A lot of controversy has been stirred up today since TIME Magazine released its newest cover. The cover bluntly shows a young woman breastfeeding her almost 4 year old son while he stands on a stool. Both mom and son look the audience candidly in the eye and the title “Are You Mom Enough?” jumps out at you.
It just so happens that Jamie Lynn of I am Not the Babysitter is a fellow MomsLA blogger and a friend of mine. Call it sensational, call it graphic, call it whatever you want, but at the end of the day this TIME magazine cover has successfully created enough interest and opened up conversations about breast feeding acceptability and the mother’s right to choose.
I support the Mother’s Right to Choose.
As long as that mother has the child’s best interest in mind and she is doing her best. There is no wrong or right way to parent.
Or to breastfeed.
The purpose of breasts is for women to feed their children. Breastfeeding is natural. How, where, when and for how long they choose to feed them is up to the mother themselves.
Jamie has this to say:
“But people have to realize this is biologically normal,” she told the magazine. “It’s not socially normal. The more people see it, the more it’ll become normal in our culture. That’s what I’m hoping. I want people to see it.”
Another fellow MomsLA blogger, Jessica Gottlieb published a video stating concern for the child’s right to privacy. Gottlieb is a advocate for bloggers to write about “their stories” and feels as though Jamie may have approved an image that will haunt her son when he is older. I however, am confident that this TIME magazine cover will be a non-issue and even passé in 11+ years. I am optimistic that this cover will open up more media avenues for breastfeeding advocacy that will lead to a general public acceptance overall and Aram will never have to defend his mother’s actions.
Do I feel that TIME magazine intentionally chose this image to create controversy and sell more magazines? Absofreakinlutely. They chose an attractive, young, white female to boldly display breastfeeding in an abnormal position on purpose.
The photographer, Martin Schoeller has been quoted saying: “I liked the idea of having the kids standing up to underline the point that this was an uncommon situation.”
But I will tell you this, Jamie is no dummy. Jamie IS “Mom Enough”. She is strong, she is intelligent and she has the ability to back up her beliefs about attachment parenting and breastfeeding. Read the article for yourself and just get over the cover already!
Jamie is a sweet and super genuine person with a huge heart and a huge capacity for loving, nurturing and raising her children and I am proud to call her my friend.
love it. I’m breastfeeding my second child and I DID NOT do a doule take when I saw the cover. It’s the norm in my life and I hope that it becomes so in the rest of the US so we can move on to other things.
Pattie, you and I can attest to the fact that Jamie is a breastfeeding momma that doesn’t normally feed her child while standing-we’ve seen her do it in action while sitting on the couch! lol
True! I feel for her. Something so natural and nonchalant to her has been sensationalized and put it in a bad light.
Your point that no one will care when Aram is 11 is so true! I hadn’t thought of it like that! Good call 🙂
i wonder if there was try out i would have been dressing up just to try out