Get Your Boobs Outta My Newsfeed

When I get on Facebook, boobs flood my newsfeed. And for those wondering, no I haven’t been targeted because of some bad porn habit. I am a photographer, and boobs are very en vogue in my industry at the moment.  Most of the photos come from posts shared on page’s of other photographers I follow or in secret or closed Facebook groups, to which I often find myself wondering if the women in the photos even know their cleavage is being displayed for all to see.

This started out innocently enough with the lacy bra and the nipple squish {all in the name of “classy” boudoir, mind you}. To that, I do have to say, c’mon ladies. Do you really think those photos will be for your significant other’s eyes only? You do know that session is on your photographer’s hard drive, right? No pun intended.

But perhaps even more bothersome to me than boudoir photography is the latest trend – breastfeeding sessions.

You read it right. Women pay to document themselves nursing. And while I am all for breastfeeding {I nursed two babes myself}, I find such images disturbing.  I mean, I won’t say breastfeeding photos aren’t art, because they are. I have seen artistic images of women nursing in the jungle to women feeding their young atop magical unicorns. Heck, breastfeeding images fill museums like the Louvre.

Breastfeeding is a beautiful bond between a mother and a child. But what disturbs me the most is medium. These photos are on Facebook.

One image in particular has remained lingering in my mind. In it, a baby and a toddler suckle their mother’s breasts, their eyes turned toward the camera, their faces in full view. What will those children think should they stumble across that photo in a few years or say, as teenagers? My mom breastfed me, and I know I would have been absolutely horrified if I saw actual proof of it while in the company of my high school peers. What if their future classmates got a hold of the images?

There is a very loud social media war going on right now, one in which women and photographers are fighting to de-sexify women by displaying the true meaning of the boob – for breastfeeding. I get it.  And amen.  But have you thought of the children caught in the crossfire? What about their rights to not have images floating around of them clinging to their mom’s chest?  At least with boudoir photos, the only subject involved is the woman who chose to put herself in that position.

So instead of fighting boob with boob, why don’t we just put the ladies away and call it a day?  Breastfeeding and boudoir sessions alike capture intimacy between two people, so let’s keep it in the bedroom or the nursery. Frame the prints above your mantel or hide them in a locked drawer, but please stop sharing your private photos with the world {or allowing photographers to do so on your behalf}.

What are your thoughts on breastfeeding sessions? Have you or would you do one?

3 COMMENTS

  1. “My mom breastfed me, and I know I would have been absolutely horrified if I saw actual proof of it while in the company of my high school peers.”…

    I hope that by aiming to “de-sexify” the female breasts, we can prevent this even being an issue for our little ones when they become teenagers. Let’s hope those “future classmates” see breastfeeding not as an intimate, but more as an ordinary moment.

  2. Breastfeeding is not sexual. Comparing it to boudoir photos implies that it is. I don’t post boob shots either way but I believe that this point of view is part of the problem not the solution. No one ever has a problem with half naked women modeling bikinis and lingerie but as soon as a baby is eating it’s sexual??? I strongly disagree with this article and I thinks it’s a shame that women, breastfeeding or not, can’t stand together in solidarity and push back against the over sexualization of our baby feeding tools.

  3. Have to add an AMEN to the two previous comments.

    I don’t understand how someone who claims to be “all for breastfeeding” would see breastfeeding photos as “boob shots” and too intimate for public viewing.

    #normalizebreastfeeding

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here