After thinking about Madison Young’s breastfeeding photo controversy I went in search of other glamorous images of breastfeeding. Here is what I found. I really quite like these images, the women look strong and interesting, and not that there is anything wrong with the ‘adoring head tilt down towards baby’ breastfeeding pose, it’s what I do a lot of myself, but these are kind of compelling, no?
Maybe some of you will find that a lot of these images are only adding more weight to the pressure on mothers to be endlessly sexually available as women, and I’d agree that there was a case for that here, too.
First up, Jerry Hall.
Image credit – a whole bunch of these photos in this post are from an English campaign to re-make the image of breastfeeding into something more appealing to young women. The photos are of real young mothers and their babies and they’re gorgeous and I had a hard time narrowing my choices down.
I was tempted to skip the photo below because one of the things I was interested in finding was images where the mother is not looking at her baby, but there’s no denying the overt glamour of this one with fishnets and heels.
This woman is faking it with a doll, but I’m counting it anyway.
I almost didn’t include this one because the mother is doing the classic ‘loving gaze into baby’s eyes’ thing but, you know, wedding dresses are nothing if not glamorous.
And then this one.. lactation as an edgy fashion magazine concept.
And finally, for powerful breastfeeding images you can’t go past this one below.. talking to the leader of your country while breastfeeding. Rockin’.
P.S. There have been some criticisms of the post in the thread below, in terms of classism and sexual objectification.. please note that I have already responded to these comments before making your own comment read what I have to say and then take the conversation from there if you have thoughts to add.
With regards to the idea that these photos might be “too sexy”, I quote myself from the comment thread below..
I take your point but I think you have to be careful saying these images are all sexualising breastfeeding. Not all the subjects and photographers would agree with that description – and equating being dressed up or looking someone in the eye or possessing cleavage with being sexual boxes women in and risks shaming them. I used the term glamorous with intent, and I tried to be as inclusive as possible, though I acknowledge that the description glamorous still makes some women feel excluded and that it is still very much prone to narrow definitions of beauty and to also making women feel objectified.
I was aware of the narrow mainstream view of glamour so I tried to find mothers who were also dressed up and fashionable but who were not just wearing dresses and frocks and heels and such, who weren’t always conservatively dressed. And I think I found some good examples of that to include – loved the sneakers and leather pants and the torn jeans and the pink hair examples. However, with all its faults I still think glamour is an important element for many women of their self-image and it represents a certain prioritising of self that I kind of liked to see depicted in breastfeeding shots – which can otherwise be so generic: selfless, sex-less, mother etc.
blue milk 
I love these images. Breastfeeding is the natural way to feed a child. It is not a parenting style and it does not define the mother, in the same way that being a mum is only one facet of a woman. Breastfeeding mums cover the full spectrum.
There is nothing to say that a mum cannot be glamorous, sexy, professional, provocative etc. etc. Breastfeeding is neither here nor there.
I agree. I had some candid shots of me taken while I was taking a feeding break during a work photoshoot when my daughter was abut 5 weeks old. They are my favourite photos from the day.
That last photo is possibly my favouritest ever breastfeeding photo. I love that everybody is treating her opinion as just another citizen opinion while she’s feeding her infant. Awesome squared.
And thank you so much for introducing me to that photo. I love it.
I always loved that in the photos from the Zapatistas, too – breastfeeding moms right there doing whatever.
Yes, this is the ideal I hope we can get back to – that breastfeeding is just something some citizens do some of the time while being citizens.
I don’t know if it would be practically possible, but it would be even more powerful to be the leader of your country while breastfeeding. But certainly, breastfeeding while giving a speech or lecture, or breastfeeding in the boardroom or government – those images would mean a lot to me. Rather than “breastfeeding while glamorous”, “breastfeeding while being taken seriously”.
” it would be even more powerful to BE the leader of your country while breastfeeding.” YES! Just what I was thinking.
I love it too! I mean, I love them all. But that one I am drawn to because it reminds me of the women I met in East Timor who were breastfeeding like it was this completely normal occurrence (there it is) while we were doing something else. There were two that stuck in my mind. The first was an older (I thought, by Timorese standards) woman running a stall at the markets – she breastfed a child while serving me – she was the only one on the stall. The second was a 24 year old woman I was interviewing for my thesis. Someone else in the family household brought out her baby to her while I was interviewing her. It would have made such an amazing portrait, but since I was already imposing a bit by interviewing her (and we had a drunk village chief on our hands disrupting the first part of the interview), I decided not to ask if I could take her photo. Maybe she would not have minded, who knows, probably some Western reticence in there as well at taking a photo of what we see as quite an intimate act.
It’s my favorite too! De-sensationalizes breastfeeding. There’s a famous photo of a woman guerrillera with a rifle and nursing from the Nicaraguan revolution, here’s a link: http://i.imgur.com/piZjD.jpg It should be on this blog too.
Love these! Especially love the ones geared towards encouraging young moms in the UK – great campaign!
Wow! That last photo is awesome! 🙂
As a pregnant American, living in America, its amazing and aspiring to see these photos. The American picture of a breastfeeding mother is a mom jean wearing, sexless June cleaver. Not exactly glamorours, nothing wrong with that, but not inspiring to me.
In the England photos, I love how their wearing their normal clothes while breastfeeding. I’ve seen so many advertisments for nursing wear lately and they make me want to cry. The clothes are so ugly! I know that sounds superficial but I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how do I retain my sense of style while pregnant and how do I retain my style while being a mom. The sense of style question is wrapped up into wondering how I retain my sense of self. For me, likewise for a lot of women, my style is an expression of who I am. I don’t want to lose myself in motherhood, because I don’t believe that would make me a good mother. A good stepford wife sure, but the old saying rings true here – “if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
My only rule with “breastfeeding wear” is that if I have to show my knickers when feeding then that’s not working for me. And that’s more about my relationship with my thighs than the rest of the world.
