Dear all: Living here in Manhattan there is sometimes a curious dichotomy of "politically correct" photos and behavior. On the one hand, I did take a look at the photos from Canada and I think that these would not cause many to bat an eyelash in Manhattan. In the last six months or so the "Red Room" at Realbirth where I do breastfeeding clinics has undergone a face lift. A good paint job to complement the red floor. Bright red paint on one wall in the lobby. And beautiful photographs by professional photographers. My setting is a deep red carpet, with red mats and white pillows and photographs of naked pregnant women. On the wall near the window is a willowy woman with breasts exposed, a white whispy skirt and a beautiful "bump" to coin the current cliche. On the other walls are all sorts of photographs of barely clothed silouettes of pregnant women by themselves or with partners of either gender. One is a woman and her husband only showing the torsos that gently curve against each other. The other is a woman and a woman in three photos where they are in black and it takes you until the third photo to recognize the gentle curve of one of their curved bellies. The photos are sensual without being sexual. They could be in an art museum. Since these photos have been hung, I can't tell you how much more cheerful this room appears. Outside the room is literally a red hanging lampshade --- a few beads dangling. No pink pastels. A few photos that were in the room where I run my clinics have been moved to the bathroom (not because of embarassment, but displacement for even better photos). The bathroom has a rich deep red wall that works well with all these photos. One is a photos of a placenta in a steel bucket between a woman's legs. Describing this, you might think it to be a shocking or ugly photo. It is so subtle and beautiful that you cannot at first figure out what is in the bucket. In the same red bathoom is a fabulous photo of a baby about ready to clamp down hard on the underside of mom's nipple. A beautiful wide gaping mouth, but headed straight for the nipple. Even though it makes me cringe in anticipatory empathetic pain, it is beautiful. The lobby has a picture of a man naked to the waist with his naked daughter holding her up above his head. The "green room" now has its collection of photos recently added. These are a series of birhing photos taking by a mom in the process of giving birth. She is a photographer and got them from a mom's eye view of the process. A photo of her looking down at her own belly in the bathtub while in labor, her hand clenched on the arm of the chair in what appears to be her ob or midwife's office, a photo of the "exam" by her ob or midwife, her hand supporting herself while she is on what is clearly the hospital bed, the health care practitioner examining her belly, all the way through the baby being handed up to her and placed on her belly. You never see the baby crowning because she is took the pictures all the way through. No one has objected to any of these photos. At the same time, "Hooter Hiders" (a name I hate) are sold at Realbirth. Bizarre psychodelic throwbacks to the 1960s to hide yourself while breastfeeding. I was prepared to hate this addition to the other organic products sold until one of my moms taught me an important lesson in different points of view. This mother HATED feeding at the breast. I never really got to the bottom of why, but I was not hired as her shrink. She LOVED pumping. Her husband really wanted her to breastfeed, but she really hated it. She happily came to support group for a while pumping under the Hooter Hider. She BEAMED. I really cannot tell you how much this transformed her experience. In all other ways she really responded to her baby. She regularly came to group, put on the Hooter Hider, pumped and bottle fed her baby. This was an important compromise for her and her husband. I'm thinking I should take photographs of the "photos" at Realbirth for anyone who wants to see how daring one can get with photography!!!! Best, Susan Burger *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html Mail all commands to [log in to unmask] To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask]) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask]) To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]