Second Virtual Nurse In Announced for Facebook

Despite the unparalleled success of the MILC’s December virtual nurse-in, photos are still being removed and user’s accounts canceled in regards to ‘obscene breastfeeding photos,’ sparking another round of protests in February.

Background

December 27, 2008 saw the first ever Facebook virtual nurse-in, with 11,700 users protesting against Facebook’s removal of breastfeeding photos and the closing down mother’s accounts. 11,700 photos of breastfeeding women went up with 11,700 corresponding statuses pronouncing “Hey Facebook, Breastfeeding is not obscene.”

The group of the same name saw their membership rise by a staggering 17,000 in the weeks leading up to the nurse-in to reach 79,000 (as this article goes to print the group now has 209,957 members). The virtual nurse-in was accompanied by an in-person nurse-in at the Californian Offices of Facebook.

The Backlash

From the Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is NOT obscene group:

“Both events caught the attention of media world wide. Many members received warnings and had photos removed during and after the event. Some examples of these photos can be found here.“

I know, personally, that I was very selective in the breastfeeding photo I put up recently — ensuring that there was ‘no nipple’ and it was ‘modest.’ Why?  I use Facebook for social networking AND business. For me to have my account shut down would be the equivalent of a business marketing disaster. The realisation that I had self-censored, in a way that did not fit with my ideals or past beahviour, was a shock and embarrassment to me. I won’t be making the same mistake a second time.

Nurse-in Round Two

Saturday, February 21 is scheduled for the next virtual nurse-in, with Facebook users again being asked to post a breastfeeding image to their profile and to have the words “Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is NOT obscene” in their status for that day.

A letter campaign is running in conjunction with the virtual nurse in. The Hey Facebook…group has a list of points to consider to include in your letter to Facebook. The points include:

• Women breastfeeding, with or without much breast exposure, are not performing a sexual act. Their breasts and parts of them are not classified as sex organs.

• Facebook’s deletion of many breastfeeding photos stigmatizes breastfeeding. Its description of some ways of doing it as obscene is wrong and demeans and insults women.

• Breastfeeding is not inherently a private or intimate activity. Almost all American states have passed laws promoting breastfeeding and allowing it in public in the manner a woman chooses (as do most industrialised countries around the world).

• Women post breastfeeding photos because others want to see their children doing things that are healthy and important, such as eating.

• Women post breastfeeding photos because breastfeeding is a normal part of their day and what they do as mothers.

(A full list of points and more information on the letter writing campaign can be found at the MILC event information page on Facebook.)

They are asking that letters arrive from around the world, not just the United States and should be posted to:

Attn: Sheryl Sandberg
Chief Operating Officer
Facebook
156 University Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94301-1605

Or faxed to 650-543-4801

Ensure your friends, relatives, work colleagues and neighbours know about the virtual nurse-in and understand how to participate, and help the Mothers International Lactation Campaign exceed the December total of 11,700 users in protest. I am bugging encouraging my male friends to join the campaign, though it remains to be seen if any of them will actually post a breastfeeding image and be a virtual breastfeeder for a day?

Facebook is not the cutting edge of social networking if it remains in the dark ages, propagating erroneous beliefs about breastfeeding and acting inappropriately as the moral police. It’s about breastfeeding women taking the same fight into a new and untested public domain.

For more articles here at Type-A Mom on the fight against Facebook

11,000 Attend Nurse-In
Facebook Riles Nursing Mothers

Photo (top) MILC event image

Photo (bottom) Jodi and Dylan January 2006 (c) Karen van Harskamp from private collection

Jodi Cleghorn is a mother and writer, as well as a passionate advocate for breastfeeding and natural birth.  She is proud to admit she breastfed her son until his 3rd birthday.  You can find more of Jodi’s writing at Writing With Passionate Abandon and Reclaim Sex After Birth.

Related posts:

1. Facebook Nurse-In
2. Facebook Riles Nursing Mothers
3. Nurse Purse Review
4. The Invitation to Cross Nurse
5. Why I Tandem Nurse