I too love that last photo the best. Radiantly beautiful.
I agree with Penni- wear your regular clothes while you breastfeed! I had some nursing shirts, and they were more hassle than a regular t-shirt. If you’re worried about showing too much skin, carry a cardigan, or get one of those nursing covers to use until you get comfortable with breastfeeding- just get one with boning on the top so that you can see what you’re doing.
But also don’t feel bad if you end up wearing sloppy t-shirts for awhile. That’s OK, too. My first baby spit up a lot, so nice clothes would have gotten ruined.
love your comment, agree agree agree 🙂
A lot of nursing shirts are forgiving in those first few months after pregnancy and since I wasn’t back to my normal size anyway it made since to get shirts that I could nurse in. Once I got to the point where I felt like my body could do normal clothes again I just look for shirts that button. They are easy to nurse in and I don’t have to expose my stretch marks, because I’m self conscience about them. Think of nursing shirts as a short term thing not a way of life. Also check out Motherhood Maternity because I think they do a good job of making them easy to use.
I know that I like wearing nursing camisoles or tank tops under my normal shirts. That way I can just lift my shirt and still have my tummy covered by the cami. They are nice because they give a bit of extra support for that stretched out belly and the bigger boobies, but they just snap open and closed easily for quick access.
Look for normal clothing with surplice, deep v-necklines or cowl necklines. I can nurse in these without exposing my still flabby tummy and feel like a total goddess in them. Lilacclothing.com makes some REALLY nice ones. And I just got one top from a company called cable and gauge that I’m sure I will wear until it falls apart.
These are mainly awesome, but I am not a fan of headless torso shots. I like the Jerry Hall one cause she looks the same as always!
Brilliant. They need more publicity! Thanks for showing them.
that last photo makes me so friggin happy! the picture of the girl with pink hair was everywhere when I had my baby and was BF- as I was involved in the Breastfeeding association, we often talked about this- breastfeeding needs some good marketing – these pictures are exactly what it needs. I guess though the message is two fold, while we want it to be cool to breastfeed there are certain responsibilities that come with it, like not drinking and taking drugs etc.
Um? Pink hair indicates drinking and taking drugs? Am I missing something in what you’re saying?
I drank while breastfeeding. I had a good, strong beer everyday. It improved my milk and production. Women of Eastern Europe and the German women I came from drank heartily and breastfed well into the child’s adolescence. It was long recommended by physicians, midwives and wise women to have beer and wine everyday. My daughter’s physician still recommends this to any woman with a supply issue.
This is a stigma that we need to remove if we are going to ask more and more women to nurse. While I wouldn’t think habitual drinking of hard liqueur to be of value or use, wine and beer are more than ok and in fact good for milk production.
I remember there was some kind of stir when that Jerry Hall photo appeared because she was breastfeeding but not looking “loving” or “nurturing” or something. That photo rocks. Thanks for posting these gorgeous photos!
I don’t like that ‘must always be loving/nurturing sentiment.’ To me it seems like the criticizers are trying to imply that you are a “bad mom” if you aren’t perfecting loving and perfectly nurturing every moment you are with your babe.
I am more than just a mom. In fact since my little one is barely a year old I am still reconciling “mom” as part of my identity.
Xena breastfeeding – I love it!
I love this picture too – particularly because the child is a little older, something that you rarely see images of:
http://marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-gbreastfeeding-in-vogue.html
Thanks – gotta add those, they’re great examples!
I have mixed feelings about some of these photos.
On one hand, I get it. Women can be glamorous and lactating. On the other hand, the photos are iconic of what we normally identify as sexual objectification.
I LOVE the last photo & it was hands-down the most empowering. photo. I saw this photo as more maternally, sexually, feminist-ically more powerful.
I’ll have to think about this more before really making any assertion either way. I love that it gets us thinking. And maybe that’s simply where I’ll leave it my mind…in the “shades of gray” category.
Because that is really what most of life is. Not black and/or white. Just sort of “all of the above.”
Haha… I (like Lucy Lawless) am a Kiwi and therefore have seen this pic heaps of times, and never noticed it was her before! I had to scroll back to find her when I read your post… now the “best role” bit makes a lot more sence!
I have mixed feelings about sexy breast-feeding. Who is the sexy for? Not the baby. Us? To reassure us that we haven’t lost our sense of style, sexuality, self?
Or really is it to reassure men that we may still be perceived as sex objects no matter our lactation status?
I’m a little confused – which part are you finding sexy?
I sort of thought that too when I was looking through it, but I definitely dig it just to feel sexy as a woman because we need that too. It can be a symbol of power for us and the world. I actually liked the picture with the doll where the woman is kind of open and free but amazingly beautiful because it gives the sense that it is all for her. I also think this is a strategic ad campaign for younger people that may need that extra umph to decide to breastfeed if they can since so many do not.
I love the photos with the baby with hir hands on mum’s breast. A simple ‘this is mine’. My daughter used to do that too. When she was a bit older she used one hand to hold my breast and the other to push her older brother away from ‘her mummy’. Oh the fun.
Your next challenge: glamorous while pumping! Please, see what you can do!
Hahaha. Interesting challenge.
Love the last one, especially!
