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Subject:
From:
Morgan Gallagher <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:11:51 +0100
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As a media analyst - three things to highlight for further pondering....

1)  Clothing over a partially naked body, is a standard devise of the 
pornography industry.  The tease in strip tease, isn't the naked body, 
but the revealing of slowly revealed sections of the naked body.

2)  The women who is utterly naked in The Sun, is looking directly at 
you.  The mothers in the posters, are looking at their babies.  By 
looking at you directly, the Sun mother invites you to look.  By us 
looking at the mother looking at her babies, we are aware we are 
looking, and she may not know it.  So we are outsiders, looking in.  
Again, another standard device in the pornography industry.

3)  The Sun mother, is not actually showing much breast, especially 
compared to the Nova Scotia 'over' mothers.  Her arm, and the baby, is 
actually hiding most of her breast.

But I'd suggest it's the eyeline shot, that makes the real 
difference...  we need a controlled study, with similar pictures, and 
different eyeline shots, and to test for reaction.  It may be that the 
mother looking at the camera (the audience) whilst the baby feeds, is a 
more 'acceptable' shot than the one of her involved with the baby.  The 
Male Gaze, and all that jazz.  We're included, so we feel invited and we 
feel it's a nice thing.  When she's looking at the baby, we feel 
excluded, and that we are viewing something intimate and exclusionary - 
we feel our 'lack'.  We have been made voyeurs - that will excite some 
of us, and repel others.  The people excited, will then be doubly upset 
that the woman's gaze is on the baby.

I think it may be a fascinating discovery, that is we have actually 
naked mothers, looking at the camera, and the camera and lighting  
within an artistic nude framework, we'll have less 'reactable' 
breastfeeding imagery than that of a normally clothed mother, feeding 
her baby and concentrating on her baby.  After all, we all have a lot 
more exposure to The Nude, so to speak: its' normal.  This image is a 
normal The Nude image, but happens to also have a baby in it.

Morgan

> But, in the Nova Scotia Posters photos, the women are clothed and only their 
> BREAST is exposed, drawing the eye directly to the breasts and the 
> breastfeeding.  Given that the breasts are lifted up and over the mother's 
> clothing, it leaves one with the impression that we are peeking at something 
> that WE shouldn't be peeking at.
>
> When I look at the N.S. Posters, I kinda want to go "oh...sorry!  Didn't mean 
> to intrude."  When I look at the Sun photo, I kinda want to go "Awwww...how 
> sweet.  Do ya need a cup a tea?"  
>
> Does this make sense to any one?
>
> Blessings.
>
> Karyn-grace Clarke, IBCLC, LLLL
> Gulf Islands, BC, Canada
> www.breastfeedingwithkg.com
>
> (P.S. I really AM a proponent of nurse anytime anywhere and I hate the 
> phrase 'discreet breastfeeding'...but...stilll...)
>
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