even if it’s the first time! Thanks for your thoughts….
I’m all for breastfeeding but 3 is a little perverted!
I have followed Attachment Parenting with my 2 kids and can understand the defiance in this mum’s pose TBH. Extended breastfeeding, cosleeping, babywearing etc are all parenting choices outside the mainstream and you are inevitably forced to defend your choices – especially in a conservative climate like the US. I will admit to deliberately choosing to breastfeed an older child in public just to make a point, on at least one occasion!
That said, I can’t help but agree with Melinda, that it’s beyond defiance – Time have definitely sexualised breastfeeding through their choice of cover image. By choosing a conventionally attractive young blonde woman, tightly clothed and braless, in a familiarly provocative pose, they are fluently speaking the language of sexiness. Could they have used a picture of an ‘average-looking’ mother feeding her toddler discreetly while cuddling? Of course. But if what MUMmedia posted above about the photographer is true, then it’s hard to deny – whatever they had to say about attachment parenting, Time was selling the story using the idea of ‘check out this MILF deviantly breastfeeding’.
I find this very disturbing. Recent Australian research showed that the vast majority of young Australians think that breastfeeding in public is unacceptable, and many find breastfeeding itself disgusting. The same generation has been raised on porn and sexualised media imagery to think of breasts as objects for sexual pleasure and male enjoyment only. Young women report preferring breast enhancement surgery over future breastfeeding capability. New mums report pressure to wean their babies so their partners can enjoy their breasts again. Breastfeeding mothers do not need a reputable news publication to reinforce stereotypes about sex and breastfeeding!!
Great comment Nicole, love having you here.
@Cassidy, I’m interested why you might think breastfeeding a 3yo is ‘a little perverted’? A 3 year old is a long way off being sexually developed or aware.
I breastfed my daughter for 5 years, and not once did I think it was perverted. Perhaps people need to rethink what a breast is actually for, and inform themselves on all the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child. However, I do think the Time cover is provocative and in no way resembles how a normal breastfeeding relationship is conducted. A mother hardly has a child on her breast 24/7, more likely to be at bedtime as part of the night time cuddle. As with other parenting decisions, how long a mother chooses to breastfeed is just that – her choice and no-one else.
Agree Robyn, thanks for commenting.
Thanks Melinda, love your work.
People are going to have differing opinions as to whether this picture sexualises or not. What I think is abundantly clear however is that this picture is not a picture that depicts a natural breastfeeding experience. And if it is not natural, then the picture/pose is viewed as unnatural, not right, or inappropriate. I agree with others that this picture does nothing to advocate, promote or support breastfeeding.
I cannot believe how anyone can think that breastfeeding, even of a 3 year old is perverted. To think it is perverted just shows how warped and misled our society has become; just how much our society has ‘taught’ people to view women and their breasts only as sexual. As mentioned above, the natural and normal function of breasts is for giving life and feeding our young, and it is our hyper sexualised society that makes people think otherwise.
Thanks and appreciate your comments very much. You’ve expressed it well –
‘And if it is not natural, then the picture/post is viewed as unnatural, not right, or inappropriate….’
There are some pictures that should never be taken. This poor lad will one day have to deal with a lot of crap just because mommy wanted to make a point.
You make good points Melinda, thanks for sharing them!
How can it not be intentionally sexualised? She is gorgeous, blonde and wearing tight-fitting clothes that show off her figure. If she had post-natal belly flab, droopy boobs and frizzy hair then maybe I could believe that there was supposed to be nothing sexual about this image.
@ G Baker, are you saying that only slim, attractive women can be sexy?
Just because she happens to be slim and well-groomed doesn’t mean that the image of her breastfeeding her child is sexual. I know plenty of hot mamas who breastfeed their kids all the time – are they sexualising breastfeeding? Nup, because they’re simply feeding their children.
This is a photo shoot for a magazine cover after all, I doubt she’d have been happy to wear her trackies and not have her hair done! How does the fact that she’s wearing skinny jeans mean that there’s a sexual overtone to this image? Lots of women wear skinny jeans – does that mean they’re sexualised too?
I disagree. I don’t see the image here as intending to be sexual or promoting breastfeeding. it is not even about breastfeeding, not really.
It is defiant, a photo that symbolises the “mummy wars”, together with the title. The image captures the essence of the debate, particularly around the polarising subject of extended breastfeeding (an easier visual way of capturing it than, say, co-sleeping) extraordinarily well.
I have mixed reactions to this. TIME is reporting on the mummy wars and commenting on the existence of this particular social trend. That is what TIME does, amongst other things (I am not a subscriber, although I used to be – i couldn’t keep up, although it is an interesting magazine). Of course, in doing so, they have stirred the pot – but frankly, every time someone reports on this it stirs the pot, and we get comment after comment, frequently driven by personal anecdote (because we all have one!). Is it better to report on it than not, if reporting stirs it up? I don’t know, I think it is probably good to air it, and I suspect for many, posting about their own story, even if no one reads it, is cathartic (although so many seem so be self-justifying and self-righteous – another sign of the bunkers…).
Back to the photo. It captures nothing at all about what extended breastfeeding is about – none of the joy, warmth and love. I hate it for that. It is not real at all. But – it is not about extended breastfeeding. It is about a DEBATE. And much as I dislike this photo – it captures a debate very well.
So your sentence “Motherhood is challenging enough already…..” is completely on the money. Because that is what the article is about. That you got that as a take home from this cover image says a lot about its success as an image.
Further… I love it that they used an attractive slim woman for this. I don’t mind seeing some pushback against the weird crunchy-granola hippie frumpy image of extended breastfeeding.