I brushed my hair AND put on deodorant this morning, that’s about as glamorous as this breastfeeding mama gets 🙂
I’m sure you could look just as glamorous if a team of make-up artists, wardrobe and lighting and photographers came over and did everything for you. But who has the time?
It’s funny, but I got into a debate with my partner over the weekend regarding breastfeeding in public (this was specifically in regard to your post about Madison Young) and how that one blogger claimed Young was “sexualizing” her infant. Needless to say, it didn’t go very far (he feels that breasts are inherently sexual and that women probably shouldn’t breastfeed openly in public because of this; I think that breastfeeding is a natural function and that feeding one’s infant shouldn’t be considered “sexual”– merely normal) I like the idea of promoting breastfeeding in nice outfits– perhaps a side effect of doing so would be to make breastfeeding more culturally tolerated in the public arena. Breastfeeding at work, breastfeeding at the restaurant, breastfeeding at the park– not being feeling pressured to breastfeed only in the privacy (confinement??) of one’s house
I am an American living in Thailand and it is amazing and refreshing to see how acceptable breastfeeding is in S. E. Asia. No one bats an eye at a woman feeding her infant in public– it’s considered natural and normal. Pretty much like the last (amazing) picture you posted.
I remember the first time I was at a Japanese Department student & faculty gathering and realized the woman at the front of the room, addressing the crowd, was also nursing – she was wearing some sort of sling and her child sat up all the sudden and looked at all of us.
Sometimes I think Americans have collectively lost our minds, with the simultaneous sexualizing everything and then wanting to hide it.
That’s exactly it. We have lost our minds with sexing everything. You are right. Because look at how other countries tap into what breasfeeding was and is for them. To our ancestors, our breasts functioned as food for survival of the species.
I don’t understand how people can view at such when vaginal birth itself is just as intimate and just as much a function of the body for survival. I suppose that is why medical intervention came into being there as well. I read that one of the kings wanted stirrups so that he could see ladies in waiting during birth.
Funnily enough there is plenty of public sexuality in our culture viz bilboards, TV, radio etc. Somehow all that’s much more acceptable than a mother feeding her child! Either public sexuality is okay or it’s not!
I know, right – it’s so ironic that our culture (esp in the US) is hyper-sexual – women AND young girls/children. People defend those godawful terrifying toddler beauty pageants and sexy fashion photo shoots but have a cow over a woman nursing in public. My eyeballs being bombarded by Victoria secret models falling out of bras in the mall is ok, but nursing my son discreetly is horrifying?
You two make excellent points. It’s probably all about control and power plays.
While I would love to see more positive images of women breastfeeding in the media, I think these just make me feel inadequate (except for the Chavez one which I love), not only am I meant to look after my baby and do all the other things that have to be done just to keep life going – I’ve got to look gorgeous, utterly confident and strong while doing it as well. Oh yes, and be back to my pre-baby weight – something I’ve not yet managed 13 months on – in a few months.
One thing I never see in the media is pictures of women’s bodies in the first weeks after giving birth; it came as quite a shock to me how long it took my stomach to shrink.
I agree
The emphasis in the media on ‘regaining’ your ‘pre-baby’ bodies is highly misleading. Most women will look heavily pregnant for at least the days and weeks following birth – something I would have had no idea about were it not for my older sisters having babies before me – and it is not possible to have a ‘pre-baby’ body post baby. I’d love to see some ‘celebrities’ with big leaking milk patches on their tops, a large soft post partum tummy and an expression of delight on their faces because they are released from the pressure to always look a million bucks.
I especially love that quite a few of the babies in these pictures are not little newborns. Some look like they could even be more than a year old. Awesome!
What these photos say to me is that breastfeeding is a normal thing to do whilst you do other things in your life. I love that it breaks the mode of what mothers should look like and like Fiona that the breastfed are not always small babies. In some ways it rejects the simple classifcation with just the dichtomy of woman as whore or as Madonna. Now up to 7 years straight with breastfeeding my three youngest I have always felt breastfeeding is sensual and that mothers don’t need to be asexual.
Reading your blog while breastfeeding my 3-week-old, in milk-stained pyjamas, with dark circles under my eyes and unbrushed hair. Now, I’m not the sort of person who looks at glossy images of glamourous women and feels inadequate, but I have to admit I could do with seeing some ‘breastfeeding while looking like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards’ photos to provide balance. And you know what? I bet they’d still be beautiful, or interesting, or unusual, and thought provoking. But maybe we don’t allow ourselves to be photographed at moments like these.
agree. I feel like I am in the minority of people who didn’t really like this post.
Those photos would be great too- any new images, actually. The thing about breastfeeding, for me, was that the beginning was so intense, along with everything else about new motherhood, but then after a few months it was just routine. It was a thing I did, not the thing I was doing – kind of like a new job, how awful and consuming it is when you’re on the first learning curve, but then you settle into it and accomplish things that looked superheroic at first. So since I’m not as glamourous as these women, there’d be few glam breastfeeding shots, but few of the backwards through a hedge ones, either.
If breastfeeding were more normalized (and representations of women, in general) we’d see all those photos – all sorts of women in all sorts of clothes, either really focusing on breastfeeding or just doing it during/on a break from their other things. Instead we mostly have nothing, with a few softly lit completely isolated in a chair gazing lovingly into baby’s eyes images, and maybe a sprinkling of lactivists.
I only like a couple of them. I like the Miranda Kerr one, as she looks like she has just stopped working (as a model) for a minute to feed her baby. She’s not leering or doing haughty eyes at the camera.
I mean really – should I be getting out the eye lash curler before a feed now?
Thank you so much for this! It makes me happy! The ads from England are awesome…and I laughed out loud (for real) at the fashion mag picture with the naked man.
“‘breastfeeding while looking like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards’ ”
While this is often how I looked when breastfeeding, I don’t think I have any photos of it. MyNigel was usually at work and my eldest was too young to have a camera. Plus I don’t like photos of myself so it is unlikely that I would have kept them anyway. I’m all for these photos but do they exist in a form that people are willing to share?
I suspect, like you, I don’t have any of these photos, though not for want of opportunity. And now I sort of regret that because I suspect that in 20 years, those photos would really bring it all back.
I have a few of these photos, thanks to a (fabulous) lactation consultant who recommended taking photos after she had helped baby to latch on properly. We took pictures of his latch, how I was positioned, etc. I used the photos as a reference when she wasn’t there to help me. I looked like hell, but I like that I have them. They remind me of all the hard work I did in those difficult first 8 weeks.
I completely agree it would be good to have realistic depictions of nursing motherhood in our culture- but I certainly wouldn’t be putting my hand up to provide a reality photo of me BF in the first few weeks!
Otherwise – I have a couple of thoughts:
Firstly, the english campaign is targeted, I gather, at women who haven’t had babies yet, future mothers. Asking them to consider breastfeeding. I would think they’re more likely to relate to glamour photos more than the “hedge backwards” photos!
Secondly, there are actually a variety of bodies in those photos, there are at least a few that don’t have flat stomachs etc.
Franky, I have a harder time with the pressure to look glamorous in the kitchen – damn cooking shows!
my ultimate favorite breastfeeding image (even before i was married or even thinking about having kids and nursing) is the “Nicaragua debe sobrevivir” Sandanista poster. it’s pretty kick ass.
http://www.politicalgraphics.org/cgi-bin/album.pl?album=33fword;page=9
Lovely photo, thanks for linking to it.
I love them except for the bubblegum & doll, and the one with the man on all fours. Those two are – in my opinion – designed for sexual appeal to men, and don’t do the idea of breasts being *sensual* rather than sex objects any favours.
The ones of young women were a Northern England (Manchester) campaign to increase breastfeeding rates in teen mothers. They were all over the place, and really eye-catching.
And if you want pics of less glamorous-looking mothers, check out The Mother Magazine http://www.themothermagazine.co.uk – the photos are mostly of readers in various states of real life!
I did not like the naked male pic either for the same reasons (unless she was hosing him and saying down boy). However, I did like the bubblegum and doll one because I thought it was actually the most natural despite the doll–other than the last one– in the group. It just seemed normal and proud.
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This Facebook profile pic of a Quebecois (sp?) Mum has gone viral. 🙂 http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150331837989253&set=a.450100259252.238944.815094252&type=3&theater
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Thank you so much for this!
I just bought these at a Baby and Bump show and they have been a godsend in allowing me to wear just about anything I want and still be comfortable nursing!
http://www.thenakedtank.com/
Oh, em, gee. It’s a neat idea, but $50, when you can do this with a regular stretchy tank top?
I love these! Not too in love with the teen ones because none of them actually look interested in the baby! lol!
The last one is sooo amazing! NONE of the people are even looking at her and she is doing it openly without hiding it. I wanna live there! lol! California is too snoody …. You swear you were having sex with the looks you get here 😦 Oh people… people… people … you poor uneducated souls 😦
I love these theres such a misconception that life as you know it has to end once you become a mum, especially a breast feeding mum. When I started back casual at work I lugged my little man along with me to team meetings attended by our CEO who is a catholic priest and breast fed mid meeting whilst continuing to give my opinion, have a cuppa etc. Whilst being mum is a huge part of me its not the only part of me lets stop letting society pigeon hole us if they can get the head around hte concept in ‘third world’ countries surely we can achieve the same enlightenment!
wow that’s really great to hear that was possible.. thank you for sharing… i want to hear more like this x
I agree, these stories of being able to get on with life while breastfeeding are soooooooooo important. This is why I love these two photos:
https://bluemilk.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/when-roller-derby-girls-breastfeed/
https://bluemilk.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/brace-yourself-concern-trolls-and-misogynist-prudes-motocross-breastfeeding/
sad that women cant make it a private beautiful thing between mother and child.
Breastfeeding doesn’t have to be private to be beautiful ….but it seems Americans are so ass backwards that they can’t see that! Breastfeeding isn’t always a touching moment! You think a baby who is screaming to be fed want to wait another 20 minutes so you can find a place for this touching special. moment
Even the crazy religious Puritans knew breastfeeding was normal!
Ha ha! Is that true with the Puritans? If so, that makes us looney toons. But I think you came off a little rough on Betty. She can have her ideals and you can have yours. I agree with both of you and we don’t want to alienate each other.
The idea that breastfeeding has to always be a “private beautiful thing” is what shames mothers into not being able to breastfeed their babies outside the house and when that happens mothers stop breastfeeding because suddenly, being a breastfeeder is incredibly inconvenient. I love these photos because these women do not look ashamed in any way. Be careful about making something ‘sacred’, it can be very trapping.
OK, sorry but Why does pink hair equal doing drugs? I have 3 children and DO NOT do drugs! but I have had, green, pink, purple, blue, lavender, and fire engine red hair all since my first! I know tons of people why have colored hair, tattoos ( I proudly have many!)) and piercings not one of them does drugs!
Stereotypes are crap, and effect EVERYONE in some way…..Try not to spread them, least someone do the same to you.
If this was Facebook, I would write Like, Like, Like.
Okay. I LOVE all those pics except for the one that sexualizes lactation. I think it’s super important for young people–girls AND boys–to breastfeeding images & breastfeeding in real life (which is one reason I NIP).
Can you imagine a US ad campaign?? The hysteria would be insane!
Im so thankful to be able to breastfeed my daughter and the photos do look nice but what i dont understand is why, if these Mums are all dolled up- are the babies either naked or only in a nappy? That makes no sense to me… I dont know about you but my baby ALWAYS has a nappy on when i feed her (i dont want poop and pee in my lap and on my couch/chair, etc!!!) and secondly- if she is only in a nappy its because its too hot for clothing which has been on only 2 days out of her 6mths of life outside the womb!
@betty…women nurse plenty just them and baby,quiet and snuggly.But life as we know it does not allow us to constantly nurse in private.Unless you just don’t go anywhere after baby( when there are typically more places you then need to go lol ) or you have lots of folks taking on total responsibility for any ouside-the-home responsibilities-this is pretty much not realisitic or doable.
I don’tlike the pics where the women are giving eyes to the camera as if they are doing a photo shoot for playboy……that bothered me a bit but nursing while still looking desirable and doing everyday things and being taken seriously like youhave intelligence,a valid opinion and something to offer-these are more effective I think.Really,educated women are more likely to breastfeed anyhow so I don’t know why there is this misconception that breastfeeding mothers are barefoot housewives who aren’t smart cause they don’t go back to ‘work’ a month after baby.Breastfeeding is the smarter choice and wise too.Out culture and society have really gone askew with where they lay priority and weight in their choices. Breastfeeding is such a beautiful,perfect design and it is a blessing from the Lord.
Fantastic!! My favourite has to be the last one!!! Great collection of glamorous breastfeeding photographs!! I have a few of me dressed as Supergirl, breastfeeding at a fun-run, not quite as glam, fun though!
Sounds fantastic, love the idea of a breastfeeding superhero.
I have pictures of me breastfeeding in my wedding dress, I should put the on my blog 🙂
Definitely!
Pink hair indicates pink hair … nothing more!
You are so right! The last image rocked! Some of the others didn’t appeal to me simply because the women didn’t look happy in the pics. Glamorous maybe but I find true joy in feeding my baby even if I am multi-tasking!
Why did you specifically want to leave out pictures when mom is looking at the baby?
Please see my reply to this question below. Link to it here if you do.
I like the last picture the best also. Not only is it normal for HER to be breastfeeding, it’s normal enough for HIM that he’s even showing interest in what she is saying by touching her shoulder. It’s a gesture of actually listening. If this picture was of someone talking to an American president, not only would this dear woman NOT be allowed to nurse her babe, but if she somehow was, all the men would look away and certainly not even touch her… it would be “intruding,” or some other excuse.
Thanks for sharing! I’m also glad that there is a campaign for helping young moms breastfeed. I’m not crazy about most of the pictures, but I like the idea of it being something promoted, and something even the movie stars do (since we have this crazy idea that we should follow after them).
[…] is Glamorous! https://bluemilk.wordpress.com/2011/0…ile-glamorous/ Apparently some of these images were from a campaign done by the NHS. They need to bring this […]
empowering images such as the last are invaluable to us repressed media manipulated westerners… ( i mean us ones that are… not to offend those who feel that are without these kinds of conditioning) however trying to sexy up breastfeeding i don’t feel solves any issues or makes breastfeeding easier going… in fact it would make breastfeeding in public more of an issue for me if i thought or felt i was being perceived as behaving in any kind of demonstrative way… i just want to feed my child and it be no big deal! i don’t want to have to look good either… why do we need to sell breastfeeding through the mother’s image? Why not flash forward in the child’s life to their increased chances of well being and security because they had a mother who loved and cared for them as best she could, which included breastfeeding! advertising is generally based on appealing to the seven deadly sins… we were taught that in school age 15. (it was a religious school either)… it’s one thing to be proud and show this photographically.. couldn’t there be a bit more diversity in the images though… you know some normal looking people too?! or would that not ‘appeal?’ then it becomes a case of.. ‘you’re okay to be seen breastfeeding if you look good doing it’
I agree that these images put added pressure on women to look HOT! all the time and that’s why I said the following in the introduction to the post:
“Maybe some of you will find that a lot of these images are only adding more weight to the pressure on mothers to be endlessly sexually available as women, and I’d agree that there was a case for that here, too”.
I disagree with you about exclusively selling the breastfeeding message through the benefits to the child – we already do a lot of that and breastfeeding rates in the long-term and with young women are still incredibly low. Breastfeeding impacts on women’s lives, we need to address that too, in the breastfeeding message. Mostly this is about the institutional barriers to breastfeeding – insufficient maternity leave, inability to take lactation breaks at work etc. – and one of those barriers is the hostility towards breastfeeding in public. Breastfeeding needs to be normalised, it needs to be seen as something that women can incorporate into their lives, something that doesn’t force them to stop participating in life. Breastfeeding has an image problem. These images and their story are just one side of tackling that image problem.
What’s so unglamorous about mama looking into her baby’s eyes? That’s much better, because the breastfeeding relationship is about mama AND baby, not just mama. So I prefer it where she is looking adoringly at her baby. But anytime a mum is nursing her baby I am happy, whether she is dressed to the nines or in her workout clothes (uh, that would be me most of the time).
Nothing unglamorous about a mother looking into her baby’s eyes while she breastfeeds, just that almost every photograph printed of a mother breastfeeding has this exact pose.. I was looking for photos out of the box. I think you’ll see this covered elsewhere in the thread here. I chose the term ‘glamorous’ with intention and I tried to be inclusive, though I note the term still makes many women feel excluded and under pressure to perform artificial constructs of beauty for an audience.
Ugh. The one of the woman with Hugo Chavez–reminds me that horribly misgided socialist dictators are hurting real people every day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez Check out the section on food shortages, and start asking yourself what this mother is asking: please step down from price fixing our food so my child will be able to eat when he weans. This man makes me sick.
I don’t want to de-rail my own comment thread but Chavez also introduced significant constitutional reforms in his country to allow greater rights for both women and indigenous people, and has hugely increased government spending on health, housing and education during his time in leadership. I’m not saying that his economic credentials are fantastic, but I am saying that it is a little bit more complicated than the man being anti-American foreign policy.
I enjoyed most of the pics my favorite is the last photo:-) indidnt care too much for the guy on all fours looked like some weird fetish pic
Love this blog post and the one about the controversy!! There is a photo circulating of a woman VOTING IN PARLIAMENT with her babe sleeping in a sling, so more than likely she breastfeeds too 🙂 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314283/Licia-Ronzulli-brings-baby-EU-Parliament.html
I love every picture, I am 19 and I am Breastfeeding my child it is something I always wanted to do and I love it
hmmmm, an interesting perspecitve. I’m not sure that i am a fan, mainly due to the fact that to me breastfeeding has no room for sexualisation. These images are sexualising the act of breastfeeding and its leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. As a mother popping out a boob to feed my child in public is just down to simply feeding my child.
Before childbirth boobs were a form of a ‘sexual’ image etc.. right now they are a tool (or bottle) with which i feed my child.
I am an advocate of giving your bub the best possible start and that anyone can do it as it is a natural extension of oneself, whether you’re glamorous or not, sexy or not, young or old, famous or not.
I feel proud that i am able to breast feed and that i have put the work and time into making it work for me and now reaping the rewards. I feel that people are simply missing the point of breastfeeding awareness and in the hype turning it into something that its not.
I take your point but I think you have to be careful saying these images are all sexualising breastfeeding. Not all the subjects and photographers would agree with that description – and equating being dressed up or looking someone in the eye or possessing cleavage with being sexual boxes women in and risks shaming them. I used the term glamorous with intent, and I tried to be as inclusive as possible, though I acknowledge that the description glamorous still makes some women feel excluded and that it is still very much prone to narrow definitions of beauty and to also making women feel objectified.
To add to that if I can, i think the problem here is that women can not go about their business and express themselves without being assessed as to where they fit on the scales of attractiveness or sexuality. There is a difference between feeling sexual, and being sexually objectified, and I figure there isn’t much difference whether it is men or women deciding for a woman in an image as to how she should be labelled – it is still taking away personal agency. These are women breastfeeding – if the viewer gets a sexual vibe from it -fine. But that does not mean the subject is suddenly a sexual object just because a third party labels her as such.
Do love these photos, but I am concerned the over the top glam-ness and supreme coolness of some of the models could continue to alienate those who feel bf is superior to them?
I love that you have included a photo of baby not actually ON the breast.
I love seeing breastfeeding photos, but among the breastfeeding awareness activism – especially the breastfeeding photo on facebook debate – there seems to be a lot of talk about how breastfeeding isn’t inappropriate or immodest because the baby is covering everything up. But, I know that when *I* breastfeed my 11 month old she spends a lot more time off the nipple looking at the world than she does actually feeding and it does make me feel quite exposed at times so it’s great to see a photo like that included.
I think a major point has been missed here. The majority of these photos are from the ‘Be a Star’ campaign that was aimed at young and teenage mothers. Very few of them breastfeed, because they do see their breasts as primarily sexual objects, largely from the belief that men do too (which has been proven incorrect, but that’s another issue). These young women – many of whom are single – believe their sexual image is vitally important, and it can overshadow the importance of breastfeeding. Ultimately most women want to feel attractive to men, and have a very real need to be supported by the one they have, which they may feel is jeopardised if they stop ‘making the effort’ with their appearance. The campaign was designed (when the NHS was actually putting proper money into breastfeeding) to let these mothers know that they could breastfeed AND look attractive at the same time. For many older mothers, and those who are in stable relationships with men who they know accept them as they are, these photos do look contrived and perhaps offensive – but if you feel that way, then you know you aren’t the target audience. Breastfeeding does need to be ‘out there’, seen, photographed and talked about – and if this kind of media is all there is, then I agree it’s a shame – but it’s certainly better than none at all. The rest is up to us less-glamorous mothers who just get out there and do it in public, and set a good example to everyone.
I kind of like them. I don’t think of them as sexual but as powerful. Some people seem to equate all expression of feminine power as sexual power, and I think that’s a mistake. Some of them I think might be walking a line, but whatever. Sexuality is one part of who we are as women and mothers, and while I don’t like to see women over sexualized, I wouldn’t want to see them robbed of their sexuality either.
this is awsome.
Amazing to these beautiful portraits! Thank for supporting us nursing and proud of it mothers!
This reminds me of myself years ago, breastfeeding my three children in the 60s and 70s. It was deliciously fulfilling and I always felt attractive. My husband loved to watch.
[…] and this week while procrastinating on Facebook I came across a link to a post by Blue Milk called Breastfeeding while glamorous. As a big advocate for breastfeeding and supporter of normalizing breastfeeding I was curious and […]
you forgot this memorable breastfeeding while fabulous moment: http://www.anythingbaby.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/salma-hayek.jpg
So what you are showing me, quite literally, is that white, upper middle class women (implicitly educated) should breast feed.
I mean, yes, you do offer the 2 token dark skinned women, one of which lives in a country that has strong socialist tendencies. Yay, diversity!
As the daughter of a poor, working class, single mother I’ve always been suspicious of “feminism”. It consists mainly of the same clique of daughters of upper middle class, already empowered white folks that one invariably went to high school with.
Now, exactly when does the underclass, minority, new mom get to take time off working, sometimes multiple jobs to breast feed her new baby, when she’s barely had 2 weeks since the baby was born before she is forced to return to work or lose her job?
When does she have time to pump breast milk, sterilize all the equipment… (hell when does she have the money to afford to buy all the equipment?)…. in addition to running her household, cooking food, cleaning, laundry and the other innumerable chores I helped my mother do as I was growing up.
Don’t get me wrong. I find the core concepts and theories of basic feminism acceptable. I am a human being. I should be treated just like every other human being, regardless of gender. It’s the propaganda without thought to who is being excluded that I take exception to.
It reminds me of an experience with one of the white, upper-class women I went to grad school with. She was making a social critique of a piece of art that I was having trouble grasping. The piece showed several “family photographs” hung in a series. They were staggered so that they made a diagonal line on the wall. I couldn’t understand why they where hung that way.
“They are on a staircase, silly.”, like having a 2nd floor on your house was the most obvious fucking thing in the world. What kind of person wouldn’t make that association? How about someone who grew up with mom and siblings in a 180 square foot shack next to a pig farm?
That episode encapsulates the feminist movement for me. You are from your own world and you are preaching to the people who speak your language and know your code. You are all in a lather, congratulating yourself on how forward thinking and cutting edge you are. How you support choice and freedom and equality. But obviously only when that choice, freedom and equality are directed at people you understand and would invite into your house through the front door.
The rest of us are just there to support your lifestyle.
I’m sorry that has been your experience RedDirt LoveGoddess. I didn’t grow up in a upper middle class family, but nor did I grow up as you describe. We were working class and things weren’t always rosy, but feminism still speaks to me and many others who didn’t grow up with silver spoons in their mouths.
I tried hard to offer diversity in the pictures I posted here and it was difficult to do that because I literally searched through hundreds of photos on the net and most of them depicted thin, white, conventionally beautiful, apparently able-bodied women.. so you’re right, there could be more diversity here, but it wasn’t for lack of trying on my part. Of the photos I posted I think maybe seven of them might be women of colour. I only found one fat woman to post and that was very disappointing, too. Yes, the world is racist and ableist and sizeist and classist and bingo, that’s exactly what I found in my google search for images.
A big part of the problem with the lack of diversity is the particular topic I chose to profile here – being glamorous has some baggage attached to it, particularly classism. Interpretations of glamour usually come down to money. I was aware of the narrow mainstream view of glamour so I tried to find mothers who were also dressed up and fashionable but who were not just wearing dresses and frocks and heels and such, who weren’t always conservatively dressed. And I think I found some good examples of that to include – loved the sneakers and leather pants and the torn jeans and the pink hair examples. However, with all its faults I still think glamour is an important element for many women of their self-image and it represents a certain prioritising of self that I kind of liked to see depicted in breastfeeding shots – which can otherwise be so generic: selfless, sex-less, mother etc.
I do not believe that ‘glamour’ is the only way to represent women incorporating breastfeeding into their full lives as human beings and if you look around my site you will find other posts that profile very different photographs, including breastfeeding roller derby girls, a breastfeeding motocross rider, and a politician breastfeeding in parliament. I also happen to LOVE the photograph of that mother breastfeeding while talking to the leader of her country, and I don’t give a fuck about whether it says socialism or food price-fixing or anti-USA foreign policy, it’s just a bloody awesome image and is easily my favourite picture ever of a woman breastfeeding!
I could have done more to acknowledge the lack of diversity I achieved in these photos but then bear in mind, I wrote this at midnight one night when I was interested in the photos I was coming across in my search and I was probably pretty tired and my baby was probably waking up for a breastfeed by the time I hit ‘publish’ on it. You could also have done a little more to check out my site before you lobbed your stereotypes at me of my feminism. But hey, maybe you were tired and needing to run off and do something else, too.
I completely agree with you that the judgementalism aimed towards women who bottle feed ignores entirely the structural and institutional and community barriers women face in breastfeeding – including insufficient paid maternity leave, workplaces failing to offer lactation breaks and milk storage, the shaming of public breastfeeding etc etc. If you look around my site you will notice that I write A LOT about all these issues. I don’t condone shaming, ridiculing or judging of individual mothers’ choices about how they feed their babies.
And for the record, I am also the daughter of a single mother. I spent half my childhood living with my mother and siblings on welfare.
I hear you and I promise a lengthy comment shortly responding directly to the points you’ve raised. I have lots to say in reply, some in complete agreement and other things in contradiction to your comments. Please don’t think any delay in response is ignoring your views or your arguments. Thank you for taking the time to put them across here.
Apologies Bluemilk, my comment should have appeared below yours. I replied to the wrong one.
[…] Bluemilk posts photos of glamorous breastfeeding […]
Thank you for these photos! Breastfeeding is beautiful!
[…] got these photos from this blog and it states that this woman is talking to one of her leaders. I don’t know who that man is […]
Hugo Chávez
I appear to be one of the few to find many (not all) of these images disturbing. Breastfeeding is a beautiful thing, a wonderful gift that a mother can give to her child. I personally find it wrong to see women overtly trying to look sexy while breastfeeding. Who are we trying to look sexy for? It is certainly not for our child’s benefit. It is images such as these that confuse the line between women as sexual creatures and women as breastfeeding mothers. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could live in a society where women could breastfeed freely without being made to feel like we are exposing ourselves for others to gawk at? I find it surprising that so many feel images are empowering – I personally think they set the feminist movement back a few notches.
Suprised mum of two.. please read in the comments above where I have already responded to this criticism.
[…] love anything having to do with breastfeeding…Seriously. These super glamorous photos of women breastfeeding are amazing. Leave it to the British to make it […]
Love these!!!! Breast feeding is about nurishing a child and more people need to see it so to normalize it for the population that have not been blessed to have it in they’re daily lives. It natural, normal and part of having a baby. Breast is best.
[…] under the last post on the subject, woodturtle linked me to an awesome article with awesome pictures, some of which I have reproduced below. View the original arrangement of pictures and text here. […]
[…] because further evidence for the case that breastfeeding has pop cultural buzz can be found here, here, and […]
[…] Breastfeeding while glamorous « blue milkAug 22, 2011 … And finally, for powerful breastfeeding images you can’t go past this one below.. talking to the leader of your country while breastfeeding. […]
For excellent ‘normal’ photos and posts re body shape, check out theshapeofamother.com 🙂
[…] I love seeing photos of women breastfeeding and going on about their lives, and I love seeing photos that subvert the ‘nurturing mother’ mythology, but you can probably imagine the kinds […]
I *love* the last photo – she’s not self-consciously breastfeeding, she’s just doing it, and getting on with her day. So powerful.
Here’s another one for you. It’s from a campaign from health authorities in Montreal, Canada. The model is an actress well known there: Mahée Paiement.
http://moiaussijallaite.com
[…] la chercheuse en périnatalité Stéphanie Saint-Amand a attiré notre attention sur le blogue Blue Milk. Sa créatrice avait fait un message en janvier 2011 sur « l’allaitement […]
I don’t find these images sexual at all (I think for me, one of the reasons I don’t is that when I look at them I remember what it was like to breastfeed, and there wasn’t anything remotely sexual about it for me – intimate, lovely, convenient, relaxing yes, but sexual no). And I think it’s good to stretch our currently received ideas of the nursing mother always gazing lovingly at the baby’s face. This helps to normalise it in more than just one context. And also, it fosters the idea that the woman is more than a mother.
This blog is so much fun – there’s always an old post to read – which leads to another – and another…
Breastfeeding is a beautiful thing, a wonderful gift that a mother can give to her child. I personally find it wrong to see women overtly trying to look sexy while breastfeeding.
[…] some of you may know, I love a non-traditional breastfeeding photo and I collect them on this blog. Mothers looking glamorous or dangerous while breastfeeding are my […]
[…] she said looked great and expressed a favor for ‘non-traditional breastfeeding photos and … Mothers looking glamorous or dangerous while breastfeeding.’ But she also pointed out that the baby is very poorly […]
I could not know whether my father feeding her breast milk or not though her breast is full of milk as my 1-5 ybrother feeding her milk.further do not know my brother feed or not of her breast milk her 6months old daughter.my. Boyfriend is crazy for my brerast milk but sorr yto say here that my breast is not full of lactation.so tell him wait till lactation and conti new fore weith my small and round shape straight breast.thanks
I am 25yrs married brahimn girl with mother of one year old kid.my breast is full lactation as my daughter steel feeding my milk.in college time I had made hide physical relation with my one college mate whose love stick is circumised and he broken my virginty with his cut penis and. My hide relation is with him after mairrage.my husband is only for name purposes as he is not able to keep me fully stisfied on bed and his sperm germs is not able to get me pregent.I know that my kid is with my friend sperm.you know my boy friend feed my breast milk when he with me on bed.he love it .one side breast my daughter feeding and other side my friend feeding. When I go to my house I spent 2 or 3 night with him in his house and stay there and he fucked me daily and use to drink my breast early in the morning as vitamin. I also massage his penis with my milk and use to suck his cock.any how he like my breast milk when I. With him on bed he take my breast and start to using and feeding and feel pleasure and during feeding of my breast milk he go in sound sleep and my nipple were in his mouth some time I also pump my breast and spray milk in his mouth he like it.but my husband never sucked my lactating breast nor foreplay he simply insert his penis and after few second up and dn he discharge not able to repeat .his ejacalulation is very poor.hate such type of men.thanks god that my frtiend is able to keep my wish fulfill on bed.my mother knows my hide relation story therefore so many times he fucked me at my home in day time when other male members out.
With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation?
My blog has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it seems a lot
of it is popping it up all over the internet without my agreement.
Do you know any ways to help reduce content from being ripped off?
I’d really appreciate it.
[…] love this photo. But you know, I love images of breastfeeding that subvert the standard mother-baby image. Also, I love Ariel Gore’s new […]
[…] (Image credit) […]
[…] for my collection of photos here of women doing life while also breastfeeding. Love this one. (Thanks […]
Howdy! This article couldn’t be written much better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
He always kept talking about this. I will send this article
to him. Fairly certain he’ll have a very good read. Thank you for sharing!
Why visitors still use to read news papers when in this technological globe all is existing on web?
[…] More models and others being glamorous while breastfeeding and why I like it. […]
Love these images! I’m feeling v glam now! (Even though I prob don’t look it in real life!)
it is super
it is sexy to breast
[…] about my extreme breastfeeding days here, and also I used to collect glamorous breastfeeding photos here, and breastfeeding while getting shit done all over […]